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.

1. Introduction

The world of work and the workforce have undergone significant and lasting changes following the pandemic. This period accelerated the adoption of digital technologies across industries. Remote work, virtual collaboration tools, generative artificial intelligence, and e-commerce have become commonplace. Pandemic conditions have given rise to what has been referred to as “The Great Resignation” characterized by quiet quitting, resistance to returning to a physical workspace, and increased demands for changing work conditions [1, 2]. Moreover, job disengagement recently hit a nine-year high, according to a Gallup survey, wherein 50 percent of respondents reported they were disengaged or actively disengaged in work [3, 4]. Women and younger workers [those under age 35] experienced the greatest decline in engagement, particularly reporting that they felt less cared about and encouraged in their development. Employees across genders, ages, and work categories [onsite, hybrid, and fully remote] now seek flexible schedules, a work-life balance, options for child and elder care, and employers who are responsive and focused on employee well-being and mental health [3, 5]. In addition to these demands, they want the organizations they work for to be culturally responsive and environmentally sustainable [6, 7, 8].

What does all this mean for human resource [HR] professionals? They are no longer relegated to the role of “compliance police” [9]. Instead, they are tasked with leading the charge of rethinking and redesigning the workplace to adjust to the post-pandemic employees’ changing attitudes toward work and life [10].

Pre-pandemic, HR professionals began to shift to a new mindset described as focusing on the “employee experience” [11]. This shift is now critical to reengage a disillusioned workforce. The new HR leader will be tasked with hiring, onboarding, developing, supporting, and retaining a workforce that can navigate the changes ahead and have the skills necessary for success. According to a recent survey by Salary.com [12], workers’ top 5 in-demand skills include effective communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, attention to detail, and analytical thinking. To cultivate a workforce with these skills, the HR team of leaders will need to ensure their organizations foster an inclusive and welcoming environment, with ample support, and establish effective two-way communication with their employees to address their needs.

HR leaders are required to be adept data-driven decision-makers who are capable of leading learning organizations [13]. Almost two-thirds of those leading the HR functions of learning and development saw their role elevated to the C-suite in mid-2021. This shift is indicative of HR leaders being tasked not only with more traditional functions of professional development, compliance, and safety training, but now must also master leadership development, address pay equity issues, and develop robust engagement protocols to curb the tide of disengagement and job hopping [13, 14, 15].

HR openings are continuing to rise, with five of the 25 fastest-growing jobs in the United States since 2018 belonging to [14] Positions such as human resources analytics manager [No. 2], diversity and inclusion manager [No. 3], and chief people officer [No. 15] are evidence of emerging areas of growth as HR departments and their professionals grapple with solving some of the organizations’ greatest challenges related to dramatic transformations in the world, including the balance between remote and in-person work and the adjustments changes related to automation and technology. While these require technical skills, they also require employees to think systemically and create solutions that do not exist in our current HR toolbox. Given these new demands, the question arises if traditional preparation programs in human resources are sufficient. Upon reviewing course descriptions, we found that it was more common for programs to equip HR leaders with the critical legal and compliance functions that HR departments support, rather than giving them the skills to lead innovation and employee development in this dramatically changing time.

As faculty within the oldest leadership doctoral program in the U.S., we noticed that more and more of our graduates were entering HR fields. To be responsive to their evolving needs, we embarked on this research project to determine the potential of developing a master’s degree in human resources leadership. In this chapter, we report the results of our analysis as well as recommended areas of focus, content, and pedagogical approaches to prepare aspiring HR professionals with the leadership skills required to address the wicked complex problems they will face.

2. Methodological overview

To develop an understanding of the need for a potential master’s degree program in Human Resources Leadership and/or a professional certificate in the area, we brought an explanatory sequential mixed method to the problem. We first gathered empirical data from three distinct sources: a private company that describes the market attractiveness of various degrees both locally and nationally, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, and a comprehensive review of Human Resource certificate programs throughout California.

In addition to these sources, we used two websites that ranked the best master’s in human resources degree programs throughout the United States: intelligent.com and bestmastersdegrees.com. Although several websites ranked human resources master’s programs, we selected the two that appeared to have the most rigorous selection criteria. For example, intelligent.com [16] evaluated the schools based on equally rated measures of academic quality, graduation rate, cost, and return on investment to produce a list of the top 36 schools, while bestmastersdegrees.com [17] used the cost of the degree [40%], academic rigor [35%], and student gratification [25%] to produce a list of the top 28 schools. As might be expected, there was a significant overlap between the two lists, and when we combined the lists, we ended up with an unduplicated count of 45 schools; these schools and their respective programs will be used in our cost and program length analysis discussed later in the chapter.

To ensure the development of a top-notch program, we first held discussions with several prominent members of the human resources community and then organized a focus group discussion involving six additional HR professionals. Their valuable insights, gained from years of experience in the field, were sought to identify, from their perspective, the most cutting-edge curricula and pedagogy that would best equip HR leaders for the challenges ahead. The participants in the focus group were diverse in terms of age, race/ethnicity, gender, and years of experience in the HR field. Some were recent graduates of our master’s or Ph.D. program in Leadership Studies, having already worked in HR for a few years. Others brought extensive experience, with one individual offering over 40 years of HR experience and being regarded as a prominent leader in the San Diego HR community.

The focus group discussion was held virtually and recorded, and the data was carefully analyzed, coded, and themed to draw meaningful conclusions. In the following sections, we will share and discuss the noteworthy findings from this effort. We begin with a review of the empirical data gathered from the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics that describes recent degree-granting trends in Human Resources. We then discuss several emerging content areas vital for HR professionals, including leadership development and coaching, data analytics, group relations, international relations, restorative justice, and survey research methods. Our findings conclude with a discussion of potential program designs and delivery methods, where somewhat surprisingly, there was a strong consensus about the best way to deliver master’s programming. The chapter concludes with a discussion of what it all seems to mean and the potential implications for those interested in developing graduate programs in this area.

3. The demand and supply of graduate HR programs challenges

To understand the market for undergraduate and graduate degrees in Human Resources, both supply and demand sides must be considered, and each presents its own set of unique challenges. For example, until the 2011–2012 academic year data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics aggregated the three general types of Human Resources degrees – Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, Human Resources Development, and Human Resources Management and Services, Other – under the broad category of Business. For this reason, any sort of disaggregated intertemporal analysis of degree programs is restricted to the period from 2011 to 2012 onward.

Another challenge involves the highly confidential and institution-specific data regarding the number of program applicants, the number admitted, and the concomitant yield. Without this information, the number of degrees earned represents a measure of demand, albeit more of a derived demand since we have no way of knowing what the actual demand was. Of course, many other factors influence demand for such degrees, including Google search volume, international page views, annual job postings, job openings per graduate, median wages, and the one and three-year growth rates of Human Resource jobs, to name a few.

From the supply side, the number of slots and programs offered on a year-by-year basis remains similarly unavailable, as are the net prices paid by the admitted students. Although we know the volume of in-market competition matters for in-person programs, national competition matters as well for online programs and some types of hybrid programs. Although anecdotal evidence suggests that the number of graduate programs has been increasing – or at least advertising and spending on these programs has increased- a detailed intertemporal look at the supply of these degree programs, including available slots, is currently unavailable.

Given our inability to accurately estimate both the demand and supply for the various HR degrees, we turned our efforts toward analyzing the market outcomes determined by the intersection of supply and demand that is the number of degrees awarded annually by Title IV-eligible institutions of higher education. Title IV institutions are those that are eligible to participate in federal student aid programs. As such, we first discuss what we know about the number and types of degrees awarded, and then examine the extent to which these results vary by gender.

3.1 What we know: degrees awarded

Given the limitations involved in estimating the supply and demand for both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Human Resources, we concentrate in this section on trends in the number of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees awarded by gender, as well as some recent evidence suggesting that the demand seems to be increasing.

The result of our intertemporal analysis reveals that among all three of the degree types offered, the Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration major/degree is clearly the most popular, representing 85.7% of all bachelor’s degrees awarded in Human Resources, 72.4% of all master’s degrees, and 53.6% of all doctoral degrees awarded in the area during the 2019–2020 academic year [18]. Although there was some variation across the years, this area was consistently the most popular in terms of degrees awarded. Not surprisingly, this degree is also the most comprehensive, being defined as a program that generally prepares individuals to manage the development of human capital in organizations and to provide related services to individuals and groups; this includes instruction in personnel and organization policy, human resource dynamics and flows, labor relations, sex roles, civil rights, human resources law and regulations, motivation and compensation systems, work systems, career management, employee testing and assessment, recruitment and selection, managing employee and job training programs, and the management of human resources programs and operations [18].

The second most popular degree awarded at all three levels was the Human Resources Development major/degree, representing 8.8% of all bachelor’s degrees awarded in Human Resources, 14.2% of all master’s degrees, and 46.4% of all doctoral degrees awarded in the area during the 2019–2020 academic year [18]. This degree represents a program that prepares individuals to apply integrated training, organizational development, and career planning and counseling skills to the design, management, and evaluation of programs to improve individual productivity, employability, job satisfaction, and organizational effectiveness; this includes instruction in psychology; organizational behavior; principles of adult education; occupational counseling; skill testing and evaluation; program design; consulting practice; organizational development; and applications to issues such as training, management development, customer service, and total quality management.

The final degree awarded in the Human Resources area is the Human Resources Management and Services, Other, which includes any instructional program not covered by the popular Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration degree. This area comprised 5.5% of bachelor’s degrees awarded, 13.5% of the master’s degrees, and 0% of the doctoral degrees awarded [18].

3.2 What we know: gender differences in degrees awarded

During the nine years available to us for analysis [2011–2012 to 2019–2020], the growth is clearly seen in master’s degrees. For example, bachelor’s degrees awarded in Human Resources increased by 3.7%, master’s degrees increased by 32.5%, and doctoral degrees decreased by 9.1% [18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25]. Throughout this period, females consistently earned more Human Resource degrees than males. Among bachelor’s degrees awarded, the female share ranged from 70 to 73%, while among master’s degree recipients the female share was even higher, ranging from 72–76%. Among doctoral recipients, the distribution was a bit more equal, with female shares ranging from 59–65%. Taken together, however, it is clear that females are earning significantly more degrees in Human Resources than males [18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25]. Examining changes in degrees awarded over time, females are also outperforming males. For example, total bachelor’s degrees awarded to females increased by almost 9% over this period while decreasing by a little more than 7% for men. Similarly, master’s degrees earned by females increased by more than 17%, while again decreasing by almost 7% for males. This was true for all three areas/majors for both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Doctoral degrees, however, declined for both females and males, with males again suffering a steeper percentage decline (Table 1) [18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25].

Degree type	Females	Males
Bachelor’s	8.97	−7.16
Master’s	17.33	−6.86
Doctoral	−26.09	−31.25

Table 1.

Percentage change in degrees awarded by gender, 2011–2012 to 2019–2020.

4. Transitioning to our qualitative approach

The results of our quantitative analysis provided us with important scaffolding for our interviews and subsequent focus group. Specifically, the 32.5% increase in master’s degrees awarded since 2011–2012, when coupled with the 9.1% decline in doctoral degrees awarded and the meager growth in bachelor’s degrees [3.7%] suggested that the focus of our qualitative approach should be on understanding the most sought-after components of a master’s degree in HR or even a graduate certificate. For this reason, we developed a semi-structured interview guide focused solely on offering either a master’s degree or a graduate certificate in Human Resources.

4.1 The focus of the semi-structured interview guide

To guide us during our initial discussions and the subsequent focus group, we developed a semi-structured interview guide that contained five questions with several follow-up probes if the information we were seeking was not initially forthcoming. We began by drawing on the experience of our HR professionals to see whether a master’s degree or a certificate would be more valuable, given the differential cost associated with each. We then asked if we built the programs, and what content and specific areas should be included; these ranged from the value of internships and global competencies to specific content areas they felt HR professionals needed. We also asked about how the content should be delivered [in-person, remote, or hybrid], the ideal length of the program, whether this is something their company might be willing to pay for [or at least a part of], and how much individuals would be willing to pay for either a master’s or a certificate.

We also queried these HR professionals as to their greatest knowledge challenges and how the HR field in general was evolving. We were particularly interested in knowing what cutting-edge areas we need to be aware of. Additional questions were asked that were more institution-specific; for example, why prospective students would be attracted to our university program viz-a-vie our local and regional competitors. We encouraged our respondents to any topic or issue that we failed to discuss; this ultimately surfaced several important concerns that will be addressed in the findings sections that follow.

5. Findings

5.1 Content area

Our focus group discussions with HR professionals yielded a diverse array of course recommendations geared toward preparing students for successful careers in HR. In general, they leaned heavily toward practice-oriented, experiential courses with an emphasis on solving real-world problems over theory-intensive offerings. Suggested course categories included: the development of international cultural competence; diversity, equity, and inclusion training, soft skill development; leadership and research training, and technical expertise. We describe each of these course categories next.

One of the most salient areas of study in any HR program, according to these respondents, are courses that help aspiring HR professionals become culturally competent. Learning how to interact with a culturally diverse workforce internationally was described as paramount. Many organizations have expanded their operations globally and/or work within an international community. Knowing how to work respectfully in this context, equipped with the knowledge and skills to hire, train, and collaborate with individuals who share different cultural beliefs and values across international contexts could help HR professionals contribute to a positive workplace culture and support employee well-being and performance.

Courses in diversity, equity, and inclusion [DEI] were also recommended to help prepare individuals for today’s increasingly diverse U.S. workplace. Previous research indicates that people from marginalized social groups continue to present high rates of disengagement, turnover, and health issues as a consequence of feeling that they do not belong in their organization [26]. Minority employees suffer from a lack of opportunities for advancement, stereotyping, microaggressions, and other discriminatory practices. Since women earn more HR degrees than men, it will be particularly important to ensure that women realize how to navigate the “double binds” they often face as female leaders, such as when women display warmth and compassion, they are viewed as too soft. Female HR leaders need to be equipped with the skills to effectively lead change in the DEI space if these initiatives are to be successful. Organizational diversity along racial, ethnic, gender, class, and religious lines, requires HR professionals to have the knowledge and skills to help lead the change that is needed to construct a more socially just work environment.

Another key category identified as important for inclusion in HR programs were courses that teach what has been referred to as the “soft skills”, encompassing interpersonal or people skills as well as communication competencies [27]. The participants in this study recommended that individuals gain oral and written communication skills including some technical skills in presentation techniques and graphic design tools. Effective communication is key in HR management to successfully convey complex information on policies and procedures, recruit new employees, promote a positive workplace culture, engage in negotiations, and effectively pass on information from other top executives to the workforce.

Soft skills are key in helping to manage employee relations and resolve conflicts. It is often incumbent upon an HR manager to train, support, and remedy any issue that might arise because of a breakdown in employee relations. The culture of an organization depends on the success of their employees getting along, being able to collaborate, sharing responsibility, and engaging in productive decision-making yet, previous research conducted by CPI [2008] found that the majority of employees in their study [85%] reported that they had to deal with employee conflict. Moreover, less than half of the managers questioned [only 44%] received training in how to handle employee disagreements. This finding is not surprising given the types of HR degrees typically awarded. While technical and management skills are frequently a cornerstone of a quality HR program, they are not equipping HR leaders with these critical soft skills. The HR professionals in our focus groups addressed this persistent and pervasive problem. They called for training in Restorative Justice [RJ], conflict resolution, group relations, communication skills, and coaching. These courses are designed to provide a safe space for dialog, help negotiate solutions, preserve relationships, and improve organizational culture. Since women are more likely to serve in these HR roles than men, it is critical that programs recruit professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds and skill sets to achieve gender balance.

The HR professionals in this study explained that any HR program must also include leadership courses, specifically in change management, adaptive leadership, decision-making, and importantly, problem-solving. Introducing research methods classes can equip HR leaders with the tools to identify the right problem and frame that problem that can lead to evidence-based decision-making. Survey design, data analytics, and qualitative research skills were thought to be helpful in knowing the right questions to ask when hiring new employees but also when interviewing or surveying current employees regarding work satisfaction, and when creating plans for professional development and training. As the landscape of HR has shifted with the introduction of generative AI and more data platforms, these skills have risen to a greater level of importance as our biases can be transferred to AI tools. HR professionals will need these skills to ensure that they are defining and solving the correct problem. Learning research inquiry skills provides the tools HR managers need to engage in continuous organizational improvement.

Finally, these HR professionals also emphasized the importance of technical courses, particularly in legal compliance. Learning how to protect employee rights, creating a fair workplace environment, handling harassment and discrimination issues, and complying with wage, safety, and health laws are just some of the legal competencies that are necessary to protect both employees and their organization. While this content has been a hallmark of traditional programs, legal compliance training must be taught in light of the challenges facing today’s workforce. For example, while employers can require employees to work in person, it does not mean that they will work most effectively under these conditions.

In that vein, these HR professionals emphasized the need for courses addressing the challenges posed by the current and expanding remote and hybrid workplace environments. With the aftermath of COVID-19, many employees have resisted returning to work full-time. As reported by Forbes [28] suggest that approximately 36.2 million Americans will be working remotely by 2025, an increase from pre-pandemic levels. Training is needed for example to help organizational leaders better understand how to manage remote and hybrid work teams, collaborate virtually, and foster a remote work culture. Constructing arrangements that encompass in-office, remote, and hybrid – arrangements that are likely to exist all at the same time- requires exploration.

5.2 Delivery

In addition to recommendations for the content of the program, these HR professionals offered their suggestions for how best to deliver the program. While our initial program reviews indicated that aspiring HR professionals were offered a mix of face-to-face, hybrid, and fully remote, participants in our interviews and focus group showed a surprising consensus that face-to-face programming offered clear benefits. That said, in this post-COVID world, they suggested that a hybrid program would be best. Participants reasoned that after working remotely for several years with products like Zoom and Teams, individuals felt more comfortable with remote and preferred its convenience. They also felt that incorporating remote learning would scaffold pedagogy that could support them as they worked with a remote workforce. As one participant remarked, “Since remote work will always be part of an HR professional’s job, understanding how to communicate and manage remote workers is a skill that can best be taught remotely.” This approach bridges the gap between traditional face-to-face education and the remote-centric reality of today’s workforce.

5.3 Cost and length of program

As discussed in our methodological overview, we reviewed graduate certificates offered throughout California as well as the top 45 master’s HR programs offered throughout the United States and noted both the cost and length of the programs [as measured by total units required]. Although our sample was not a census, we found that there was significantly more variation in the length of certificate programs than in the master’s programs offered. For example, the average length of the master’s programs we reviewed was 36 semester units, with programs ranging in length from 24 to 48 units, with 60% of programs bounded between 33 and 39 units. Graduate certificate programs, however, spanned a range from 12 units to 27 units, with an average program length between five and six courses.

The HR professionals in our interviews and focus groups agreed that the ideal length of a master’s program in Human Resources would be between one and two years, which works out to be between 18 and 24 months, depending, of course, on the intensity with which the degree is pursued. Regarding the graduate certificate programs, participants strongly felt that less than a year was ideal, during which five or six courses could certainly be completed in less than a year.

From a financial perspective, we found that for master’s programs, the in-state cost per course ranged from $1047 to $4488, while graduate certificate courses ranged between $275 and $1047. Given the different programmatic requirements, the total in-state program costs for the master’s degree in human resources ranged from $5742 to $47,208 with a mean tuition of $21,192; interestingly, half of the programs had a total in-state cost of between $10,770 and $23,760. Similarly, the cost for the certificate programs was between $3400 and $13,611, although most were clustered between $3400 and $3955.

When participants were asked for their thoughts about programmatic costs, their replies were somewhat generic, suggesting that employers would pay up to $5000 for employees earning a certificate, and up to $10,000 for a master’s degree. Taken together, this suggests that graduate certificates could be financed largely through the employer [for those currently employed in human resources], while the cost of a master’s degree could be partially offset by employer contributions.

6. Conclusion

The implications of this study are unmistakable. 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 [27, 29]. Today’s effective HR preparation calls for in-person, hands-on, practice-oriented programs offering courses focused on solving real-world problems – with the recognition that challenges are evolving. Thus, the new HR leaders must be trained first and foremost in critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

As organizations have stretched internationally, greater attention is needed for an emphasis on global cultural competence. Integrating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) courses can substantially enhance the readiness of HR professionals both domestically and internationally to lead an increasingly diverse workforce and create a more inclusive and socially just workplace. Moreover, HR leaders must learn how to navigate the different reactions to DEI based on their employees’ gender, age, race, socioeconomic status, and political affiliation. While DEI knowledge is needed more than ever as organizations hire and work globally, many organizations have recently eliminated DEI positions due to a lack of clarity of work, failure to allocate resources, and defining accountability [30] – all typical HR functions. Coupled with the failure to address long-standing organizational cultural issues, companies are struggling to implement and sustain DEI practices. To combat these challenges, more research is needed to understand why some DEI positions are successful and what training and knowledge the leaders are implementing in these roles. This knowledge will need to be embedded in future HR programs to replicate this success.

The rapidly changing nature of work conditions motivated these HR professionals to also call for the importance of training for leadership in remote and hybrid environments. Courses in leadership and research were identified as vital tools to help them address the many cultural challenges they are facing stemming from organizational restructuring. Moreover, nurturing soft skill development and technical training, particularly in the area of legal compliance, could help prepare aspiring HR professionals. However, as this data suggests, merely addressing the technical aspect of HR training programs is not enough. The dynamic work environment, which is so intimately tied to societal shifts, underscores the need for ongoing programmatic adaptations. Research into emerging HR trends needs to be regularly conducted by universities. As doctoral HR programs have declined, a renewed focus on HR empirical research should be considered and supported as part of a university’s research agenda.

Successful HR programs are those prepared to respond, evolve, and align with the ever-changing workplace [31]. Learning labs in HR that regularly examine change in the workplace and measure their effectiveness is a potential new area of study that could help academics and practitioners better understand how to prepare others for the challenges ahead. Our study suggests that this means in part we need to train HR leaders to think more innovatively, know how to identify genuine problems, think more deeply and critically, and be responsive to the needs of an increasingly diverse population with emerging trends and needs. This will likely not be achieved by following the curriculum of traditional HR programs. Instead, we need to teach HR leaders how to lead and solve the wicked problems our global workforce is facing.