School of Policy Studies
Queen's UniversityMIR Degree Overview
Queen's University has a long-standing commitment to teaching and research in industrial relations. The MIR program is a twelve- month professional program with a practitioner focus, designed to prepare students for a variety of career opportunities. Many students go on to careers in labour relations and human resources. Others establish careers in applied and policy oriented research, teaching and consulting in IR/HR. The program attracts new graduates as well as career employees wishing to renew or upgrade their credentials. More than 600 Queen's MIR graduates have gone on to contribute significantly to their workplaces in private and public sector organizations both in Canada and abroad.
The Master of Industrial Relations degree program is aimed at developing the knowledge and competencies that HR/LR professionals need. The MIR provides students with:
- thorough grounding in labour relations and human resource practice;
- an understanding of evolving employment relationships and of organizational dynamics;
- an understanding of the fundamentals of the laws governing the individual employment relationship and the collective bargaining relationship;
- the capacity to collect and analyze data on current workplace issues and interpret research in the field;
- the skills set of the new HR/LR professional - consulting, facilitation, leadership, coaching, team building and communication.
The philosophical orientation of the program is multi-disciplinary, stressing the application of knowledge and analysis to the workplace. The curriculum consists of core courses, electives and skills seminars. The core courses delve into the required body of knowledge and skills to provide a thorough grounding in industrial relations and human resource theory and practice. Opportunities for specialization are provided through electives and skills seminars. Electives can be selected from within the school or from appropriate graduate offerings in other units. An elective can also be made up of three analytical and research skills seminars - each of which focuses on a special topic and runs for twelve class hours. Students also have the opportunity to concentrate on labour relations, human resource management, or labour law. The program's unique design attracts students with diverse academic backgrounds.
Core Courses
MIR Students are required to take 11 core courses. This normally includes seven (7) core courses plus four (4) electives.
Elective Courses
The elective courses may include some combination of: i) research essay equal to two (2) courses; ii) elective courses; and iii) three (3) skills seminars, equal to one (1) elective course.
Skills Seminars are normally four (4) three-hour sessions focusing on a specific topic, often related to professional IR practice.
Elective courses will vary from year to year depending on instructor availability.
