Economic & Social History/Business & Management

Economic and social history brings together two disciplines that are naturally intertwined: economics, with its concern for how resources are produced, distributed, and consumed, and history, with its commitment to understanding change over time through careful analysis of evidence. Unlike pure economics, economic and social history is deeply empirical and humanistic, situating economic structures within the lived experiences of real people and asking how patterns of work, inequality, consumption, migration, and social change have shaped the world we inhabit today. Business and management alongside this combination adds a practical third dimension, connecting historical understanding of economic life to the contemporary world of organisations, strategy, and commercial practice.

At the University of Glasgow this four-year full-time programme allows you to develop depth in all three areas, working with a range of historical sources and analytical methods while also building the theoretical and practical frameworks of business and management education. You will examine how people in the past lived and worked, how economic structures developed across different societies and periods, and how this long historical perspective illuminates the challenges facing organisations and economies today. A year abroad is incorporated into the programme, broadening your intellectual and personal perspective through study at a partner institution in another country.

Graduates from this combination go on to careers in business, consultancy, finance, public policy, research, and a wide range of organisations that value analytical rigour combined with practical management understanding. The historical dimension is particularly valuable in roles requiring a long-range perspective on economic and social trends, in policy development, and in work with heritage, archives, and cultural institutions. Many graduates also continue to postgraduate study in economic history, business history, social science, or related fields, where the combination of historical and analytical training is a genuine advantage.