What is it about?
In this study we examined what HR classes are being required to earn an HR concentration (at the undergraduate level). We reviewed the course catalogs of all AACSB and EQUIS accredited schools to create our sample. We found that HR concentrations require an average of 3.4 HR courses. However, there was wide variation, in both number of required courses and in the courses themselves. We considered this from the perspective of the field of HR becoming a "profession," and concluded that there is not yet an agreed-upon body of knowledge underpinning the field (one of the major indicators of a profession). We also examined whether major HR professional organizations, such as SHRM (the Society for Human Resource Management) influence the curricula of HR programs.
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Why is it important?
We thought this was important because HR is a field that is trying to move toward being a profession (like accounting or law). It's interesting to see where it is on that journey, and what is still needed, from an education perspective, to move the field in that direction.
Perspectives
I am particularly interested in this topic because I have students who graduate with our HR concentration, and they are VERY well trained, but they still have trouble finding jobs. Many of the HR jobs expect applicants to already have work experience. This suggests that the concentration is not valued by employers. A good reason for that could be that the HR concentration means different things at different schools - so it has no meaning or value to employers. While I was expecting to find a lot of variation when we started this project, I had no idea just how much variety exists. Because some schools allow students to choose from a subset of courses to get the concentration, and because not all of those courses are always HR courses (some included Introduction to Management, for example, or Organizational Behavior, as HR classes), it is actually possible to get an HR concentration at some schools without ever taking a dedicated HR class. No wonder employers don't value the concentration! I hope this article stimulates change in a positive direction in terms of what the HR concentration means.
Dr. Laura Parks-Leduc
James Madison University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Professionalization of Human Resource Management: Examining Undergraduate Curricula and the Influence of Professional Organizations, Organizational Behavior Teaching Review, August 2017, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1052562917727034.
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