HR Development

Types of Degrees HR Development Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many human resources development graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	880
Graduate Certificate	170
Doctor’s Degree	34

What HR Development Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, hr development majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for HR Development Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in hr development should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

Skills for HR Development Majors

hr development majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for HR Development Majors

A major in hr development will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a HR Development Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with hr development:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Training and Development Specialists	11.5%	$60,870

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in HR Development?

The major attracts more women than men. About 79% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of hr development majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	45
Black or African American	169
Hispanic or Latino	101
White	468
International Students	45
Other Races/Ethnicities	52

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in HR Development. About 5.1% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to HR Development

Some careers associated with hr development require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for hr development careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	2.8%
Some College Courses	2.8%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	5.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	59.5%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	11.3%
Master’s Degree	17.0%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	2.8%

Online HR Development Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	2	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	2	1
Bachelor’s Degree	32	14
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	40	20
Post-Master’s	4	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	8	2
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to HR Development

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to hr development.

Major	Number of Grads
General Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration	17,139
Organizational Behavior Studies	3,439
Labor & Industrial Relations	1,678
Other Human Resources Management and Services	1,117
Labor Studies	151
Executive/Career Coaching	90

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Arunkumar Umapathy under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.