A Brief History of the Human Resources Major
In 1881, the University of Pennsylvania founded the first collegiate business school, the Wharton School, and thus was the beginning of business education in the United States. Wharton School was purposed to provide young men with an education that was based in finance and economy in order to prepare them to be leaders in business and government. As the country began to experience more and more industrial growth business schools started gaining popularity. In the business world, this type of growth also brought on the need for organizations to manage employee concerns and in 1900 B.F. Goodrich Company was the first to create a corporate employee department for that purpose. The passing of several acts in the 1960s and 1970s helped move the management of human resources forward and the field has grown substantially since then. Today, human resources is not only a vital part of business but its own field of study as there is an increasing demand for HR experts.
Delving Into the Human Resources Major
For those students seeking a degree in business but wish to focus on working directly with people, as well as learn how to deal with the challenges that are associated with working with many different types of people in the workplace, a major in human resources is ideal. Students will gain leadership and team-building skills and develop strategies for dealing with complex problems. Whenever people are involved, issues are diverse and sensitive. As such, majoring in human resources will require students to think outside the box and learn how to work with a variety of people from different backgrounds as well as different expectations. When it comes down to it, people run companies and people make companies succeed or fail. The ability of a human relations department to help manage all of those people is both critical and valuable.
Human resources programs will comprise of courses that teach students about all of the skills necessary to run a business such as management, finance, economics, communication, advertising and marketing. Additionally, there will be courses in leadership and dispute resolution as well as those that emphasize the managing of the unique personalities present in any company and the issues that arise in the workplace on a day to day basis. Students are also encouraged to take courses in computers in order to make themselves more marketable to employers upon receiving their degree.
Degree Levels:
Associate
Those who decide to pursue an associate degree in human resources will be educated in core business principles along with basic human resources functions. These types of programs generally take two years to complete and require students to earn around 60 credits in introductory courses on topics such as staffing, record keeping, employee relations, labor laws, compensation, benefits and employee supervising and training. As a foundational degree, an associate in human resources may be awarded at a two-year college or used to transfer to a four-year college or university to pursue a higher-level degree.
Bachelor’s
Earning a bachelor’s degree in human resources will provide students with a solid business education that focuses on human resources management. Common courses include performance management, strategic staffing, legal issues in employment, human resources information systems, compensation and benefit, employee and labor relations, and training and development. These types of programs generally take about four years to complete and require students to earn around 120 credits. Those who hold a bachelor’s degree in human resources can go on to get advanced degrees in HR or business administration and will set themselves up for entrepreneurial opportunities with training beyond that which an undergraduate online degree can offer.
Master’s
Those interested in a graduate education in this field can earn a master’s degree in human resources or an MBA with a concentration in it. A master’s degree program in human resources incorporates advance coursework concerning workplace strategies, human resource planning, and employee and organizational development. These types of programs require students to complete at least 30 credit hours beyond the baccalaureate degree and can take up to three years to complete. An MBA with a concentration in human resources consists of advanced courses in core business subjects with the option to take several elective courses that focus on how human resources functions contribute to business success. Generally, MBA programs require students to complete anywhere from 48 to 60 credit hours, which can take from one to three years to complete depending on program format.
Doctorate
Students who are interested in research or education can pursue a Ph.D. in human resources which goes a step further than a master’s degree. It consists of advanced coursework and research training concerning human resources management, organizational psychology, and industrial relations. Doctoral-level human resources programs are designed for those who wish to pursue a career in academics, management, consultation, or research. These types of programs may also require students to conduct research, write a publishable research paper, or defend a dissertation. A Ph.D. can take from three to five years to earn and require students to complete a minimum of 84 credit hours of graduate coursework.
Supplementing Your Human Resources Major
No matter what type of product a corporation puts out or services a company provides, their greatest resource, as far as business success is concerned, are the people who make it possible. Millions of people make up the world of business and it’s important for organizations to be able to manage them. But human resources is more than just management, and as a growing field in itself more related areas and specializations are surfacing on a regular basis. Majors who wish to become experts within a certain niche of human resources can become educated on a specialization in the field. Some colleges offer these types of specializations as a formal area of concentration, while others may only offer elective courses on them. Some common concentrations within are human resources management, human resources development, personnel psychology, human resources leadership, organizational behavior, and training and development.
Students also have the choice to further define their career potential through choosing a minor. Common minors for human resources majors include psychology, communications, sociology, humanities, anthropology, or philosophy. Minors can also be chosen depending on the type of industry or organization that a student wants to work within. Information technology or computer science can be a great minor for those interested in working for a telecommunications corporation, software company, or some other type of high-tech organization. Students wanting to work with communications professionals may want to look into a minor like public relations, journalism, electronic media, or mass communications. If you are looking for an opportunity managing human resources for a government organization a minor like political science, legal studies, or economics might be beneficial.
Learn More About the Human Resources Major
- Princeton Review: Human Resources Management Major
- MIT OpenCourseWare: People and Organizations
- Society for Human Resource Management
The Human Resources Major in the Job Market
The ability to manage the personnel within a company is of incredible importance. As such, the skills that are brought to a business by a professional human resources manager are invaluable and salaries reflect the significance of the position. The abilities of a human resources manager to recruit the best talent for a company and then get the most out of that talent make a degree holder a valuable hire for any business. Entry level positions receive a salary around $42,000 with managers making an average of $92,000. In addition to working in a variety of businesses that range from hospitals to banks, human resources professionals can also move into both public employment positions as government officials and education administrators.
Those with an undergraduate degree in human resources can pursue careers as human resources assistants, recruitment specialists, and human resources development specialists. Human resources assistants provide support for HR managers and help maintain employee records, assist with HR programs, and help implement development programs. Recruitment specialists are responsible for recruiting qualified employees for organizations, while development specialists interview potential employees and assist in matching them up with the right employers. The annual salary of HR assistants can range from $27,920 to $50, 571, recruitment specialists from $34,299 to $56,592, and development specialist from $33,206 to $43,217, as reported by PayScale.
Those with a bachelor’s degree may qualify for a management position in human resources with possible titles like employee benefits manager, labor relation manager, training and development manager, and employee welfare manager. These types of managers are responsible for a particular area within a human relations department and conduct duties related to the distribution of employee benefits, dispute resolution, safety in the work environment, implementation of development programs, and training of employees. According to PayScale, the annual salaries of human relations managers range from $45,077 to $73,475.
Those who decide to obtain a graduate-level education in finance, can pursue careers as HR consultants and HR directors. Those with executive positions as HR directors are responsible for all of the HR activities within an organization, they supervise other HR managers and implement ways to improve overall function. HR consultants examine organizations’ HR departments, analyze their proficiency, and identify ways to improve structure, efficiency, and performance. PayScale reports that the annual salary of HR directors range from $59,175 to $103,934, while those of HR consultants range from $52,109 to $90,004.
Careers I Can Get with This Degree:
