Putting the Leadership Back into Human Resources Degrees: A Focus on Emerging Curricula and Pedagogy

Abstract

This chapter delves into the dynamic and rapidly changing skill requirements needed by today’s Human Resource [HR] professionals. Specifically, we investigate the trends currently shaping graduate preparation programs and what sort of curricular changes are needed to prepare the next generation of HR professionals. We bring an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach to the problem, first gathering empirical data describing trends in enrollment and degrees awarded to understand the demand for and supply of graduate HR programs. We also collected data on programmatic offerings that included the cost and the number of graduate units required in the leading master’s programs in human resources, as well as similar data from California that described the various graduate certificate programs offered within the state. We then conducted a series of interviews and a focus group that was comprised of local HR professionals enabling us to think through potential program designs. Our study revealed that there is a pressing call for programs that shift from theory-intensive courses toward those that offer practical skills in navigating an ever-evolving workplace. Furthermore, participants strongly advocated for a hybrid program to better prepare them for both the real and virtual world that HR professionals must now navigate.