Academy of Management Academy of Management Learning & Education

The Master's Degree in HRM: Midwife to a New Profession?
Author(s): Mitchell Langbert

Source: Academy of Management Learning & Education, Vol. 4, No. 4 (Dec., 2005), pp. 434-
450
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• Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2005, Vol. 4, No. 4, 434-450.
The Master's Degree in HRM:

Midwife to a New Profession?
MITCHELL LANGBERT
Brooklyn College
Human resource master's programs lack a consistent identity. No course is required in

more than 59.2% of programs, and the two most commonly offered courses are not the
courses that managers favor. Part of the variability is from competition among four
paradigms. Both HR scholars and HR managers favor greater emphasis on business and
change management competencies, with less on technical competencies. But program
directors do not anticipate change in program design.
In Plato's Theatetus, Socrates describes himself as leadership from universities in defining the role of
a midwife who drives his students to their wits' HRM. Practitioners may value the specialized HR
end in helping them to discern whether the ideas master's programs, but plead for graduates who
to which they have given birth are true. During the have mastered change management and cognate
20th century, professional education in fields such interpersonal skills, suggesting a gap in HR edu-
as medicine and accounting played an analogous cation. It may be that pedagogy in HR master's
role in cutting the umbilical cord of past practice programs is good, but it may not be so clear that
and aiding the birth of new professions. The pastthe 2 programs have raised the profession's stand-
decades have seen a new conception of human ing or provided the competencies that support a
resource management (HRM) that emphasizes high repositioned HR function.
performance, change management, and integra-Part of the reason for the gap between what is
tion of HR with broad business strategy (Conner needed
& and actual programs may be that histori-
Ulrich, 1996; Huselid, 1995; Kochan, Katz, & McKer- cally there have been diverse practical demands
sie, 1986; Schuler, 1990; Ulrich, 1997). Has HR edu-and divers academic influences on HR teaching
cation served as a midwife to the newly conceived and practice. HR is a multidisciplinary field, and in
HRM profession, just as medical and accounting industry, HR departments are asked to perform too
education served to those professions? Or is itmany functions for a master's program to cover. As
more appropriate to draw an analogy to medical Kaufman (2002) shows, HR programs evolved out of
education's inchoate identity in the 19th century? both the economic and psychological disciplines,
This article is about specialized master's pro- and both disciplines include classical, critical, and
grams in HRM, such as HR master of science (MS) applied paradigms. Thus, while researchers have
and master of arts (MA) programs, and perceptions
identified many of the competencies that HR man-
about them in industry and universities. My claim
agers need, educators have yet to arrive at a pro-
is that specialized HR master's degree programs fession-enhancing consensus as to a standard
have been a moderate success, but have not course of study. The history of education in other
played the midwife's role in training professionals
professions suggests that such a consensus would
who can execute core paradigms and improvehelp thethe HR profession to improve its status.
field's prestige. A wide variability in course offer-
Medicine is the best example. Nineteenth cen-
ings across programs, while evidence of pedagog-tury medicine was an unconvincing field, and pro-
ical creativity, may suggest the need for betterprietary medical schools were the norm. Change in
consensus about the role HR education should medical education began at Harvard and with the
play, much as there was a need for a better con- of Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1893.
opening
sensus about medical education's role in the 19thAbraham Flexner (1910) wrote Bulletin Number
Four under the aegis of the Carnegie Foundation
century. A scarcity of courses that cover necessary
competencies, such as interpersonal and change
for the Advancement of Teaching. Flexner was se-
management, may suggest the need for better vere in his criticism of medical schools, and ar-
434
2005
gued It is possible that morethaconsistent educational

education standards and a curriculum based on models that
medical schools should be modeled after Johns better address emerging paradigms would im-
Hopkins. The system of medical education that prove the professional image of HR as well. HR has
emerged in response to Flexner's report not only not achieved the professional status that many
transformed the medical schools, but also the en- practitioners in the field believe it deserves. In the
tire medical profession. The new system increased 1980s, Jain and Murray (1984) argued that although
the homogeneity and cohesiveness of the profes- HR researchers had identified a range of best prac-
sion, instilled common values in physicians, re- tices in areas such as job analysis, human re-
duced idiosyncratic practices, and led to a shared source planning, and staffing, only a small propor-
tion of firms had adopted such practices. In the
professional identity (Collins, 1979; Starr, 1982). The
revised system did not arise from mere imitation 1990s scholars such as Huselid (1995) and Becker
across programs, but rather was medicine's proac- and Huselid (1998) demonstrated the strategic im-
tive, strategic response to the advance of medical portance of HRM and showed that integration of
paradigms. As medical education demonstrated abest practices with firms' business strategies was
clearer focus, the field gained prestige. Programs associated with firms' financial success. But
were able to attract more resources, better stu- around the same time, Stewart (1996: 105-107) ar-
dents, and more funding for research. Moreover, gued in Fortune that HR was the "last bureau-
from a teaching standpoint, medical education cracy" and should be abolished. More recently, in
was enriched so that physicians-to-be were ex- an article in Workforce entitled "HR is Dead: Long
posed to high-involvement learning processes that Live HR" Caudron (2003: 26-30) claims that "the
included clinical experience in their last 2 years of majority of HR people still don't have what it takes
medical school and residencies. to fulfill leadership roles" and that as a result one
In the case of accounting, education played a quarter of top HR jobs go to people with no HR
smaller and more gradual, but still perceptible background.
role. Before the 1920s, the quality of accounting Indeed, in their comprehensive review of change
education varied widely, and by the mid 1920s in the HR field, Lawler and Mohrman (2003) find
(Previts & Merino, 1998: 256): that although there has been improvement in or-
ganization and service delivery, change has been
[M]ore than ninety different accounting "surprisingly small" (pp. 105-106) and that HR ex-
courses were being offered in universities, ecutives often are not strategic partners (p. 1). They
often reflecting specific questions that had suggest that part of the reason is low skill levels.
appeared on prior CPA examinations . . . They also suggest that while HR managers are
[Accounting academics came to be per- competent with respect to interpersonal and team-
ceived as less scholarly than their colleagues building skills, they are lacking in change man-
in other disciplines . . . More than forty differ- agement, strategic planning and organizational
ent financial accounting courses seemed to design skills. Medicine and accounting have
indicate that little thought was given to basic reached better consensus as to their skill sets in
principles. Academics and practitioners part through the establishment of rigorous and
called for a more conceptual orientation in relevant professional educational standards and
accounting education. certification that meets the expectations of their
constituencies.
The professionalization of accounting depended

on a number of forces, including the passage of the HR COMPETENCIES
Securities and Exchange Act and the merger of the
American Institute of Accountants with the Amer- As Flexner did with respect to medical education
in his day, human resource scholars already have
ican Society of Certified Public Accountants in 1935
(Miranti, 1990). But the establishment of the Amer-identified key competencies that the HR master's
ican Accounting Association, which emphasizedcurriculum should cover. Scholars have long rec-
ognized that HR education needs to provide a bal-
scholarly research, led to formulation of account-
ing standards and principles that were developedance among general business knowledge, HR tech-
in tandem with an increasingly well-articulated nical knowledge, and change management
competencies. Copies (1958: 226-227) argues that
program of accounting education. As generally ac-
cepted accounting principles (GAAP) evolved, ac-"there exists a continuum for which the two end-
counting education gained better focus and thepoints are, on the one hand, advocacy of a highly
profession's image improved. specialized program covering practices in indus-
436
trial relations, and on the other, advocacy of a also argue that HR education needs to address
generalized foundation curriculum in business multiple constituencies.
management." Miles (1985) argues that in business In short, academics who have studied HR educa-
education there has always been a struggle be- tion agree that it needs to balance business with
tween the demands for functional specialization HR issues, that change management and cognate
and the demands for skills of general managers to interpersonal competencies are important, and
address broad organizational and business needs. that the technical knowledge in fields like compen-
Adler and Lawler (1999) argue that global compe- sation, benefits, staffing, training, and job analysis
tition has created a need for better master's pro- needs to be balanced with understanding of broad
grams in HR, and that MBA programs might in business issues, the ability to manage change, and
some ways respond to the emerging needs better the ability to think strategically about the busi-
than specialized HR master's programs. On the one ness. These goals are complicated by the multidis-
hand, they note that while MBAs may not be the ciplinary nature of the field and the importance of
best preparation for technical HR roles, they are balancing the interests of multiple constituencies.
good foundations for the business partner, organi- Because HR master's programs have the poten-
zational effectiveness, and change agent roles of tial to integrate business and change management
HR managers. On the other hand, Langbert (2000) with HR education, readers may find it useful to
has provided data that shows that HR managers see whether the programs have been doing so.
perceive gaps in HR MBA graduates' training with Because of their focus on HRM, HR master's pro-
respect to change management and interpersonal grams have the potential to play a leadership role
skills. in redefining the HR profession. Just as medical
education came to lead the medical profession in
Kaufman (1996) also argues in favor of MBA pro-
grams, and at times loses faith in the future of the early 20th century, so might HR master's de-
grees lead the HR field. This might include not only
specialized HR master's programs because the
education with respect to broad generalist sub-
specialized programs have lacked balance. He
jects, which are most important, but also with re-
(1999) points out that there are at least three poten-
spect to specialist subjects such as benefits, safety
tial paradigms for HR education, to include strate-
and health, training, and staffing. HR master's de-
gic management, sociotechnical systems, and or-
grees are therefore an important set of programs to
ganizational economics. He argues that the
examine. Are they playing the midwife's role?
changes in HR imply that companies want HR pro-
fessionals to be savvy about other functional areas
of the business, and that HR programs need to ENGAGEMENT THEORY
augment HR coursework with coursework in busi-
Although the curriculum in HR master's degree
ness subjects. He notes that demand is shifting programs has important implications, it is only one
from specialized HR master's programs toward of several potential factors influencing student
MBA programs because HR courses are too func-outcomes. Other factors include inputs such as fac-
tional. He argues that specialized programs needulty qualifications (Conrad & Blackburn, 1985), fac-
to do a better job in integrating business subjects ulty research productivity (Drew & Karpf, 1981), stu-
into HR courses. Kaufman (1999) also observes that
dent qualifications (Astin, 1993; Astin & Solomon,
university HR programs have changed their basis 1981), and university systems (Seymour, 1992; Winn
from economics to organizational behavior. He ar- & Cameron, 1998). Astin (1980, 1987) argues that the
gues that the HR field has lost a significant part ofefficacy of inputs depends on their interaction with
its multidisciplinary character and has become too the student's involvement in the educational pro-
"micro" in focus. cess. He contrasts four alternative definitions of
Brockbank, Ulrich, and Beatty (1999) argue that
academic quality, namely, reputation, resources,
HR professionals have to demonstrate competen- outcomes, and curriculum, with talent develop-
cies with respect to knowledge of the business,ment, which he argues is the ultimate purpose of
delivery of HR practice, and ability to manage higher education. In turn talent development de-
change. They argue that HR professionals need to
pends on involvement. Involvement is enhanced,
be more knowledgeable about financial manage-in Astin's view, through enriched teaching modes
ment and customer demands. Wooten and Elden whereby students take responsibility for learning.
(2001) argue that there are five competencies Among
im- the enrichment techniques that he advo-
portant to HR education, namely, technical HR pro-
cates are independent study, internships, experi-
cess, general business, change management, per-ential learning, and small discussion groups.
sonal mastery, and strategic management. They Thus, in his view quality results from the interac-
2005
tion of student involvement with resources and IMPLICATIONS

curriculum. In effect, Astin would argue that the
Professional education has played an important
quality of HR master's programs depends on re-
role in raising the status of some professions, but it
sponsiveness both to students and to the HR pro-
may not have reached its full potential in the case
fession, so that the inner workings and enrichment
of HRM master's programs because of lack of cur-
of HR master's programs as well as their para- ricular focus. HR education needs to balance busi-
digms and curriculum are important consider- ness and technical HR orientation, economic and
ations. A comparison can be made to medical ed- organizational behavior paradigms, and technical
ucation, where students are intensively educated HR and change management competencies. HR re-
according to a rigorous, required theoretical cur- searchers have been concerned that at least some
riculum and then exposed to years of practical HR master's programs are out of touch with the
clinical and residency requirements that integrate need to integrate HR education with education
the theory. about business strategy, change management,
In their engagement theory of quality, Conrad, and interpersonal skills.
Ha worth, and Millar (1993) and Ha worth and Con- If HR educators have not achieved a consensus,
rad (1997) specifically apply Astin's ideas to mas- there might be a range of inconsistent course of-
ter's degree programs. In their view, student out- ferings across programs, with the inconsistencies
comes depend in part on the students' and explicable in part by differing program philoso-
faculty members' mutually supportive teachingphies but inexplicable by scholars' recommenda-
and learning. Effective programs not only havetions or managers' demands. While excessive con-
adequate resources, faculty who are active re- sistency might suggest a lack of creativity,
searchers and capable students, but also partic- inconsistent course offerings coupled with a lack
ipatory cultures, interactive learning, and con- of focus on emerging paradigms may result in
nected program requirements that enrich broad differences between (a) the curriculum that
students' development. They examine these con- HR executives would like to see, and (b) current
siderations through 781 interviews about percep- course offerings. Moreover, if there is a lack of fit
tions of quality among six stakeholder groups in between HR master's degrees and real-world de-
47 master's programs. mands, the degrees that HR managers have
earned may not match their rank ordering of pref-
Conrad, Ha worth, and Millar (1993) identify four
master's program types, of which the career ad- erences with respect to their employees' degrees.
That is, practitioners might prefer to have employ-
vancement type is most applicable to specialized
ees with an MS in HRM degree, but may not them-
programs in HRM. Characteristically, career ad-
selves have such degrees because professional
vancement programs, which aim to advance stu-
standards and requirements remain unsettled.
dents' careers, rely on core and specialized course-
With respect to student outcomes, it may be that
work. In career advancement programs, enrich-
master's programs in HRM have the characteristics
ment, engagement, and quality are achieved
of enriched career advancement programs. Under
partly through a "theory-to-practice pedagogical
this assumption, engagement theory predicts that
model" that makes use of case studies that enliven
the programs will make use of internships, experi-
theory. Enriched career development programs uti-ential learning, capstone projects, outside speak-
lize real-world practitioners as guest lecturers orers, adjuncts, and a theory-to-practice pedagogical
adjunct faculty to provide real-world perspectives.model. However, even the most enriched programs
In enriched programs, faculty members feel confi-will be ineffective in producing effective HR man-
dent to take risks with respect to teaching andagers if the curricular paradigms are out of touch
program development. Enriched programs makewith real-world demands.
use of doing-centered learning approaches, im- Several propositions can summarize this discus-
mersion learning, and internships. Moreover, the sion. First, the absence of a consistent professional
university and the department provide adequateparadigm about HR education may result in a wide
resources. In their view, the best quality programsrange of inconsistent course offerings among HR
involve integrative learning and include a thesisprograms that can in part be explained by differ-
or other capstone project with a tangible work ences in program philosophy (PI). The absence of
product, which further engages students. It is consistent paradigms would also be associated
through the interaction of the students' engage- with differences between practitioners' demands
ment with a focused curriculum that excellent ed- and course offerings (P2), and might result in HR
ucation results. managers not holding the professional degree that
438
they believe study resulted

provides in small sample sizes, which makes the
addition, ifstatistical
currenthypothesis testing unreliable. Thus, the
progr
gaging to students,
data herein are exploratory. As well, the then
use of the
internships, SHRM Guide and the IRRA listing to identify pro
capstone the
and adjuncts programs(P4).
might bias the findings if the best known
or best managed programs are included in the
DATA
Guide and the listing.
I identified the curricula for the 49 programs by
To study the specialized master's degree pro- reviewing catalogues on the institutions' websites,
grams, I reviewed the curricula of 35 of the 45 and in a few cases through mailed requests. This
programs in human resource management listed information was available for all 49 programs. In
in the Graduate Programs in Human Resource seven cases, programs permitted electives to be
Management: A Guide for Students, Faculty and taken "anywhere in the business school" and in
Employers (McFarland, 2002). I excluded 4 of the 45 one case "anywhere in the university." I did not list
programs because they no longer existed or the the 1,015 electives, or 145 per institution for the
Guide inaccurately categorized them as HR pro- seven institutions, if the electives were not already
grams. Six of the remaining listings were repeat listed as electives in other HR programs. For ex-
listings of multisite programs offered by a single ample, I did not include anthropology or physics,
university. The programs contacted included MS since only one school permits such courses to be
and MA programs in HRM as well as equivalent taken as electives because this institution allows
programs such as Master of Science in human re- electives to be taken "anywhere in the university."
source and change management. The sample also To investigate propositions P2 and P3, 1 mailed a
included 12 programs listed under the Guide's cat- survey to 100 senior HR executives. I mailed 50 to
egory of Industrial Relations/Labor if the term hu- the senior HR executives in a random sample of
man resource management was included in the Fortune 500 firms (Fortune, 2004). I mailed another
program's name. Two examples would be Master 50 to the senior HR executives in the firms listed as
of Science in personnel and human resource man- the top 50 of Fortune's 100 best employers (Levering
agement and Master of labor and human re- & Moskowitz, 2004). Eleven of the Fortune 500 exec-
sources. There were also two human resource man- utives responded, for a response rate of 22%, and 14
agement programs in a listing provided by theof the Fortune best employers responded, for a
Industrial Relations Research Association (IRRA, response rate of 28%. There are many differences
2003) that were not included in the Guide, and I between Fortune's (2003) 500 largest firms and the
included these because they used the term "human 2004 list of best employers. The best employers in
resource management" in their name or they were 2004 tend to be smaller and privately held so that
industrial relations programs with a concentration the best employer's sample on average has only
in human resource management. I did not count as 21.9% of the revenues of the Fortune 500 sample.
specialized programs MBAs or MS in management Yet, there was only one significant difference in
degrees with HRM concentrations, master's de- responses between the two samples. The best em-
grees in labor relations without an HRM concen- ployer sample ranked the desirability of the Hu-
tration, or related degree types such as master's of man Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) certifi-
human resource development or industrial/organi- cation higher than did the Fortune 500 sample
zational psychology. (mean ranks of 5.3 versus 3.4). All other rankings
In addition, for purposes of comparison, I devel- were of the same ordering for the two groups.
oped a separate sample of the required courses in (Thus, I combined the samples in Table 4.) The
22 of the 23 HR MBA programs in the SHRM Guide. survey asked the senior executives how they
One of the HR MBA concentrations had been dis- would rank nine educational choices. It also asked
continued. them what educational background they have.
My objective in developing this sample was to To obtain additional information about proposi-
investigate the primary categories of programs tion P2, 1 contacted 48 HR executives in large firms
that specialize in human resource management in the New York City area, and 17 agreed to be
professional education. Naturally, a degree of interviewed in person or by way of telephone. The
judgment was involved - for example, in excluding
executives were asked open-ended questions con-
the five MS programs in management - and might cerning what curriculum they would like to see in
bias the results to a small degree. MS in HRM programs. In interviewing New York
There are 49 programs in the sample. The rela-
City's HR managers I was interested in exploring
tively small number of programs available for their answer to the following question in order to
2005
compare
ability may be different from what is suggested by
appropr
the course names.
petencie
No course is offered more frequently than com-
managem
pensation and benefits, which, summing the re-
master's
quired and elective columns of Table 1 is offered in
demic p
43 (29 required 4-14 elect ives) of the 49 programs, or
seventee
in 87.8% of the programs. Other frequently offered
tion
courses are employment as law (in [(22 + 15)/49] or
that the
75.5%), human resource management (59.2%), staff-
nical,
ing (69.4%), and training (69.4%). an
Similarly, organizational behavior is offered in
compete
To furt
63.3% of programs (summing across line 118 in
tion
Table 1), organizationalP2,change in 61.2%, and labor
directors of each of 49 institutions. The 18 re- relations in 59.2% of the programs. However, look-
sponses amounted to a response rate of 36.7%. The
ing at the required courses in the middle column of
questionnaire asked the program directorsTable 1 and dividing by 49 (the number of pro-
to allo-
grams),
cate the prerequisite, required, and elective coursecompensation and benefits is required in
just 29 programs or 59.2%, human resource man-
offerings in the MS programs that they anticipate
in 15 years. agement, staffing and training are each required
In addition, to examine proposition P4 concern-
in 25 or 51.0%, HR strategy in 23 or 46.9%, and
ing student engagement, I e-mailed a fourth organizational
sur- change in 15 or just 30.6% of the
vey to two professors in each of 49 programsprograms.
and Even with respect to technical HR com-
petencies
asked for permission to interview them on the tele- there seems to be little agreement as to
phone or that they return the survey by whate-mail.ought
I to constitute a required curriculum in
HRM.tele-
interviewed 14 of the 26 respondents over the
phone. Twelve returned the survey via e-mail.Despite
TheHR scholars' long-standing assertion
that pro-
response rate was 26.5%. Because I asked the broad business competencies need to balance
technical
fessors to evaluate their own programs, there is HR competencies, only 14 programs, less
than
likely bias in their responses over and above one third of the total, require or have as a
ordi-
nary sampling error. prerequisite an accounting or financial accounting
course (summing the prerequisite and required
columns for Accounting/Financial Accounting on
FINDINGS line one in Table 1); only seven do for marketing;
ten for finance; six for operations; and 23 (or 46.9%)
HR Curriculum
for statistics. As shown in column A of Table 2,
Table 1 shows the prerequisite, required, and elec- 28.3% of the total number of required courses on
tive courses for specialized master's programs in Table 1 (438) is in the combined categories of broad
HRM. Similar to the plethora of accounting courses business, experiential and social science courses
in the 1920s, I identified 150 different courses that(82 plus 16 plus 26 from the subtotal lines of the
middle column of Table 1). These courses are
are offered in the 49 master's programs. The num-
spread across a wide range, with little consistency
ber of courses may be under- or overstated be-
cause courses with similar names were combined, across programs.
and some courses with different names may actu- As well, too little emphasis seems to have been
given to change management and interpersonal
ally be covering similar content. On the one hand,
course number 122 on Table 1 includes courses skills. As shown on line 119 of Table 1, only 15 of
the 49 programs require a change management,
called organization theory, high performance orga-
nizations, high involvement organizations, and organizational
ag- development (OD), or leadership
ile organizations. On the other hand, I distin- course (although an additional 15 offer such
guished between courses called human resource courses as electives) and five require managerial
strategy and human resource management, skills courses. However, 20 do require a traditional
partly
because a number of programs require both. organizational
The behavior course or have one as a
prerequisite. Consistent with Kaufman's concerns
wide range of courses is consistent with proposi-
tion PI that the specialized programs wouldabout bene-a lack of economics courses, while 20 pro-
grams require organizational behavior as a pre-
fit from a clearer focus. Of course, it is not possible
requisite or required course, only eight do so for
to determine whether the subjects that the courses
actually cover match the course names, so theeconomics
vari- or microeconomics.
440
TABLE 1 TABLE 1
Number of Programs Requiring Subject as Continued
Prerequisite (P), Requirement (R), and Elective (E)
B. HRM Competencies P R E
A. General Business Competencies P R E
54. ER, QWL, Best Practice, Firm Perf. 2 8
1. Accounting/Financial Accounting 5 9 6 55. Empl. Rights, Fair Empl. Emp Rels. 0 3
56. Environmental Law 1
2. Accounting (Managerial) 1 4 7
57. Environmental and Occ. Health 1
3. Business Policy/Strategy 3 6 7
4. Business Research 1 58. Ethics and Prof. Issues in HRM 2 1
59. Generation X 1
5. Computer/Information Systems 5 3 12
6. Decision-Making Techniques 1 1 60. Hazardous Waste Management 1
7. Decision-Making in Public Admin. 1 61. Health and Safety Mgmt. 1 11
8. Delivering Customer Value 1 62. Health Policy 1
9. E-Commerce 1 63. HRM/HRM&Labor/Employment Sys. 25 4
64. HR Certification Instruction 4 1
10. Entrepreneurship 6
11. Finance/Money 3 7 6 65. HR Consulting and Job Analysis 1
12. Futures Studies 1 66. HRIS 12 11
13. Government Policy 1 67. HR Planning 2 1

14. HRM & Business Functions 3 68. HR Strategy 23 5
15. International Finance 1 69. HR Strat. for Entrepreneurial Firms 1
16. International Management/Econ. 2 8 70. Instructional Design 1
17. Legal Studies/Business Law 6 9 71. Interactive Distance Education 1
72. Interactive Multimedia 1 1
18. Legal Studies (Advanced) 1
19. Management 6 6 73. International/Comparative Empl. Rel. 4 12
20. Management Science 1 74. International Compensation 1
21. Management in Service Orgs. 2 75. Job Analysis 1
22. Manufacturing Systems 1 76. Knowledge Mgmt. 1
23. Marketing 2 5 6 77. Motivational Design of Instruction 1
24. Math/Calculus 4 2 78. Oil and Hazardous Material Spills 1
25. Mergers and Acquisitions 1 79. Performance Mgmt. 4 9
26. Operations Research/Management 3 3 6 80. Performance Mgmt & Compensation 2
27. Public Policy (incl. benefits & pay) 4 81. Performance Technology 1
82. Professional Contribution 1
28. Public Sector Management 1
29. Quality Management 1 7 83. Project Management 1
30. Research Methods 1 4 2 84. Psychological Testing 1
85. Public Personnel Administration 3
31. Risk Management 4
32. Simulation 1 86. HR Research Meth./Metrics/Eval. 17 10
33. Social Environment 1 87. Secretarial Internships 1
34. Spreadsheets/Data Bases 2 4 88. Selection, Assessment 5
35. Statistics/Quantitative Methods 8 15 5 89. Social Environment 1 3
36. Statistics (Advanced) 5 3 90. Special Topics/Seminar/Honors 10 16

37. Supervisory Management 1 91. Staffing, Planning & Staffing 25 9
38. Systems 1 92. Sustainable Human Systems 1
39. Tax 9 93. Teaching Secretarial Skills 1
40. Technology, Information Technology 1 8 94. Technology Based Instruction 2
Subtotal 38 82 144 95. Telecommunications 2
96. Training, HRD, Development 25 9
B. HRM Competencies
97. Union Environment 1
98. Variable Pay 1
41. Adult Learning 2 99. Vocational Counseling 1
42. Benefits 6 15
100. Web Design 2
43. Career Mgmt/Succession Planning 1 8 101. Wellness 2
44. Comp. & BenVStrateg. Reward 29 14 102. Women's Health in Workplace 1
45. Competency Assessment 1 103. Worker Participation 1
46. Consumer Finance 1
104. Workplace Planning 1
47. Digital Video Production 1 105. Workforce Retention 1
48. Diversity/Gender Issues 2 12 106. Work/Life Balance 1
49. Education Reform & HR Policy 1 Subtotal 226 226
50. Employee Assistance Programs 1 C. Experiential/Ca
51. Employee Counseling 1
52. Employment Law 22 15 107. Internship 8 10
53. Equity Based Rewards 1 108. Thesis/Ind. Study/Tutorial 8 14
Subtotal 16 24
Continued Continued
2005
TABLE 1 York City area who res

Continued dicate that they would
placed on HRM compete
D. Change, Interpersonal and
currently versus 26.2%
Managerial Competencies P R E
equal emphasis placed o
109. Communication 1 3 2 tencies as is currently of
110. ConVNeg.; PowVInf.; ADR; HR neg. 4 18 36.7% preferred), but g
111. Cross Border Teams 2
management and interp
112. Human Relations 1
currently (13.2% current
113. Innovation/Creativity 3
114. Mgmt Skills/Interpersonal/Teams 5 12 managers would like to
115. Managing Technical People 1 technical competencies t
116. Motivation 1 ment competencies, wh
117. Organizational Analysis 1 2 greater emphasis on th
118. Org. Behavior 2 18 11 In contrast, column B of Table 2 shows that the
119. Org. Change/OD/Leadership 15 15
120. Organization Consulting 2 6 HR MBA programs put greater emphasis on the
121. Organization Communication 2 1 business competencies than the HR executives
122. OT/High Performance/High 1 8 12 would prefer (65.2% currently versus 36.7% pre-
Involvement/Agile Orgs. ferred in column C). The MBA programs put even
123. Social Basis of Behavior 1
less emphasis on the interpersonal and change
124. Stress Management 4
125. Writing in the Profession 1
management skills than the specialized master's
Subtotal 4 58 93 programs, and approximately one fifth of the em-
phasis that the executives would like to see (7.6%
E. Labor/Industrial Relations Comp
required versus 37.2 desired on Table 2). Moreover,
126. Administrative Law 1 the majority of the MBA courses that address man-
127. Arbitration, ADR 1 8 agerial competencies are traditional organiza-
128. Advanced Labor Relations 1 2
tional behavior courses rather than change man-
129. Collective Bargaining 3
agement or interpersonal skills courses. This
130. Ind. Relations Theory and Strat. 1
131. International IR 1 parallels Langbert's (2000) finding with respect to
132. Labor and Industrial Relations 19 10 HR MBA major, whom HR managers perceive to be
133. Labor Law 5 5 underprepared with respect to interpersonal and
134. Labor Rels. in education 3 change management skills. It would appear that
135. Management in Union Settings 1 two key advantages that specialized HR master's
136. Mediation 1
137. Pub. Sector Coll. Bargaining 5
programs might offer to HR professionals are inte-
138. Seminar, Cur. Issues in IR 2 gration of interpersonal and change management
Subtotal 30 skills training and integration of the HR perspec-
39
F. Social
tive
Science
with Competencies
the business competencies.
Also consistent with proposition P2, column D of
139. Comparative Labor Markets 1 2 Table 2 indicates that program directors foresee
140. Economics/Microeconomics 3 5 4 little change. Program managers foresee a slight
141. Economic Institutions/History 1 2 2 increase to technical HR competencies for the re-
142. Ethics/Business Ethics 3 2
143. I/O Psychology 2 9
quired courses. Currently 58.4% of required courses
144. Industrial Interviewing 1 cover HR competencies, while they foresee an in-
145. Industrial Sociology 1 7 crease to 62.6%. They see a slight increase in the
146. Labor/HR EconVLabor Markets 10 5 interpersonal and change management require-
147. Labor History 1 5 ments from 13.2% to 16.6%, which is still less than
148. Psychometrics 1 half of the allocation that the HR executives rec-
149. Public Program Evaluation 1
ommend.
150. Social Psychology 2
Subtotal 4 26 40
Grand Total 46 438 566
Program Structure and Philosophy
If an institution offers more than one course in a su
The variability in course offerings is at least partly
subject is counted only once (N = 49 programs).
attributable to differences in paradigms or philos-
ophy rather than specialist majors. HR practitio-
Competencies ners distinguish between HR generalists and spe-
Consistent with cialists. With one or two
proposition P2,exceptions,
columnalmost all of C o
2 shows that the the HR master'sHR
14 senior programs focus on educating HR
managers in th
442 Academy of Management Learning & Education December
TABLE 2
Percentage of Required Courses, Courses HR Executives Desire, and Courses Program Directors Expect
A B C D
Me
Current percentage Current percentage Mean response of program directors
of required of required HR executives as to as to expected
MS-HRM courses MBA-HRM courses desired emphasis emphasis in 15
(N = 49) (N = 23) of courses (N = 14) yrs (N = 18)
Business 28.3% 65.2% 36.7% 20.9%

competencies,
experiential and
social science
HRM competencies 58.4 27.1 26.2 62.6
and labor
Interpersonal and 13.2 7.6 37.2 16.6
change mgmt.
competencies
Total 100%a 100%a 100.0%a 100%a
aTotal does not add to 100 due to ro
generalists as
variability opposed
in the course offerings is in part due to to sp
fields such as compensation,
differences in program philosophy. With respect to
source development, program philosophy, there are at leastsafety
four models an
This is likelythat due to resource
programs have followed. Table 3 compares the
ployers' stronger course requirements indemand
four actual programs. Pro- for
specialist graduates. The
gram A is the one most closely linked to economics majo
fer specialized electives
and the economics-based industrial relations para-such
ing, but generally not
digm (Kaufman, 2002). Program A does in suffic
not require
to constitute a master's level concentration. Sev- any business, change management, or managerial
eral programs offer alternative tracks in industrial
skills courses. It focuses on human resource manage-
relations versus human resource management, ment and labor relations. It requires a labor econom-
and two programs offer alternative tracks inicshu- course but not an organizational behavior course.
man resource management, industrial relations, I call this the industrial relations model.
change management, organizational leadership, Program B in Table 3 requires only technical HR
and human resource development. One program competency courses, such as benefits, health and
offers three unusual tracks: instructional technol-
safety, and HR strategy. It includes a single orga-
ogy, health and safety, and organizational devel- nizational change course, but no business, statis-
opment and change. No HR program in the sample tics, economics, or other social science-based
offers specializations in compensation, benefits, or
courses. I call this the HR-focused model because it
staffing.1
focuses almost entirely on technical HR competen-
Rather than specialization, PI suggests that the cies. But like Program A, Program B aims to edu-
cate HR generalists. There is no sequence of in-
Although there may be logical explanations for the absence of
depth courses concerning a specific field or fields
within HR.
specialist education, to include managers' preferences, it may
also be the case that HR master's programs are overlooking an Program C in Table 3 requires business courses,
opportunity to provide post-master's study in sub-specialties. including accounting, business policy, finance,
Post-master's integration of HR specialist fields with change management, marketing, legal studies and two
management and interpersonal competency development
might yield gains for post-master's level students that pro-
statistics courses, but it also requires four HR
grams do not presently address. For example, a specialist courses, labor relations, and labor economics. It
course in benefits planning might be designed to explore not does not require change management or interper-
only the strategic aspects of benefits policy, but also how sonal skills courses. I call this the business-
change in benefit plans might be communicated, how interper-
integrated model. It is closest to the MBA program
sonal problems in selling benefit plan changes to line manag-
ers might be addressed, and the economic rationale for inte- model in that it emphasizes the business and tec
grating change in benefit policies with broader organizational nical HR competencies but not change manage-
change strategies. ment or interpersonal competencies.
2005
TABLE 3
Required Courses in 4 HRM Programs
Program D:
Bus. and
Program A: Program B: Program C: Change Mgmt.

IR Focused HR Focused Business Integrated Integrated
Accounting X
Business Policy and X X
Strategy
Computer Inf. Systems X
Delivering Customer X
Value
Finance X
Management X X
Marketing X
Legal Studies X
Statistics X
Advanced Statistics X
Benefits X
Career Mgt. X
Comp. and Ben. XX X X
Employee Assistance X
Plans
Employee Relations X
Empl. Law X X
Health and Safety X
HRM XX X
HR Strategy X X
HRIS X X
International X
Employee Rel.
Staffing X X
Training X X
Communication X
Consulting X
Org. Change X X
Team Building X
Labor Relations X X
Labor Law X
Labor Economics X X
Labor History X
Last Program D requires hand,four

and what programs
business are emphasizing
courses on the
other, HR managers
(business policy and strategy, computerrate the MS in informa-
HRM degree as
tion systems, deliveringthe best preparation forvalue,
customer HR professionals,
and followed
man-
in order by MS degrees
agement). It also includes six HR courses and four in related fields such as
change management and managerial skills industrial relations, MBAs, HRCI certification, law,
courses, namely, communication, consulting, orga- bachelor's only, other graduate, and no degree.
nizational change, and team building. This model This contradicts concerns that MBAs will supplant
is still rare, but notwithstanding the absence of MS in HRM programs.
accounting, statistics, economics and metrics Managers' favorable impression of MS programs
courses in this program, it seems that of the four it is not rooted in their own completion of MS or other
best reflects the general direction in which the HR specialized HR master's degrees though. Consis-
field has moved. I call this the integrated model. tent with proposition P3, only one of the 25 senior
HR managers (4%) who responded to the survey
indicated that they themselves have earned MS in
Managers' Preference for MS Degree HRM degrees, while 8% have earned MS or MA
Table 4 indicates that despite the differences be- degrees in related fields such as industrial rela-
tween what managers would like to see empha- tions. The most common degree for the responding
sized (and what HR scholars advocate) on the one senior HR managers is the BA without a master's,
TABLE 4 and
Senior HR Executives' Assessments of Academic
Preparation of HR Professionals (N = 25) We are viewed as partners to the line. The
days of HR as a specialty function are over.
A B
HR graduates need general business knowl-
Mean ranking of Percentage of edge. How to put in a program from the busi-
degree as to responding senior ness side.
preparation for HR executives who
jobs (1 is worst earned highest
8 is best) degree In answer to the question, "which courses are
needed?" the interviewees almost unanimously
MS or MA in HRM 6.65 4% agreed that an HR program should include a "mini-
Master's in a 5.65 8
MBA." Several respondents emphasized the criti-
related field
such as IR
cal importance of entire courses in accounting, fi-
MBA 5.43 28 nance, business law, economics, and computer
HRCI 4.43 4 technology. This may have been in part linked to
Certification some executives' interest in ultimately rotating
Law degree 4.39 4 junior HR managers into other departments.
Bachelor's degree 4.08 40
Other graduate 4.05 16
No degree 1.63 0 Interpersonal Skills
With one or two exceptions, the HR executives em-
phasized the critical importance of developing in-
which 40%, or tenterpersonal,
respondentschange management, and indicated
related
managerial skills.
attained. Twenty-eight HR managers need to
percent act as
have ear
Thus, although HR consultative
executivesproblem solvers, and in to do sothis
they sm
need master's
perceive specialized to maintain long-term relationships
degrees with as t
preparation, only their
12% clients, have
the line managers. For example, a speci
earned
grees themselves,senior
and HR executive
only for a global
4% financial con-
have ear
degrees in HRM. glomerate pointed out that:
Only understanding nuances can solve prob-

Open-Ended Interviews
lems. Periodically, chemistry builds . . . Key
interpersonal and leadership skills include
In open-ended interviews, 17 executives in
trust, chemistry and respect. People either
York City area emphasized that they wo
like, respect and trust you or they don't. A line
see broad business subjects, especially f
manager finds out after several episodes:
accounting, business law, marketing an
Who is this person?
integrated into HR programs. This is c
with the literature on HR education. The executives
Another executive elaborated:
indicated that programs need to educate students
about interpersonal skills; that programs should
Success in the function of an HR generalist
educate HR generalists who are change managers;
depends on relationships with hundreds of
that with respect to technical aspects, less is more;
business managers at various levels ... In-
and that the ultimate challenge is balance.
terpersonal skills are absolutely key. You
have to be able to say "No!" to the line man-
Integration of Business With HR Knowledge agers and make sure they like you neverthe-
less. You have to play the roles of counselor
Several of the HR executives made clear that: and coach.
The biggest thing HR graduates need is busi- The need for relationship skills coincides with
ness knowledge. Knowing the language of the need for organizational development and
business. You need to understand the product change management competencies. For example,
and what the business is about. HR people the managing director of an investment bank noted:
need to understand what the client's needs
are. They need to know how to work with the It is critical for HR graduates to understand
business manager, the process of organizational change and how
2005
to mana
sized the role of GAAP accounting. A vice presi-
employees with culture" and "culture dent of HR for a large entertainment conglomerate
change" are what are needed. said that:
You can't bring HR generalists into the com-

Technical Knowledge: Less is More
pany without the technical knowledge. They
Two of the 17 executives emphasized the impor- need to understand benefits, medical and
tance of technical skills to a greater degree thanpension plan design and how to do pension
the majority did. The remainder felt that familiar- calculations. They need to know what a stock
ity with the technical and legal issues is useful option is, what an ERISA excess plan is and
but less important than developing management how to value stock options using the Black
skills and having the ability to integrate the tech-Scholes option pricing method. They need to
nical issues, which can be learned on the job, with understand when and why you give incen-
broader business issues. tives: Basic compensation concepts. They
In part, this distinction depended on whetherneed the to understand what regression analysis
HR manager headed a centralized department is. They need to understand performance
with differentiated HR functions under one senior management and performance appraisal.
HR manager, or if he or she worked in an environ- They need to know how to do coaching and
ment where generalist skills were more valued. counseling. They need to understand career
The majority were in the latter category. management.
An HR executive at a large financial firm empha-
sized: All the HR managers indicated that technical
knowledge is important. However, almost all felt
Each sub-division of HR could be an entire that general business knowledge and change
management skills are even more important.
master's degree. One career path is to begin
Given a limited number of courses in an HRM
as a specialist and then move into a general-
ises job. But what people who aim to make program, less is more with respect to the technical
subjects, which should include some coverage of
that kind of transition overlook is that special-
tax and accounting issues as well as the tradi-
ists lack the ability to sell things. If you're
running a technical function you mighttionallack employment law, HR, staffing, training, and
the interpersonal skills, and they are morecompensation.
important than technical know-how. Comp
and benefits people who become generalists
often fail.
Finding a Balance
It is evident that HR managers would like to see a
A senior vice president of a technology firm add- balance that differs from the traditional master's
ed: program in two ways. First, they would like to see
more attention paid to interpersonal and change
I often fill in for the president of the firm. I'm management competencies. That can be accom-
a PR person as well as an HR person. Every- plished through enhanced focus on managerial
one here is a sales person. In our firm HR is a skills and change management courses. Second,
kind of marketing . . . I've always hired a lot they would like to see more weight given to inte-
of people in HR whom I didn't anticipate gration of broad business subjects with HR. Such
would stay in HR. We have a policy called MBA-like subjects would be integrated into pro-
reinvention whereby we move people into un- grams rather than be electives, and would provide
related fields. We look for people who have a the basis for educating HR managers who would
flexible attitude. People get moved around then integrate broad thinking about the business
into different roles, so the program shouldn't with technical HR subjects.
just be HR.
Engagement Theory
About half of the executives agreed that subjects
such as accounting for compensation and benefits, In interviews and survey responses, 26 professors
executive compensation rules, and litigation strat- in 21 HR master's programs indicated that, consis-
egy need to receive enhanced attention. Only a tent with proposition P4, most specialized HRM
few mentioned collective bargaining and labor re- programs have the characteristics of career ad-
lations as important. Several executives empha- vancement programs (see Table 5). At the same
TABLE 5
Assessment of Pedagogical Practice in MS-HRM by 26 Program Faculty in 21 Programs
Pedagogical Issue Mean Response
Capstone project with tangible work product such as a thesis 34.6%

A doctoral program in HRM 26.9%
Percent of courses that utilize at least one guest lecturer 58.1%
Percent of courses taught by adjunct faculty 24.4%
The following questions are based on a scale from 1-7 where 1 = st
4 = neither agree nor disagree, and 7 = strongly disagree.
The university supports the MS-HRM program 3.3
The department and faculty support the program 2.1
The MS-HRM program makes use of outside-of-class activities 2.5
The MS-HRM program makes use of a theory to practice pedagogical model 2.2
The MS-HRM program makes use of immersion or experiential learning 1.9
The chief purpose of the MS-HRM program is professional development 1.2
You as a member of the faculty feel comfortable in taking risks as to teaching 1.6
The MS-HRM program educates students to be strategic HR managers 1.7
The MS-HRM programs educates the student about psychological models 1.8
The MS-HRM educates the student about economic models 3.0
The MS-HRM educates the student about practical/technical HR knowledge 1.2
The MS-HRM educates the student about change management 2.0
The MS-HRM educates the student about ethics 2.1
time, if one accepts engagement

The professors' indication thattheory
their programs (Ast
1987; Haworth & Conrad, 1997), their comments make use of experiential learning seems to contra-
suggest that there is room for improvement with dict the finding in Table 1 that only 8 of the 49
respect to student engagement. programs (16.3%) require internships. It may be
On the positive side, and consistent with propo- that the survey respondents were referring to
sition P4, Table 5 shows that on average the 26 classroom participation rather than to more com-
respondents indicated that 58.1% of courses in plex programs such as internships or service
their programs utilize at least one guest lecturer, learning. It also may be that the availability of
and that on average 24.4% of courses are taught by internships as an elective is sufficient in the pro-
adjuncts, which is consistent with the need to in- fessors' view, because 18 or 36.7% of the programs
tegrate practical with academic instruction. Fur- (see line 107 on Table 1) offer an internship. Simi-
thermore, the professors moderately or strongly larly, 44.8% of the programs offer a thesis option
agree (1.6 on a scale of 7) with the statement that while only 16.3% require a thesis (see line 108 on
they feel comfortable with respect to taking risks in Table 1). Involvement and engagement theories of
teaching. master's degree education suggest that outside-of-
Also, on a scale of one to seven, where one is class activities, thesis or capstone projects and
strongly agree, four is neutral and seven is internships are important indicators of master's
strongly disagree, the HR professors strongly agree programs' quality because they involve the stu-
that specialized HRM master's programs do a gooddent directly in the educational process. Their ab-
job of educating students about technical HR sence in the majority of programs would seem to
knowledge (1.2), and that the chief purpose of the be a weakness.
programs is professional development (1.2). The The responses also suggest that, consistent with
professors moderately agree that programs make Kaufman's concerns, there is room for improve-
use of theory to practice pedagogical models that ment with respect to the extent of economics edu-
include case studies (2.2), that programs make use of cation and the level of universities' support for
immersion or experiential learning (1.9), that their specialized master's HRM programs. The profes-
programs educate students about psychological sors are less favorable about the economics train-
models (1.8), that their programs educate students to ing that specialized master's students receive than
be strategic HR managers (1.7), that programs ed- about the psychological training (3.0 versus 1.8).
ucate students about change management (2.0) Also, the professors barely agree (3.3) with the
and about ethics (2.1). The respondents barely-to- statement that their universities support the pro-
moderately agree that their programs make use of grams, although they moderately agree (2.1) that
outside-of-class activities (2.5). departments and faculties support the programs.
2005
Thus, specialized HR programs appear to be from SHRM, the Academy of Management, and
moderately successful from the standpoint of en- other stakeholder organizations. The purpose of
gaging or involving the master's students. They the commission would be to initiate change in HR
would improve by requiring capstone projects and education that would contribute to better defining
outside-of-class activities, emphasizing economics and integrating necessary competencies, profes-
to a greater degree and offering internships to a sional preparation, and certification. The commis-
greater degree, although the respondents are sat- sion might also seek additional ways to advance
isfied with the extent of experiential learning in the field's credibility, such as integration of expe-
their programs. riential learning, ways to attract better students,
and ways to enhance funding for curriculum devel-
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHANGE
opment and faculty. The process would include
development of curricular models, circulation of
Education in HR programs seems to be moderately standards for practitioners' and academics' re-
well enriched, although it is natural for professors view, and linkage of master's degree reform to
to be positive about their own activities and certification.
it is Ultimately, such standards could be
possible that they overstate the degree of enrich- linked to AACSB accreditation processes.
ment. But the data presented herein clearly show The literature on total quality management (e.g.,
that programs are inconsistent in their curricular Crosby, 1979: 8; Seymour, 1992: 15) suggests that the
offerings, in part because of competing paradigms, most effective improvement processes come from
and do not target the business, change manage- within institutions rather than from external stan-
ment, and interpersonal competencies that have dards. But productive change in professional edu-
become increasingly important to HR executives. cation has often begun with external stimuli. Other
Thus, the key challenge that my work here uncov- professional fields, such as medicine and law,
ers is curricular rather than pedagogical. have seen improvement through the standards set
It would seem that there is a need for HR educa- by professional and learned organizations. It
tors to arrive at a better consensus as to core busi- would seem that a good place to begin to improve
ness, HR and change management paradigms, the and rationalize human resource education would
coursework necessary to address the paradigms, be the development of model programs. If the ben-
and the integration of the paradigms and course- efits are sufficient and visible, pressure may result
work with certification. In turn, this would suggest to motivate programmatic change within business
the need for a consensus as to model programs schools.
that could be developed jointly by the leading ac- An example of how this might work is found in
ademic and professional organizations, to include the history of the Accounting Education Change
the Academy of Management, the Industrial Rela- Commission (AECC; Sundem, 1998; Wyer, 1993) that
tions Research Association and SHRM/HRCI, as helped stimulate change in universities' account-
well as related organizations such as the Inter- ing curricula in the 1990s. The AECC's roots were in
national Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, academic discussions during the late 1970s. Its
WorldatWork (formerly the American Compensa- goal was to enrich accounting education, attract
better students, and to refocus the curriculum, in
tion Association), the American Society of Training
and Development and the Association to Advance part by enhancing interpersonal skills education.
Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The need for enriching and refocusing the curricu-
In some fields, such as medicine, there has been lum was recognized in the 1980s by the American
rapid and effective curriculum change to accom- Accounting Association (AAA), the learned society,
modate paradigm shifts. In others, such as ac- and the American Institute of Certified Public Ac-
counting, the change has been more gradual. In countants (AICPA), the professional association. In
both medicine and accounting, the relationship be- 1989 the then Big Eight accounting firms estab-
tween academic institutions and practitioner orga- lished a task force that advocated a focus on inter-
nizations intensified to facilitate a clearer consen- personal skills and a broad-based approach to ac-
sus as to how educational programs might best counting skills. The AECC was established to
address changing paradigms. accomplish these objectives. The Big Eight firms
To target master's level HR education, it would donated $4 million to the AECC, which was later
seem that the academic and practitioner organiza- supplemented with an additional $1.5 million,
tions might create a temporary human resource about half of which was used for institutional
education change commission (HRECC) that would grants to encourage business schools to develop
be funded by corporations affiliated with SHRM.model programs.
The commission would include representatives The AECC decided to begin by focusing on the
competencies required for CONCLUSION

success in accounting
careers and enrichment of education to enhance
Human resource scholars have been concerned
student development. It set up 16 task forces. The
about firms' resistance to adopting best HR prac-
task forces covered such areas as establishing the
tices and the field's chronically weak image. In the
goals of accounting education; structuring initial
last 20 years, there has been creativity in redefin-
employment experiences in accounting firms; de-
ing HRM to focus on business strategy and change
veloping strategies for attracting better quality
management, in part with an eye toward improv-
students; and integration of AACSB accreditation
processes.
ing the field's prestige. The transformation has
been at least partially successful. Collins (1979),
The AECC created publicity in learned society
though, has suggested that professional prestige
newsletters; published annual reports; conducted
workshops; and conducted numerous panels is in part a function of a profession's educational
and
presentations at professional meetings. Itrequirements
circu- and entry restrictions. Therefore, he
would
lated position statements that generated debate. predict that HRM's transformation to a focus
on first
For example, it distributed 17,000 copies of its business strategy and bottom-line profit will not
ultimately
position statement for public comment. The state- upgrade its prestige. The medical pro-
fession, in contrast, began to gain prominence
ment listed desired competencies for the account-
whende-
ing field and their implications for curriculum Flexner urged a reformulation of educational
velopment and instructional methods. requirements and certification, years before the
Sundem (1998) and Albrecht and Sack (2000)discovery find of penicillin. Similarly, accounting edu-
that improvement in accounting education has oc- cation improved its focus as GAAP rules were es-
curred but has been slower than was hoped. Sun- tablished, with the field's prestige growing as ac-
dem observes that faculty tended to resist revi- counting education gained better focus. Two
sions to programs and that there was lack of additional examples are the fields of finance and
administrative support for change. Albrecht and actuarial science. Finance gained status as the
Sack (2000) indicate that the AECC advocated the capital asset pricing model, portfolio theory, and
right changes but that with a few exceptions edu-options pricing models were developed and fi-
cational institutions have responded slowly. nance education focused on those paradigms. Sim-
Nevertheless, a comparable series of steps ilarly, actuarial science, which is closely linked to
might be initiated in the HR field. First, an HRECC HRM through its application to pension and em-
might, like the AECC, identify core paradigms that ployee benefit plans, has enjoyed greater prestige
than the mainstream of HRM. The actuaries' chief
HR education needs to address, such as ability
testing, economic incentives, organizational diag- product, the defined benefit pension plan, has
nosis, strategic planning, interpersonal competen- been in decline for the past 15 years because it has
cies, and so on. The competencies would be dis- been perceived as detrimental to profitability. Nev-
seminated to interested parties through a ertheless, actuarial science has continued to enjoy
discussion draft. When the competencies are fully greater prestige than the mainstream of HRM be-
identified, curricular models might be developed cause of the rigor and clarity of its paradigms and
to address the paradigms. The HRECC also might a certification process overseen by the Society of
look for ways to improve the caliber of students Actuaries.
entering HR programs and ways to attract a larger Likewise, in recent years, physicians have been
share of practicing managers. It might identify subject to increasing controls through managed
ways to integrate AACSB accreditation with modelcare, and malpractice costs have reduced the prof-
programs, ways to integrate HRCI's certification itability of their services. At the same time, ethical
process with the master's programs, and ways toissues and malpractice have clouded the account-
enrich programs. Ideally, the HRECC would attracting profession. Managers' reliance on accountants
sufficient funding to provide grants to programs for has led to the bankruptcy of major client corpora-
curricular innovation. Key concerns would includetions. Thus, there have been questions about these
clarifying how change management and interper-professions' bottom-line, profit-generating contri-
sonal competencies fit, how business knowledge bution to firms. But, like finance and actuarial sci-
can be best integrated, and how HR specialties can ence, accounting and medicine continue to enjoy
be integrated with generalist education at the greater prestige than does HRM.
post-master's degree level. While it is to be ex- I investigated here the possibility that the cur-
pected that change will occur slowly, better con- rent status of human resource education has
sensus across the field as to model programs lagged behind better established professions in
would be an important first step. part because HR education lacks a coherent iden-
2005
tity. Th
integrate accreditation and certification standards
with master's and
gest thatpost-master's level education in
HR HRM. Such prog an endeavor would require financial as
in more
well as moral support from the practitioner human
most resource community. com
and employment law, are not the courses that It is possible that better and more consistent
managers indicate are most important to real- specification of HR programs would have a mean-
world HR generalists. I have identified four pro- ingful effect on the entire field's status, much as
gram types, the IR focused, HR focused, business better and more consistent specification of medical
integrated, and integrated. Therefore, part of the and accounting education had on those fields. A
variability in programs is due to competition concerted effort by university programs to achieve
among paradigms. However, all four paradigms do a generally accepted approach to HR education
not address real-world concerns equally. Consis- might give birth to a better HR profession.
tent with the claims of HR scholars, HR managers
indicate that they would like to see greater empha-
REFERENCES
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nor specialized master's programs emphasize quality? Current Issues in Education, 1: 1-10. American As-
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degree HR executives would like. Moreover, HR Astin, A. W. 1987. Achieving educational exdlence. San Fran-
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Mitchell Langbert is associate professor of business at Brooklyn College, City University of

New York. He holds a PhD from the Columbia Business School. Professor Langbert's research
currently focuses on HRM in universities and the public sector, earnings of MBA students, and
HRM pedagogy.

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The Master's Degree in HRM: Midwife to a New Profession?

Author(s): Mitchell Langbert

The Master's Degree in HRM:

Human resource master's programs lack a consistent identity. No course is required in

gued It is possible that morethaconsistent educational

The professionalization of accounting depended

tion of student involvement with resources and IMPLICATIONS

they believe study resulted

13. Government Policy 1 67. HR Planning 2 1

36. Statistics (Advanced) 5 3 90. Special Topics/Seminar/Honors 10 16

TABLE 1 York City area who res

Business 28.3% 65.2% 36.7% 20.9%

aTotal does not add to 100 due to ro

Program A: Program B: Program C: Change Mgmt.

Last Program D requires hand,four

Only understanding nuances can solve prob-

You can't bring HR generalists into the com-

Pedagogical Issue Mean Response

Capstone project with tangible work product such as a thesis 34.6%

time, if one accepts engagement

competencies required for CONCLUSION

Drew, D. E., & human resources organization.

Stewart, T. 1996. Taking on the last bureaucracy. Fortune, Jan-

Mitchell Langbert is associate professor of business at Brooklyn College, City University of

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