MSc Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Our MSc Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship equips you with the skills to launch successful social entrepreneurial ventures with social goals. The curriculum draws on the latest social innovation research and practical insights from our network of social organisations worldwide.

Real consulting and social innovation design projects enable you to develop your leadership skills and practical experience. During your year at LSE, you’ll have the opportunity to start your own social enterprise.

All students take part in an international field trip to conduct research with an NGO or a business in a developing country. You’ll critically analyse the root cause of social issues in their specific social, economic and political contexts and design effective solutions.

Previous projects have involved sustainable home farming, childcare in Cape Town, and removing cyanide from the water in rural Bangladesh.

Social entrepreneurship is a rapidly expanding field, so you’ll gain highly sought-after skills at LSE. This programme is perfect if you’re looking to become a social entrepreneur.

LSE is ranked sixth in the world for social sciences and management. So, you’ll be studying in a globally renowned learning environment with world-leading academics.

Read more about the LSE student experience on our student blog, The Student Lens.

Compulsory core courses (three units)

• Social innovation design: The first two core courses will focus on understanding and design of solutions for social challenges. These courses draw on the Department of Management's 10 years of experience in conducting research projects and field design programmes with an ecosystem of local partners in South Asia, Africa and South America.
• Core management fundamentals: The subsequent two core courses will focus on the fundamentals of organisational management, with concepts, terminology and frameworks in marketing, organisational behaviour, economics, accounting and quantitative research. This is designed to build students' ability to make good judgements and better business decisions, and ask the right questions to critically assess issues in the in building, deployment and scaling of their social enterprise.
• Dissertation: Learning from all core courses will be brought together with a dissertation at the end of the programme, with the opportunity to conduct an individual capstone project bringing together a well-rounded understanding of social problems, techniques to develop innovative solutions, and entrepreneurial or managerial skills.

Students have three options for the dissertation:

1. An individual design project for a new social enterprise, producing a sound and viable business model, a compelling plan for achieving long-term sustainability, and a detailed and convincing impact assessment.
2. An individual consulting project to solve a real-world issue for a client organisation. Project themes can be extremely wide-ranging across areas of specialisation and regions, all with a significant, tangible business problem to be solved. Past sponsors have included IMB (big data in Brazil), Riders for Health (healthcare transport in Africa) and Rickshaw Bank (business model renewal in India).
3. Students can also seek approval to undertake a research dissertation, conducting an empirical research project to develop new knowledge in the field of social innovation.

Optional elective courses (one unit)

Optional elective courses of your choice (to the total value of one unit) will give you a chance to customise the programme to your own interests and career goals. The School’s expertise in the social, economic and political world will provide you with a rich variety of options to deepen and specialise your knowledge.

Our mission

Welcome to the Department of Management. Our mission is to inspire superior management practices by fostering a comprehensive understanding of individuals, teams, organisations, and markets, along with the psychological, social, political, and technological contexts that influence them.

By studying with us, you'll gain access to a world-leading centre for education and research, uniquely positioned within a world-class social science institution at the heart of a truly global city.

The environment

Join a vibrant intellectual community comprising world-renowned faculty, astute students, dedicated and responsive professional services staff, and high achieving alumni. Through pioneering research and high-level teaching, you'll receive comprehensive, intensive, and rigorous methodological training to help you become an expert in your specialist fields.

The rich and culturally diverse learning environment at LSE’s Department of Management, will not only enrich your experience through developing a broad perspective and understanding, but also unlock an invaluable network of global peers.

Create a better world

We go beyond the boundaries of a traditional business school by integrating diverse disciplines such as economics, marketing, data, and analytics. Our comprehensive approach ensures that students gain a profound and multifaceted understanding of the business world, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to excel in a dynamic global environment.

Join us in our vision to create a better world, where a profound understanding of management drives positive change in both business and society.

Discover more about our programmes and research.

Department of Management

Who's who

Saul Estrin

Programme Director and Professor of Management Economics and Strategy

Yally Avrahampour

Programme Director and Associate Professor (Education) of Management

Niranjan Janardhanan

Assistant Professor of Management

Your application will be considered on its academic merits. An offer of a place may be conditional on attending additional courses and/or passing qualifying examinations at a suitable standard, in addition to your degree. You should note that there are always many more applications than places available at LSE and possession of the minimum entrance requirements does not guarantee that you'll be offered admission. It's therefore in your interests to apply as early as possible.

We welcome applications from all suitably qualified prospective students. At LSE, we want to recruit students with the best academic merit, potential and motivation, irrespective of background.

We carefully consider each application and take into account all the information included on your application form, such as your:

• academic achievement (including predicted and achieved grades)
• statement of academic purpose
• two academic references
• CV.

See further information on supporting documents.

Academic statement of purpose requirements

If you're applying for this programme, please note the following specific requirements for your academic statement of purpose:

Write a short statement (up to 600 words) about why you want to do the programme. This might cover, for example, what you will bring to the cohort, and what your particular strengths are.

Also, you should answer the following questions (your answers should be approximately 500 words each):

1. Tell us about an experience you had with social innovation /entrepreneurship/ a project with high social impact. What role did you play and what did you learn about yourself?
2. How will your past experience, combined with this LSE masters, help you to achieve your goals?

The total length of your academic statement of purpose – including the answers to the above questions - should therefore be between 1,100 and 1,600 words.

Speak to an Admissions specialist

If you have any queries which are not answered on the website or would like to chat with an admissions specialist, we run one-to-one Zoom chats on a weekly basis for prospective students and offer holders:

• Book a one-to-one session (prospective students)
• Book a one-to-one session (offer holders)

Contact us

For questions related to your application or the admissions process, please check our admissions frequently asked questions page.

If you have any queries which are not answered on the website, please contact the Programme and Admissions Team at dom.msc.admissions@lse.ac.uk.

The LSE Department of Management attracts outstanding students from a diverse range of international backgrounds each year, and the MSc Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship programme is designed to bring a variety of global perspectives and professional experience to the classroom.

We expect to welcome students from a broad mix of academic and employment backgrounds, including those currently working in socially-focused organisations or CSR and sustainability teams within large companies, as well as students from a wide variety of other backgrounds wishing to move into this field.

The programme is well-suited to graduates with two or more years' work experience in social innovation, however work experience isn't required and more recent graduates will also benefit from the development of knowledge and practical experience offered by the programme. This diverse mix of experience and expertise in the classroom is designed to challenge your perspectives and enrich your learning experience.

Read more about the LSE student experience on our student blog, The Student Lens.

Applications for this programme are considered on a rolling basis. This means that applications will close once the programme is full.

There is no fixed deadline. However, if you’d like to be considered for any funding opportunities, you must submit your application (and all supporting documents) by the funding deadline. See the fees and funding section below for more details.

For this programme, the tuition fee is different for home and overseas students depending on their fee status.

Deposit

To secure a place on the programme offer holders will be required to pay a deposit of 10% of the tuition fee within six weeks of receiving their offer.

International field trip

This programme includes an international field trip. You should expect to cover the costs of travel in the UK to and from UK airports, visa costs, and food whilst you're on the trip. Otherwise, the flights, accommodation and internal travel at the location are covered by your student fee.

For this programme, the tuition fee is different for home and overseas students depending on their fee status.

Deposit

To secure a place on the programme offer holders will be required to pay a deposit of 10% of the tuition fee within six weeks of receiving their offer.

International field trip

This programme includes an international field trip. You should expect to cover the costs of travel in the UK to and from UK airports, visa costs, and food whilst you're on the trip. Otherwise, the flights, accommodation and internal travel at the location are covered by your student fee.

Half-unit courses can be assessed by two hour unseen examinations, coursework assignments, class participation or group/individual project work.

You can view indicative details of hours and assessment for all courses listed in the online Programme Regulations.

Career development

The MSc Social Innovation and Entrepreneurships offers the opportunity to develop your career as a talented, insightful and entrepreneurial manager.

The programme will provide the knowledge, skills and networks you need to take the next step in your career, whether this will be to launch or grow your own socially-focused entrepreneurial venture, drive forward your career in your current organisation, or find a route to transition into social innovation from another sector.

Graduates from the Department of Management are highly sought-after in the job market, and go on to successful careers in a range of leading organisations worldwide. Many of our graduates have also launched successful start-up ventures.

Alumni career profiles

These alumni studied a course on Business Model Innovation at the Base of the Pyramid in the Department of Management in recent years. This former elective course has been developed into the Social Enterprise Design core courses in the MSc Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

• Lesego, South Africa
  Current occupation: Founder and CEO, Bokamoso Impact Investments
  Watch her testimonial
• Paroma, India
  Current occupation: Senior Associate, Incubation & Knowledge at UnLtd India
  Watch her testimonial
• Pallavi, India
  Current occupation: Founder and Managing Director at FifthEstate
  Watch her testimonial
• Bill, Corporate Partner
  Current occupation: European Marketing Lead at IBM Interactive Experience
  Watch his testimonial

Our Careers Alumni and Employer Relations (CAER) team support you in preparation for whichever path you choose to follow beyond LSE. Complementing your academic programme, we engage you with our 24,000 strong alumni community and connect you with CEMS corporate and social partners such as Gartner, Accenture, Merlin Entertainments, Grow Movement and European Space Agency.

We work alongside you each step of the way; from researching different sectors and opportunities available, to identifying internships, jobs or further study, and then navigating the application and interview process.

Take advantage of one-to-one careers appointments (that continue when you're a graduate), complemented by a wide range of events and engagements throughout the duration of your programme, including:

• industry-focused alumni panels
• alumni and employer networking evenings
• employer skills seminars
• business projects
• office visits
• mock assessment centres/interviews
• careers skills boot camps.

All Department of Management students have access to the services of our team in addition to the support of the central LSE Careers team, who support the wider university.