Course Work

There are four major components to the doctoral program of study: (a) Course work; (b) Research Competence Demonstration; (c) Comprehensive examinations, and (d) Dissertation research. Coursework is summarized below. For a detailed discussion of program structure, comprehensive exams and dissertation requirements, please contact the department to request a Ph.D. Handbook.

What to Expect

  • All LIR Ph.D. students take the core Ph.D. seminars 992A and 992B.

    LIR 992A - Research and policy analysis of selected topics in organizational behavior and human resources in labor and industrial relations.

    LIR 992B - The goals of this course are to develop your understanding of the key theoretical writings and key research in employment and employment relations. In addition, this course will increase your ability to critically analyze the impact of various theories and research on employment relations outcomes.

  • Additional courses within the School are chosen based on the students' backgrounds and interests:
    • For students who enter the program without a Masters degree, some of the School's Masters courses may be appropriate.
    • Internal coursework often includes directed readings with faculty members who share students' research interests. The goal of directed readings courses is often to lead to research competency papers or dissertation proposals.
    • The School also partners with Cornell, MIT, Illinois, and Rutgers universities to offer doctoral level coursework taught be faculty experts from these schools. Such experiences create a community of emerging scholars being broadly trained to study employment issues. The seminars are offered virtually and the opportunity to attend a conference to meet students and faculty has been provided.
  • External coursework will be chosen to build a disciplinary cognate in areas such as psychology, management, economics and sociology. The following are examples of course groupings that students have chosen for their disciplinary cognate:
    • Economics:
      • EC811A - Mathematical Applications in Economics
      • EC812A - Microeconomics I
      • EC812B - Microeconomics II
      • EC880 - Labor Economics I
      • EC881 - Labor Economics II
    • Management:
      • MGT907 - Seminar in Organizational Behavior
      • MGT908 - Seminar in Human Resource Management
      • MGT910 - Seminar in Strategic Management
      • MGT922 - Seminar in Organizational Behavior
    • Psychology
      • PSY860 - Industrial and Organizational Psychology
      • PSY961 - Training and Organizational Development
      • PSY992 - Seminar in Individual Differences
      • PSY992 - Seminar in Multilevel Theory and Research
      • PSY992 - Seminar in Organizational Development
  • Strong methodological training is key to quality empirical research. All students acquire at least 9 hours of methodological training, primarily in the dominant methods in their disciplinary cognate. MSU is home to some of the best econometricians and psychometricians in the field and our students have the opportunity to take courses with these faculty. Courses may include:
    • EC820A - Econometrics IA
    • EC820B - Econometrics IB
    • EC823 - Applied Econometrics
    • MGT906 - Seminar in Organizational Research Methods
    • PSY865 - Applied Research Methods
    • PSY818 - Psychometric Theory and Test Construction
    • PSY992 - Structural Equations Modeling
    • SOC881 - Analysis of Social Data