Minors & Concentrations in LSER

Do you have a passion for understanding the situation of, and improving the treatment of, a particular group of Americans – such as Asian Americans, teen-age women, Haitian immigrants, or people with disabilities? There is much to learn about how to achieve social justice for everyone by studying the struggles of various diverse groups in the workplace and in society.  

We offer this focus either as a concentration within the Labor Studies and Employment Relations major or as a minor.

• Diversity specialist.  Diversity professionals work in all types of organizations. They not only help ensure compliance with state and federal laws, but they also help employers foster the talent present in all of their employees. A Master of Labor and Employment Relations degree or a Graduate Certificate in Diversity and Workplace Inclusion, offered by SMLR, prepares students for higher-level jobs in this field; the undergraduate program in Labor Studies & Employment Relations is a good place to start.
• Public policy advocate.  There are a variety of interest organizations representing the needs of various groups in our society: immigrants, the disabled, women, African-Americans, Muslim-Americans, and so on. Work related issues are hugely important to all these different groups, and individuals with a background in workplace diversity will be a valuable resource for these organizations.
• Public agency staff.  Specialized public agencies exist to enforce the law on discrimination at various levels of government. These range from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Some staff jobs are open only to attorneys but others may be filled by individuals with a Bachelors or Masters degree. Obtaining a degree with a focus on diversity in the workplace will make you a stronger candidate for these positions.
• Attorney.  Attorneys work in law firms, corporations, unions, other employee-rights organizations, and government or non-profit institutions like universities. Many deal with discrimination-related law or immigration law – some on behalf of plaintiffs and some on behalf of defendants. Labor Studies & Employment Relations provides an excellent preparation for Law School, and an eventual career as an attorney specializing in these areas.

To complete a minor in Work Organization and Management, six courses are required.  You must take (a) One 100-level Labor Studies & Employment Relations course, (b) one course in category A and three in category B from the list below, and (c) one other course at the 200 level or higher offered by the Labor Studies and Employment Relations Department.

To complete a concentration in Diversity in the Workplace, you must fulfill all the requirements of the major, including one course in category A and three or more courses in category B from the list below.  Courses in the concentration count toward the major.

A. Must take at least one:

37:575:315           Employment Law, or

37:575:316           Employment Discrimination Law

B. Must take at least three

37:575:303           Black Workers in American Society

37:575:307           Latino Workers in the U.S.

37:575:309           Working Women in American Society

37:575:315           Employment Law

37:575:316           Employment Discrimination Law

37:575:320           Immigration and Public Policy

37:575:321           Immigration Law and Employee Rights 

37:575:335           Women and the Labor Movement:  A Global Perspective

37:624:364           Diversity and Inclusion

37:575:365           Disability, Work and Society

37:575:366           Asian American Workers in a Global Context

37:575:367           Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

37:575:368           Professional Development Strategies

Vik Advani, Assistant Teaching Professor, JD, Rutgers-Camden

Dana Britton, Professor, PhD, Texas

James Cooney, Assistant Teaching Professor, JD, University of Miami

Janice Fine, Associate Professor, PhD, MIT

Carla Katz, Assistant Teaching Professor, Seton Hall

Tamara Lee, Assistant Professor, PhD, Cornell

Carmen Martino, Assistant Teaching Professor, MLER, Rutgers

Anne-Michelle Marsden, Assistant Teaching Professor, MS, Florida State

Yana Rodgers, Professor, PhD, Harvard

Lisa Schur, Professor, PhD, California

Naomi Williams, Assistant Professor, PhD, Wisconsin

Do you want to help people achieve dignity at work – along with better treatment and a higher standard of living?  Are you intrigued by recent social movements around immigration and other issues?  Do you realize that New Jersey is one of the most unionized states in the U.S. and that by studying unions you can have excellent employment opportunities?

We offer this focus either as a concentration within the Labor Studies and Employment Relations major or as a minor.

• Union organizer or staff representative.  Some people find their life’s passion in helping other people form a union.  Union organizer is one of the entry-level jobs open to those with this minor or concentration.  Staff representatives negotiate contracts, train union activists, lobby public agencies, and help employees who have grievances.  A graduate degree is usually needed to become a staff representative.  Consider our 5-year combined Bachelors/Masters program.
• Labor relations specialist.  Labor relations professionals work for private and public organizations that have union-represented employees. They negotiate contracts for the employer, handle grievances, interface with human resource departments, and attempt to prevent future labor relations problems.  Although a graduate degree is usually required for these positions, the undergraduate program is an excellent place to start.
• Researcher.  Unions, interest organizations, think-tanks, and universities all employ researchers. Research can be web-based, involve fieldwork, surveys, and/or data analysis – and may or may not be combined with public policy advocacy. Unions, for example, need people who can analyze a corporation’s financial situation, and a bachelor’s degree can lead directly to this type of job; other research positions may require graduate study.
• Labor relations agency staff.  Neutral public agencies regulate the field of labor and employment relations, run representation elections, and help resolve labor disputes. The National Labor Relations Board, the NJ Public Employment Relations Commission, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service all are agencies of this type. An undergraduate concentration in Labor Unions and Social Movements is the place to start if you want a career as a “neutral” in such an agency.  But earning a graduate degree can greatly expand the opportunities available to you in this area.

To complete a minor in Labor Unions and Social Movements, six courses are required.  You must take (a) One 100-level Labor Studies & Employment Relations course, (b) at least four courses from the list below, and (c) one other course at the 200 level or higher offered by the Labor Studies and Employment Relations Department.

To complete a concentration in Labor Unions and Social Movements, you must fulfill all the requirements of the major, including at least four courses from the list below.  Courses in the concentration count toward the major.

Must take at least four:

37:575:201           U.S. Labor & Work before the End of Reconstruction

37:575:202           History of Labor & Work in the U.S. 1880-1945

37:575:207           NJ Labor History

37:575:310           Labor Relations in Professional Sports

37:575:314           Collective Bargaining

37:575:319           Leadership and Governance of Labor Unions

37:575:322           American Labor Unions in Politics

37:575:335           Women and the Labor Movement in the U.S. and Globally

37:575:340           American Labor Law

37:575:350           Public Sector Collective Bargaining

37:575:357           Social Movements, Social Change and Work

37:575:359           Organizing for Social Change

37:575:360           Union Organizing

Will Brucher,  Assistant Teaching Professor, PhD, Brown

Adrienne Eaton, Professor, PhD, Wisconsin

Janice Fine, Associate Professor, PhD, MIT

Chris Hayes, Assistant Teaching Professor, PhD, Rutgers

Charles Heckscher, Professor, PhD, Harvard

Carla Katz, Assistant Teaching Professor, JD, Seton Hall

Francis Ryan, Assistant Teaching Professor, PhD, Pennsylvania

Sue Schurman, Professor II, PhD, Michigan

Marilyn Schneiderman, Professor of Professional Practice, MSW, Wisconsin

Paula Voos, Professor, PhD, Harvard

Naomi Williams, Assistant Professor, PhD, Wisconsin

Are you concerned about advancing the fair treatment of individuals?  About dignity and rights at work?  Do you know enough about your own rights at work?  Are you considering going to Law School?    If so, you should consider Law and the Workplace as a focus of your studies.  

We offer this focus either as a concentration within the Labor Studies and Employment Relations major or as a minor.

• Attorney.  Attorneys work in law firms, corporations, unions, various advocacy organizations, and government or non-profit organizations like universities or hospitals. To become an attorney, you must go to Law School, and a minor or concentration in Law and the Workplace provides an excellent preparation for Law School, particularly for a career focusing on labor or employment law.
• Mediator or arbitrator.  While most independent mediators or arbitrators have law degrees, some start with a Master of Labor and Employment Relations, which you can earn through our 5-year Bachelor’s/Master’s program.  In addition, many non-union employers are increasingly establishing conflict resolution programs that mimic, in part, the protections against unfair treatment that are common in union workplaces. Due to this trend, these programs also are a growing source of employment opportunities
• Professional staff representative in a union.  Union representatives use the law extensively as they organize workers, negotiate contracts, and represent individual employees who believe they have been treated unfairly by an employer.  Law and the Workplace provides a great starting point for numerous union representative positions in New Jersey.
• Public policy advocate.  Some people don’t just want to know what the law is, they want to change it. They work for a variety of interest organizations, advocating things like greater employee privacy protection, improved health insurance, mandated sick leave for all employees, better treatment for LGBT employees, or higher minimum wages. Others work for organizations that oppose such changes or seek to make changes favorable to employers. Whatever your positions on the issues, a minor or concentration in Law and the Workplace can help you forcefully advocate for them.

To complete a minor in Law and the Workplace, six courses are required.  You must take (a) One 100-level Labor Studies & Employment Relations course, (b) one course in category A and three in category B from the list below, and (c) one other course at the 200 level or higher offered by the Labor Studies and Employment Relations Department.

To complete a concentration in Law and the Workplace, you must fulfill all the requirements of the Labor Studies & Employment Relations major, including one course in category A, and three courses in category B from the list below. Courses in the concentration count toward the major.

A. (Must take at least 1)

37:575:315           Employment Law

37:575:340           American Labor Law

B. (Must take at least 3 in addition to what is taken in Category A)

37:575:220           Law for Business & Non-Profit Organizations

37:575:302           Comparative Social and Employment Policy

37:575:312           Conflict and Conflict Resolution in the Workplace

37:575:314           Collective Bargaining

37:575:315           Employment Law

37:575:316           Employment Discrimination Law

37:575:320           Immigration and Public Policy

37:575:321         Immigration Law and Employee Rights

37:575:330           Working Women and the Law

37:575:338           Occupational Safety and Health

37:575:340           American Labor Law

Vik Advani, Assistant Teaching Professor, J.D., Rutgers - Camden

Rose Cipparulo, Assistant Teaching Professor, J.D., Rutgers-Newark

James Cooney, Assistant Teaching Professor, J.D. University of Miami

Carla Katz, Assistant Teaching Professor, J.D., Seton Hall

Peter Rokkos, Instructor, J. D., Boston University

Lisa Schur, Professor, PhD Berkeley; JD Northeastern

Long-Term Adjunct Faculty

Peter DeChiara, Attorney

Joyce Klein, Mediator/Arbitrator, Attorney

Brian Manetta, Attorney

David Pepe, Attorney

Len Schiro, Attorney

Globalization – the international movement of people, goods, and ideas – is remaking NJ and the rest of the world on a daily basis.  Immigration, outsourcing of work, and new types of work in an Internet-connected world all have had a huge impact on American workers.  Studying how other nations have maintained good jobs in open economies can enable you to help reshape our institutions to operate more effectively in a global environment.  

We offer this focus either as a concentration within the Labor Studies and Employment Relations major or as a minor!

• Globally-placed manager.  Studying international/comparative differences in labor and employment relations is excellent preparation for being a manager who works in another nation for a U.S. corporation. Whether you are from the United States or are an international student returning to your country of origin, this focus can allow you to learn about a wide range of labor and employment relations practices, enhancing your ability to deal with employees in whatever nation you are stationed.
• International labor organization, NGO, or government agency staff.  Numerous supra-national, governmental or non-profit agencies address how globalization is affecting work. These range from the International Labor Organization, to various International Union Federations, the World Trade Organization, and many U.S. government agencies. Our coursework, especially in combination with an internship, provides excellent background for this work, but you may also need graduate training.

• Immigration advocate or attorney.  Worker Centers help immigrant workers with their problems.  Other organizations advocate for immigration reform. You can often start these careers with a bachelor’s degree. We have had several students pursue internships for credit in Worker Centers or immigration advocacy organizations in New Jersey.  Becoming an attorney, of course, requires going to Law School.

• Labor standards certification specialist.  American corporations are being pushed by labor and social justice organizations to certify that their internationally-produced goods are created in conditions that provide for human dignity. Corporations sometimes employ labor standards specialists themselves. More often, they use third parties – NGOs or private consulting firms.  Specialized training programs or internships complete preparation for this career path.

To complete a minor in Work, Globalization and Migration, six courses are required.  You must take (a) One 100-level Labor Studies & Employment Relations course, (b) at least four courses from the list below, and (c) one other course at the 200 level or higher offered by the Labor Studies and Employment Relations Department.

To complete a concentration in Work, Globalization and Migration, you must fulfill all the requirements of the major, including at least four courses from the list below.  Courses in the concentration count toward the major.

Must take at least four:

37:575:301           Labor Movements and Democracy

37:575:302           Comparative Social and Employment Policy

37:575:304           Comparative Employment Relations in Wealthy Nations

37:575:320         Immigration and Public Policy

37:575:321         Immigration Law and Employee Rights

37:575:335           Women and Labor Movements:  A Global Perspective

37:575:336           Employment Relations in Emerging Economies

37:575:337           Workers and Multinationals in Global Perspective

37:575:355           Current Labor Problems

37:575:361         Labor and Corporate Restructuring

37:575:363           Labor and the Global Economy

37:575:366           Asian American Workers in a Global Context                 

James Cooney, Assistant Teaching Professor, JD, Miami

Janice Fine, Associate Professor, PhD, MIT

Rebecca Givan, Associate Professor, Northwestern

Tamara Lee, Assistant Professor, PhD, Cornell

Ming-wei Liu, Associate Professor, PhD, Cornell

Carmen Martino, Assistant Teaching Professor, MA, Rutgers

Yana Rodgers, Professor, PhD, Harvard

Saul Rubinstein, Professor, PhD, MIT

Tobias Schultz-Cleven,  Associate Professor, PhD, California (Berkeley)

Sue Schurman, Professor II, PhD, Michigan

Do you want a career managing people instead of finances or things?  Are you interested in how teams are replacing assembly lines in some workplaces or how bureaucracy is changing in global corporations?   A focus on Work Organization and Management will prepare you for a variety of jobs in business, public agencies, and/or community organizations.  

We offer this focus either as a concentration within the Labor Studies and Employment Relations major or as a minor.

• Manager.  Line Managers (such as first-level supervisors, department heads, plant managers, or a variety of middle managers) nurture the talents of other employees and get them to apply their energies to the job at hand.  Learning how to manage people well is probably the most important thing that you will learn in this concentration or minor.
• Human resource specialist.  Human resource (HR) professionals help employers manage talent strategically in order to increase firm performance.  They may be generalists or may concentrate on a single area like recruitment or benefits.  A Master of Human Resource Management degree is the ticket to higher-level jobs in this field.  But this concentration or minor can lead to an entry-level position in HR.  You also should investigate pursuing a Minor in Human Resource Management, which can be combined with this concentration in the Labor Studies and Employment Relations major.
• Consultant.  Management consultants typically need a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA).  This concentration or minor is an excellent way to prepare for an MBA program.  It gives you an understanding of many key contemporary issues affecting the management of people at work without duplicating much of the content you will be exposed to in your later MBA program.  And, it also builds the key analytical, verbal and interpersonal skills you will need as a consultant.
• Community, non-profit, or union leader/manager.  These organizations also need to manage people well and require individuals with many of the other skills involved in running a business – from understanding budgets to creating effective marketing programs.  This major concentration will give you the freedom to combine your dedication to social change with the skills needed to successfully run such an organization.

To complete a minor in Work Organization and Management, six courses are required.  You must take (a) One 100-level Labor Studies & Employment Relations course, (b) one course in category A and three in category B from the list below, and (c) one other course at the 200 level or higher offered by the Labor Studies and Employment Relations Department.

To complete a concentration in Work Organization and Management, you must fulfill all the requirements of the major, including one course in category A and three or more courses in category B from the list below.  Courses in the concentration count toward the major.

A. Must take at least one:

37:575:308           Dynamics of Work and Work Organization

37:575:311           Organizational Design and Structure

B. Must take at least three:

37:575:220           Law for Business & Non-Profits

37:575:230           People, Work and Organizations

37:575:308           Dynamics of Work and Work Organization

37:575:311           Organizational Design and Structure

37:575:313           Technological Change and the World of Work

37:575:317           Contingent and Nonstandard Work

37:575:318           Leadership in Work Organizations

37:575:325           Economics of the Employment Relationship

37:575:326           Negotiation

37:575:338           Occupational Safety and Health

37:575:345           Organizational Behavior and Work

37:575:361           Labor and Corporate Restructuring

37:575:362           The Work Education Connection

37:575:367           Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

37:575:368           Professional Development Strategies

37:575:375           Benefits and Social Insurance

37:575:385           Finance for Organizational Leadership

Vik Advani, Assistant Teaching Professor, JD, Rutgers-Camden

Joseph Blasi, Professor II, EdD, Harvard

Ashley Conway, Assistant Teaching Professor, MA, American University

Rebecca Givan, Associate Professor, PhD, Northwestern

Charles Heckscher, Professor, PhD, Harvard

Doug Kruse, Professor, PhD, Harvard

Sheila Lawrence, Assistant Teaching Professor, PhD, Rutgers

Carmen Martino, Assistant Teaching Professor, MA, Rutgers

Anne-Michelle Marsden, Assistant Teaching Professor, MS, Florida State

Saul Rubinstein, Professor, PhD, MIT