Programme, master’s level
120 credits
Malmö | daytime | 100%
31 August 2026 - 4 June 2028
Apply by 15 January
Apply now

Other instance or pace of study

Malmö | daytime | 100%
31 August 2026 - 4 June 2028
Applications open 16 March

International students

International students

Full tuition fee: 220,000 SEK
EU/EEA students are generally not required to pay tuition fees.

About the education

This two-year master’s programme provides you with in-depth knowledge and understanding of the challenges today’s organisations and business are facing. It focuses on the relationship between societal challenges and leadership and organisation at the intersection of the private, public, and non-profit sectors. The education engages with critical issues of leadership and organisational change such as power, ethics, resistance, gender, diversity, sustainability and digitalisation. The education combines perspectives from organisation theory, sociology, learning, business administration, political science and philosophy.

The programme will equip you with advanced knowledge of leadership and organisation theory. You will be looking at the relations between people, organisations and societal challenges, and how to enable collaboration within organisations and across sectors in relation to, for example, globalisation, digitalisation, inclusion and sustainability.

During the first year, you will be taking courses informed by critical perspectives on leadership and organisation. During the third semester, you will choose between several independent courses in order to deepen your knowledge in your particular subjects of interest. These will be made available during the second semester, in time for application. Among the courses offered are Leadership and Organisation: Research Internship, 30 credits. Students may choose to take courses at a university abroad. The programme concludes with the writing of a 30-credit master's thesis.

The programme has a strong, multidisciplinary connection to research. Many programme lecturers are active and internationally recognised scholars within leadership and organisation, work environment, social work, gender in organisations, power, resistance, governance, technology, and sustainability.

The perceived pressure for organisations to adapt to societal changes means that it is important that managers, leaders and employees have solid knowledge and a critical understanding of governance, management and organisation within and across the private, public and non-profit sectors. In addition, there is an increasing demand for people that can integrate knowledge and understanding of power, gender, diversity, work, technology, sustainability into leadership, organisation and change.

Graduates will be qualified to work within various fields, such as management and organisational development within organisations, agencies and companies, both nationally and internationally. The programme also prepares you for continued studies at PhD level.

Courses within the programme

Entry requirements and selection

Here you can find the entry requirements, as well as how the available study places are distributed between applicants in the selection.

Entry requirements

Bachelor's degree, consisting of 180 credits. The equivalent of English 6 in Swedish secondary school.

Selection

Applicants are selected in rank order based on the submitted programme specific three-part supporting document

Apply with programme-specific supporting document

It is recommended that you submit a programme-specific supporting document with your application to this programme. If you meet the eligibility criteria but do not submit a supporting document, you may only be considered for admission if places are available.

To complete your application with the supporting document, follow these steps:

  1. Create an account and apply to the programme via universityadmissions.se or antagning.se (in Swedish).
  2. Submit documented proof of your bachelor’s degree and proficiency in English in accordance with the instructions on universityadmissions.se, antagning.se.
  3. Download and fill in the programme-specific supporting document. Only submissions using this document will be reviewed.
  4. Upload the supporting document to universityadmissions.se or antagning.se (in Swedish) no later than 2 February.

Download the programme-specific supporting document (Word)

Guidance for Part 2 of the supporting document – describing you independent work

No independent work as part of your bachelor's

If you did not write any independent work as part of your bachelor’s (first-cycle) level education, please indicate this in your reply. You may, in such case put forward other independently written project work that displays your ability to analyse and reflect on questions of relevance to the master’s programme. 

Independent work not yet finished or started

If you have not yet finished (or started) your independent work, please indicate this in your reply. You will also need to attach a certificate from your supervisor stating that you have not yet finished your thesis and what date you are expected to be finished. You should in such case describe what you have done so far and how you are planning to continue with the project. Or you can take another project/paper from your bachelor’s programme and describe that if that helps you show your analytical skills better.  

Thesis written with others

If you have written your thesis with others, please indicate this in your reply. You may describe your thesis even if you wrote it together with others. In that case, please indicate how you divided the work (briefly) and then focus on demonstrating academic analytical skills by discussing the problem area, the theoretical framework, methodological approach, results and relevance for the master’s programme. 

Completed another master’s programme

If you have already completed another master’s programme, you may choose to present the independent work from your master’s programme instead.  

Assessment matrix for Leadership and Organisation: Societal Challenges and Organisational Changes (120 credits)

Part 1: Description of previous experience

  • Not applicable (0p): Not assessed/ unclear
  • To a minor extent (1p): The applicants previous experiences with working with societal challenges and in applying critical perspectives on leadership and organization in different types of organizations demonstrate some knowledge and understanding of particular relevance to the program in relation to leadership and organization with regards to societal challenges.
  • To a high extent (2p): The applicants previous experiences with working with societal challenges and in applying critical perspectives on leadership and organization in different types of organizations demonstrate a good knowledge and understanding of particular relevance to the program in relation to leadership and organization with regards to societal challenges.
  • To a very high extent (3p): The applicants previous experiences with working with societal challenges and in applying critical perspectives on leadership and organization in different types of organizations demonstrate very good knowledge and understanding of particular relevance to the program in relation to leadership and organization with regards to societal challenges.

Part 2: Description of academic work independently

  • Not applicable (0p): No assessment / unclear
  • To a minor extent (1p): The independent work has some relevance to the program content (problem and objectives) however, logic, description and the connection to program content could be more explicit.
  • To a high extent (2p): The independent work is estimated to have relevance to the program. The applicant demonstrates analytical ability with respect to the problems and methodological knowledge.
  • To a very high extent (3p): The project work is considered to have great relevance to the program and the applicant shows good analysis / analysis capability with respect to the problem and demonstrates solid knowledge and skills in the approach / methodology. 

Part 3: Letter of intent

  • Not applicable (0p): No assessment / unclear
  • To a minor extent (1p): The applicant demonstrated how education can be important to legitimize his or her continued work with leadership and organization in relationship societal challenges and societal development. The applicant can clearly communicate their arguments in English, demonstrating a sufficient level of English writing proficiency.
  • To a high extent (2p): The applicant demonstrates a commitment to how education can enhance his/her continued work and interest with / for leadership and organizational issues and their relationship to societal challenges and societal development. The applicant's perception of different kinds of societal challenges must be clear and comprehensive. The applicant can clearly communicate their arguments in English, demonstrating an advanced level of English writing proficiency.
  • To a very high extent (3p): The applicant shows a strong commitment to using the education in his/her continued work and interest with / for leadership and organizational issues in relation to societal challenges and societal development. The applicant's view of societal challenges must be clear and comprehensive including multiple aspects of societal challenges. The applicant demonstrates the ability to be self-reflective and demonstrates a clear, commitment to utilizing their education to contribute to dealing with societal challenges in research and practice. The applicant demonstrates an understanding of the complexity of the field of societal challenges and societal development. The applicant can clearly communicate their arguments in English, demonstrating an advanced level of English writing proficiency and demonstrates knowledge of the current area's terminology. 

Deadlines for submitting programme-specific supporting documents

Supporting documents submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.

First admissions round, 16 October–15 January

Submit the programme-specific supporting document no later than 2 February 23.59 Central European Time (GMT +1).

Second admissions round, 16 March–15 April

Submit the programme-specific supporting document no later than 15 April 23.59 Central European Time (GMT +2).

Which supporting documents to submit and when

Late applications

If applying after the deadline (late application), no supporting document is needed. Late applicants who meet the entry requirements are only ranked by application date and are placed below all applications made in time.   

If you have applied to this programme before

You still need to submit the current supporting document if you have applied to this programme before. You can, however, use the same replies.

If you are applying to more than one master's programme at Malmö University

You still need to fill out and submit a supporting document for each programme if you are applying to more than one master’s programmes. The respective supporting documents can be found on the programme pages on mau.se.  

If you are in your final year of bachelor's studies

It is possible to apply if you are in your final year and will receive your bachelor’s degree before the programme starts. Follow the specific instructions for students in their final year of bachelor’s studies on universityadmissions.se

How to apply in your final year of bachelor’s studies (Universityadmissions.se)

"You gain new perspectives on the challenges of today"

Julia Breidenstein moved from Germany to study in the master’s programme Leadership and Organisation: Societal Challenges and Organisational Changes. Right after her graduation, she started at her current job at Accelerated Growth in Malmö.

"You gain new perspectives on the challenges of today"

Julia Breidenstein moved from Germany to study in the master’s programme Leadership and Organisation: Societal Challenges and Organisational Changes. Right after her graduation, she started at her current job at Accelerated Growth in Malmö.

– Before I decided to study in Sweden, I did my bachelor’s degree in international business with a focus on change management. I then worked as a sales district manager for a German food retail company. After a while, I felt the desire to educate myself further. 

– My choice landed on Leadership and Organisation because I wanted to deepen my understanding of the intertwined social and organisational dynamics of the drivers and impacts of societal challenges. I also found the programme interesting because of its interdisciplinary character. 

New perspectives and problem-solving 

– The programme gives you an understanding of and new perspectives on the challenges of today and discuss approaches and methodologies to solve them. One key finding for me was that in order to take action and create change, the first step is to get a profound understanding of the actual problem. 

– During the third semester, you have the opportunity to choose elective courses. I enjoyed the course on climate change during the first semester. It was relevant and informative since the climate crisis is one of our biggest challenges. I found it very interesting and wanted to deepen my knowledge further. The elective semester allowed me to choose a sustainability course to learn more and gain informed and critical perspectives on this relevant topic.

– Being a student in an international programme was both beneficial and fun. We always had a lot of interesting discussions. It adds a lot of value and diversity to the programme when you get the possibility to understand different viewpoints. 

A job where you create change 

– Today, I work as a roll-out coordinator at a smaller consultancy called Accelerated Growth in Malmö, where I started right after my graduation. 

– My role is to be involved in projects where changes are implemented in clients' organisations. The current project aims to improve the visibility and end-to-end traceability of food products. Stakeholder management and change communication are a big part of my work, since the changes affect many employees. I get to apply critical thinking and use a creative approach, which I gained from the programme. It has been an exciting journey. 

Contact

For more information about the education:

USstudent@mau.se