French Literature and Culture (MA)

Career prospects

Where do our graduates work?

The master’s programme in French Literature and Culture prepares you for a wide range of positions. Our graduates can be found working in a great number of professions requiring specialist linguistic or communication skills.

Our alumni find work in positions such as:

French teacher in a secondary school
French teacher in professional higher education
Literary translator
Business translator
Editorial secretary & editor at a publishing house
PhD candidate at a Dutch or foreign university
Publishing assistant at a publishing house
Marketing and communications officer at a telecom company
Policy advisor at a Dutch university
Foreign rights manager at a publishing house
Journalist at a press company

Teacher qualification

If you are interested in a career in teaching, you can apply for the Dutch-taught teacher-training MA at the ICLON Graduate School of Education after graduating from the master’s programme. To be admitted, you need to have a master’s degree in the relevant discipline. Fluency in Dutch is mandatory, and additional entry requirements may apply. Please visit the ICLON website to learn more about the different teacher training programmes at ICLON.

You start this degree directly after completing your bachelor degree in French Language and Culture.
It is possible to enrol following many different degrees, although you might have to complete a pre-master first.
You combine the Master in French with the Teaching Master. You will be challenged to draw connections between the courses at the Faculty of Humanities, and your teaching practice.
You follow courses within different fields of French Language and Culture (both linguistics and literature).
Over the course of the two-year degree, you will intern at two different secondary schools. This way, you get acquainted with different types of education.
You follow the courses of the Teaching Master in Dutch.

You must first complete the Master in French. After that, you can enrol in the Master Leraar VHO.

You start with the master in French after you have completed a bachelor degree in (or connected to) French Language and Culture; you might have to complete a pre-master first.

First, you follow the Master in French, in which you specialise further in a specific field. Then, you focus on learning how to teach within ICLON’s teacher education programme.

You specialise in one specific field of French Language and Culture.

During the Master Leraar VHO, you will intern for one year at one secondary school.

It is possible to combine the Master Leraar VHO with the World Teachers Programme (WTP), a bilingual (Dutch-English) profile.

Sannerien van Aerts

Graduated in MA French Language and Linguistics (MA Linguistics) and MA French Literature and Culture (MA Literary Studies)

"After my graduation, I started working at the administration of the Alliance Française de La Haye (first as secretary, now at the finance department), which turned out to be a perfect first job. It gives me several opportunities for my career: not only am I able to improve my French and to develop my professional competences, but also it gives me the possibility to get involved in the 'French scene' through cultural activities with other Francophone partners, such as institutions, embassies and cultural organizations."

Knowing a language opens many doors

"I regarded the masters as a means to improve my linguistic skills in order for French to become my speciality. Knowing a language opens many doors to different countries, cultures and people and an international environment has always interested me. In the future, I hope to remain working in an international context while organizing all kinds of (cultural) events."

Laura den Boer

Graduated in French Literature and Culture (MA Literary Studies)

"I very much enjoyed doing the Master’s in French Literature and Culture of the Literary Studies degree programme. I chose this master’s because the selection of subjects on offer appealed to me enormously."

Personal

"I took the master’s together with a small group of students, which encouraged me to take an active role in the tutorial discussions. Taking part in the discussions helped to improve my French oral skills, as well as giving me personal contact with the teachers."

A teaching position

"After my master’s I am going to work in Lille for 6 months, where I will be a language assistant in a secondary school, helping French pupils with their Dutch. After those 6 months I plan to do the Educational Master’s in French Literature and Culture, which will afterwards hopefully provide me with a teaching position in a Dutch secondary school, in which I will be able to apply the knowledge I have gained during my French studies. In all, the degree programme at Leiden has given me a superb grounding for a job in education, because studying the many and varied subjects allowed me to acquire interesting and in-depth knowledge."

The graphs below are based on alumni data from the MA Literary Studies 2020 through 2024.

In which sector do students find jobs?

39 % Education
10 % Communication and marketing
6 % Financial institutions
6 % Publishing
4 % Consultancy
4 % Wholesale and retail
4 % Media and journalism
4 % Research
2 % Healthcare and wellbeing
2 % IT

Career preparation

Find out how this programme prepares you for your future career and check our career preparation activities.

A unique strength on the job market

The Master's programme in Literary Studies at Leiden University equips you with a range of transferable skills and knowledge that will help you stand out in your future career. Your specialised knowledge is complemented by a broad and contextual understanding as well as critical-thinking skills that can be applied to complex conceptual problems. Other skills you may encounter in the various Literary Studies courses are:

Analysis
Oral and written communication
Research
Intercultural skills
Creative thinking

You have the opportunity to do an internship at an organisation in the Netherlands or abroad. Internships are a great way to gain first-hand experience in your area of interest and deepen your expertise. Organisations that our students have interned at include:

Royal Library The Hague, Koopman Collection
Dutch Embassy in Paris
Royal Brill Editions

Please note that you will need to find your own internship and have to follow an internship procedure for approval. Pursuing an internship may have consequences for the date of your graduation.

The Literary Studies Career Colloquium enables you to actively prepare your future career by providing you with information and inspiration. This programme, specially tailored for Literary Studies students, consists of a series of meetings over the year on your personal profile, academic and practical skills.

Our staff can help you identify both the career that is right for you, and the necessary steps to get you there. Our team at the Humanities Career Service provides all Leiden University humanities students with professional advice and guidance on everything from internships and career planning to job applications. Humanities Career Service also organises regular workshops on topics such as effective interview skills and creating a successful CV.

The Humanities Career Service offers you various (online) workshops, webinars and info sessions. Check our overview of career activities.

The Leiden University Career Zone is an online career portal that helps you to prepare for the job market. Here you can find information, tools and tips to help you gain more personal insight, learn about the job market, develop your application skills, plan your academic and professional career, find job vacancies and discover what the Career Service can do for you.

Join the Mentor Network to contact alumni with experience on the labour market and ask them for advice. More than 1200 alumni are happy to help you!

Jelle on finding an internship via Leiden University's Mentor Network

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