Industrial and Labor Relations (Graduate Field)

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Field Description

Cornell offers four graduate degree programs in the field of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR): PhD (doctoral program specialized in Human Resources, Organizational Behavior, International and Comparative Labor, or Labor Relations, Law, and History), MS (Master of Science, Labor Research and Policy concentration), MILR (Master of Industrial and Labor Relations); and MPS (Master of Professional Studies), which includes the EMHRM (Executive Master of Human Resource Management) program and the MPS Ithaca program.

MILR

Designed for people who aspire to HR and Labor leadership roles. It’s a professional degree for people ready to tackle the issues of organizational success, employee well-being, and labor relations. MILR covers leadership, decision-making, and conflict resolution. This degree brings both the theoretical and the practical into focus.

MS ILR with a concentration in Labor Research and Policy

Designed for students who wish to focus on labor research and policy analysis. The concentration prepares students for careers in the following areas – with  more focused expertise in one area developed through their coursework, recommended internship and thesis:

  • Labor and Employment Policy Research
  • Labor Union Research, Strategic Campaigns, and Collective Action
  • International Labor Standards Research, Monitoring, and Enforcement

PhD

Students specialize in one of four areas: human resource studies; international and comparative labor; labor relations, law and history; or organizational behavior. They also minor in any of the above areas, as well as in statistics and data science or labor economics. The PhD program typically takes 4-5 years to complete.

Executive Master of Human Resource Management (EMHRM)

Designed for HR professionals with eight or more years of full-time HR relevant work experience who aspire to advance to progressively higher levels of executive HR leadership. In this 15-month hybrid program, students learn about the latest Human Resources research from leading academics and interact with senior HR leaders from multiple industries. Most of the coursework is taken remotely and combined with three week-long residential sessions to create a hybrid learning environment. The EMHRM experience builds understanding of the essential links between business strategy and workforce strategy and teaches advanced skills in organizational design, talent development, change leadership, and other core elements of HR excellence. The EMHRM program leads to a Master of Professional Studies (MPS) degree.

MPS Ithaca

This degree is limited to individuals with professionally related work experience who wish to update their knowledge of current practices. Applicants for this degree are limited to those sponsored by their organization.

Data and Statistics

Field Manual