Work toward this multidisciplinary degree is offered by faculty drawn from the departments of Economics, Management, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology and the program in Organizational Learning and Human Resource Development. Admission is not restricted to students from these majors. However, students entering industrial relations ideally should have a broad background in the social sciences.
Graduates understand and know how to manage human resources in business and nonprofit organizations.
They possess the analytical and interpersonal skills necessary to function as human resource professionals. They understand various aspects of the employment relationship and the techniques for improving the quality of work life in an increasingly diverse, global, and technologically oriented labor force. Graduates demonstrate strong oral and written communication skills as well as the ability to lead groups and teams. The program in industrial relations is regarded as education for both professional practice and scientific inquiry. Through the Industrial Relations Center and its interdisciplinary faculty, facilities and opportunities exist for research of both a fundamental and applied nature on a variety of problems concerned with the world of people at work.