Why a Graduate Degree
in Communication?

Media Careers

A graduate degree in Communication from Carleton University is a gateway to a career in the competitive media and cultural industries. All media are concerned not just with their content but also with how they connect with audiences.

A Carleton Communication degree gives students the research and critical thinking skills required for positions in audience measurement, opinion research, content analysis, and technology assessment, including positions in media relations, operational planning, message design and assessment, technology implementation, and advertising in industries as diverse as telecommunications; newspaper, magazine, and book publishing; and radio, television, and the internet.

A Carleton Communication degree combines advanced study of specific media-related technologies with a strong foundation in communication history, theory, and policy.

Policy Careers

A graduate degree in Communication from Carleton University prepares students for the regulatory and policy environments in both government and the private sector. Numerous graduates – and many current students – work for the CRTC, the federal Department of Canadian Heritage, Industry Canada, Statistics Canada, and for private sector media and cultural industries such as the Canadian Association of Broadcasters or the Canadian Cable Television Association which interface with government and the law. Other students are researchers or assistants for Members of Parliament, Senators, and senior bureaucrats.

Carleton enjoys the advantage of being located in the National Capital, the regulatory, legal and policy centre of Canada. And every media and cultural industry has an office here, needs to know the policy environment, legal precedents, strategic advantages, policy applications and interpretations.

Careers in Culture

A graduate degree in Communication from Carleton University reaches far beyond the boundaries of mass media. It provides excellent preparation to work in such organizations as UNESCO, the Alliance for Arts and Culture, the Canada Council, the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, the Media Awareness Network, the Ontario Arts Council, and museums, galleries, and historic sites in Canada and around the world. But cultural industries are also businesses which interface with governments and compete with each other.

A graduate degree in Communication from Carleton gives you the skills to analyze strategy and plan for success.

Careers in Education

A graduate degree in Communication from Carleton University is the ideal preparation for communication-related teaching positions in high schools, community colleges, and universities. Graduates teach communication history, theory, policy, social impact, politics, technology, and research methods. Carleton graduates are particularly well-suited to teach critical theory, rhetoric, discourse analysis, media literacy, and political and policy analysis.

Graduates from our PhD program are working as professors at University of Ottawa, Western University, Ryerson University, McMaster University, York University, University of Calgary, University of Toronto, and Carleton University.