Industrial and Labor Relations (MS)
Graduate School
Graduate Field
Industrial and Labor Relations
Program Description
The ILR School's master of science (M.S.) with a concentration in labor research and policy is a two-year master's program that prepares students for careers in U.S. and global labor, policy, and nongovernmental organizations. M.S. students work closely with ILR faculty to develop research skills critical for analyzing challenges and their solutions in today's world of work. A thesis is required for the M.S. ILR program.
Concentrations
- Labor, research, and policy
Program Information
- Program Mode of Delivery: In Person
- Program Location: Ithaca, NY
Program Requirements
- Enrollment in GRAD 9012 Master's Thesis Research to maintain full-time status
- Minimum Semesters for Degree: 4
Graduate School Milestones
- Responsible Conduct of Research Training: Required
- Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID): Required
- Student Progress Reviews (SPR) begin: Second year
- Masters Exam (M Exam): Spring of second year
- Thesis: Spring of second year
Course Requirements
The Field of Industrial and Labor Relations suggests students follow a curriculum of ILR courses, career path courses, regional and language expertise courses, internship, and research. Requirements are set by the student’s Special Committee
Graduate School Enrollment Requirements
Course Requirements
- Course requirements are determined by the student’s Special Committee.
- Enrollment in a GRAD research course or the equivalent field specific research course is expected of all students each semester through graduation. These courses include:
University Graduation Requirements
Requirements for All Students
In order to receive a Cornell degree, a student must satisfy academic and non-academic requirements.
Academic Requirements
A student’s college determines degree requirements such as residency, number of credits, distribution of credits, and grade averages. It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of the specific major, degree, distribution, college, and graduation requirements for completing their chosen program of study. See the individual requirements listed by each college or school or contact the college registrar’s office for more information.
Non-academic Requirements
Conduct Matters. Students must satisfy any outstanding sanctions, penalties or remedies imposed or agreed to under the Student Code of Conduct (Code) or Policy 6.4. Where a formal complaint under the Code or Policy 6.4 is pending, the University will withhold awarding a degree otherwise earned until the adjudication process set forth in those procedures is complete, including the satisfaction of any sanctions, penalties or remedies imposed.
Financial Obligations. Outstanding financial obligations will not impact the awarding of a degree otherwise earned or a student’s ability to access their official transcript. However, the University may withhold issuing a diploma until any outstanding financial obligations owing to the University are satisfied.
Learning Outcomes
- Developing in-depth knowledge of the academic literature on organizations and work relations in order to make original and substantial scholarly contributions to the field
- Mastering research methodologies and analytic skills required for the collection of data, analysis of those data, and interpretation of findings
- Gaining an understanding of the processes involved in publishing original research in peer-reviewed journals and other scholarly outlets (including tacit knowledge about choosing the right outlet, responding to editors and reviewers, and disseminating publications)
- Developing presentational skills for both professional conferences and teaching—two venues that may require different sorts of skills
Admissions
Application Requirements and Deadlines
Application Deadlines
Fall, December 1
Requirements Summary
- All Graduate School requirements, including:
- The English language proficiency requirement for all applicants.
- Unofficial transcripts for all institutions attended.
- Two letters of recommendation. We recommend that you submit two academic recommendations. If you are unable to submit two academic recommendations, we strongly encourage you to submit at least one academic reference with one professional reference. You can submit your application without completed letters of recommendation, but your recommenders must upload their letters within 10 days of the application deadline.
- Academic statement of purpose. In the form of an essay, describe: your academic interests, your academic background, preparation, and training, including any relevant experiences, your reasons for pursuing graduate studies in this specific program, and your academic and/or professional goals.
- Personal statement. The personal statement allows you to provide the admissions committee with a sense of who you are as a whole person, and you should use it to describe how your personal background and experiences influenced your decision to pursue a graduate degree.
- All ILR requirements, including:
- Resume or CV. Include recently updated work history and experience, skills and areas of expertise, academic achievements, and any information that is pertinent to your application.
- Writing sample. The writing sample should be academic in nature and may be in the form of an essay, short paper, research paper, etc. It can be published or unpublished. We do not recommend coauthored works unless you provide excerpts that were entirely completed by you. The document you provide should help the review committee better understand your writing, analytical, and/or communication abilities. It does not necessarily need to be on the same topic of your application field.
- Video essay. Applicants will be required to submit a recorded video essay (approximately four minutes) as part of their application to the ILR School's M.S. program. The video essay prompt is: Tell us about a labor or policy topic that you are interested in. Discuss why this topic interests you and how you might conduct research on the topic (e.g., based on which research questions and methods).
Application Submission Fee
$105. For fee waiver inquiries, please visit the Graduate School's application fee waiver instructions page.
Admissions Contact Information
Email: ilrgradapplicant@cornell.edu
Phone: 607-255-1522
Campus Address: 218 Ives Hall
Website: https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/programs/master-science-ms