Justine Carty was already a well-established solicitor and was well-known within the Law Society when she decided to do an education-based Masters’. 

Justine explained, “I am a long-serving member of the Law Society Council, I have acted as a Mentor on the Women in Leadership programme, and I am passionate about mentoring and teaching the next generation of solicitors. I have found the mentoring programme to be beneficial to junior colleagues as well as very rewarding on a personal level. These experiences lead me toward a Masters’ as professional development. I wanted to further my knowledge of education and training.” 

She said, “I wanted to deepen my knowledge and skill set to provide effective leadership both in my Law Society role and in my workplace as a solicitor in the public sector. The public sector is ever-changing and the legal profession is also facing new challenges, as are other professions.” 

“This course offered me the opportunity to acquire knowledge on key principles, best practices, and the organisational strategy required in a fast-paced demanding environment. Once I had decided that I wanted to do a master's which was education based, it was an easy choice of where I wanted to study – it had to be DCU Institute of Education. To me, DCU Institute of Education has a reputation as being a centre of excellence for education and teacher training.” 

Completed part-time over two years, one year of her course was delivered online due to COVID-19.  

“We all got the opportunity to meet each other in break-out rooms. A WhatsApp group was set up and we had a class rep who liaised directly with the head of the programme. All questions were welcomed, and answers were provided in a timely manner. We had some face-to-face lectures in person in year 2 and it was great to meet my classmates. However, I found it suited me better to have online lectures and it suited most of my classmates too. This is because we all worked full time as well as having personal commitments.” 

Justine feels that her Masters’ has given her knowledge and tools that are transferable to her role as both a solicitor and an educator.  “It has prepared me to develop my leadership skills in the workplace and in education and training. It has given me confidence in my position and an understanding of the critical role I play as a leader and educator of the next-generation solicitor. It has given me a broader understanding and has opened my understanding to the transformative role of education in general.”   

She believes DCU “is a progressive and innovative college with excellent facilities. The online library and staff are excellent. However, the main reason why I would encourage people to consider DCU is the quality of the lecturers.” 

“In particular, my supervisor for the thesis part of the MSc was professional, approachable, and established a good rapport with me from the start. He encouraged me and taught me the importance of patience and consistency in education. There were days when I struggled with the thesis, due to work pressures and a family bereavement and he showed me what true leadership was in an educational environment.” 

“I read about the various aspects of leadership in education at length during these two years of this course, however, he put these skills into practice and was an inspiration” she added. 

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