HRD Educators’ Views on Teaching and Learning

The Problem Very little research has examined the current state of human resource development (HRD) education in the United Kingdom, or the factors influencing its genesis and development. The Solution We analyze historical and contemporary factors influencing HRD education in the United Kingdom, identify different levels and providers of HRD qualifications, and outline curriculum content of HRD programs. Our aim is to clarify the current situation, by proposing a tripartite model of stakeholders in HRD education based on the United Kingdom but which might assist in the analysis of HRD education in other geographic areas. The Stakeholders HRD education in the United Kingdom is largely influenced by three key stakeholders: the U.K. government, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (the professional body for human resources), and the academy. Our analysis reveals complex and dynamic interactions between these stakeholders, which have implications for them as well as learners, practitioners, and researchers.

The Problem There is hardly any information in English available on human resource development (HRD) education in the Netherlands, although the practice of HRD in this country is flourishing and HRD education is growing, especially within the private sector. Almost all relevant information is in Dutch, which makes it difficult for non-Dutch-speaking scholars and practitioners to appreciate the significant investments that have been made in HRD and HRD education in the Netherlands. The Solution This article brings together a wide range of information about academic and non-academic HRD programs, Dutch HRD professional associations, and HRD certification and accreditation efforts in the Netherlands. This information is grounded in an overview of the emergence of HRD/lifelong learning initiatives over the past three centuries. The Stakeholders Scholars and practitioners interested in the history and current status of HRD and HRD education in the Netherlands, especially those who do not speak Dutch, will benefit from the information provided in this article. People looking to enroll in an academic or non-academic HRD program or those who seek professional associations, accreditation, or certification in the Netherlands will also find this article useful.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of human resource development (HRD) education in Middle Eastern countries. In particular, the authors discuss the current state of HRD education, country readiness and challenges that hinder HRD progress in Middle Eastern countries. They argue that HRD programs need to prepare young employees for leadership roles through adapting constructivist pedagogy, including problem-solving, critical thinking and creativity.Design/methodology/approachThe design of this paper followed a qualitative approach. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with five HRD experts in Middle Eastern countries and conducted integrative literature review and secondary data analysis.FindingsData analysis provided an overview of HRD education, looked at options individuals interested in HRD education might have, provided views on constructivism vs instructivism as education pedagogies and discussed cultural factors that impede critical reflection in the workplace.Research limitations/implicationsTo understand how to introduce constructivist elements to instructivist learning cultures, and to sustain it, HRD scholars in the Middle Eastern countries need to diminish the misalignment between instructional philosophies of trainers, trainees and national or institutional systems.Practical implicationsUnderstanding how policy, resources, infrastructure and culture influence learning expectations is vital to introducing innovative training activities or scaling them up to other workshops and systems.Originality/valueThis research sheds light on HRD education in the Middle Eastern countries; provides an overview of employment challenges and opportunities to improve workplace learning; and provides scholars, practitioners and other stakeholders interested in HRD with suggestions to develop successful workforce education.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed literature on university-based human resource development (HRD) courses and programs. Design/methodology/approach – The methods used in this paper are integrative literature review and content analysis. Findings – Only 71 peer-reviewed articles that address university-based HRD courses and programs in any way were found. Forty-six were empirical studies and 25 were either conceptual or editorial in nature. The majority of articles focused on HRD courses and programs in the USA and the UK. Perspectives from other countries were nearly absent. Many of the claims about the content and quality of HRD courses and programs were not supported by empirical evidence. Research limitations/implications – HRD courses and programs are offered in universities around the world. Almost nothing is known of their content, quality or methods. Future research on these courses and programs should focus on the relevance of curriculum to the needs of organizations. Originality/value – While HRD research and practice are concerned with learning and development, topics related to the learning and development of future HRD scholars and practitioners are rarely addressed in the HRD literature. This is the only comprehensive review of the small-body peer-reviewed literature on university-based HRD courses and programs. It provides a summary of the findings of empirical research on HRD courses and programs, and an analysis of the warrant for the claims about these courses and programs.

The Problem Human resource development (HRD) education does not take place only in academic institutions. There are hundreds of global professional organizations or associations that are designed to give professionals in the field of HRD opportunities to share their knowledge. Yet, there has been little research to determine what such organizations anticipate contributing to professionals’ education. Particularly problematic is the large number of professional organizations at global, regional, country, and local levels, all of which claim to add to professionals’ expertise. The Solution There is little literature focusing on specific HRD professional organizations. In this article, we explore samples of both academic and practitioner professional organizations globally and on each populated continent. We have identified educational outcomes that are part of the educational missions of professional organizations and associated modes. Data were gathered through websites, interaction with professional networks, and our personal experiences. The Stakeholders HRD practitioners and academics need to be aware of the significant contributions made by professional organizations to HRD education. This is especially important in countries where there is little to no formal HRD education offered in universities, as well as for all professionals, academics and practitioners, who desire to expand their global knowledge. Greater intentionality of this mission may improve the outcomes experienced by professional organizations and help others select appropriate organizations with which to affiliate.

The Problem Human resource development (HRD) university programs, so named, have been found dominantly in the United States. However, university programs in HRD have emerged elsewhere, interestingly, more often in developing countries than in other developed countries. But, globally, we know virtually nothing about these programs, their histories, their curricula, their missions, and their research, as there is an almost complete gap in international literature. The Solution Two countries in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), Thailand and Malaysia, were selected as case studies for HRD education in developing countries or upper-middle income countries as defined by the World Bank; they are also the most active in the Academy of HRD (AHRD) in Asia as they have hosted the Asian AHRD conference twice within a decade. Because of the paucity of literature on this topic, we accessed related websites to determine details about the HRD programs, supplemented by our own information related to these two countries based on our knowledge of HRD education in these two countries. The study showed that HRD education in these two countries is at the stage of established, based on the taxonomy developed within the article. More than one university in each country is offering HRD majors in undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. The Stakeholders The information in this article should be of interest to anyone interested in international or global HRD, potential students who wish to study HRD in these countries, officers and members of the AHRD, members of the Program Excellence Network (PEN) of AHRD, and anyone generally interested in HRD in higher education.

The Problem The human resource development (HRD) field is still searching for a widely accepted identity. However, because development is a ubiquitous process, because understanding and facilitating it requires insights from many disciplines, and because cultural, maturity and other contextual factors determine how development issues are framed, the pursuit continues. Is the continual search for greater clarity about what HRD is and how to facilitate it a strength or a fool’s errand? The Solution This issue of Advances in Developing Human Resources ( ADHR) does not answer this question, but it does help clarify what is happening as universities evolve programs to develop HRD professionals who can add value to development processes at individual, organizational, and societal levels. The Stakeholders Scholars and practitioners interested in the history and current global status of HRD and HRD education, HRD practitioners and people aspiring to HRD roles in business or societal institutions.

Multilingualism is generally regarded as having benefits for adults spanning multiple areas of life. Career-wise, the benefits of multilingualism include greater employment opportunities, increased intercultural understanding, improved negotiation skills, greater information access, and even higher income. Nonetheless, in the United States, multilingualism is contradictory to the national, English-only ideology, which has even found its way into academia. The purpose of this study was to understand how multilingual, tenured and tenure-track faculty who hold positions in human resource development (HRD) and/or adult education programs in the United States make meaning of their career identity, the value of multilingualism in US academia, and the role of multilingual literacy in their careers. This was an interdisciplinary study, merging ideas from sociolinguistics and HRD: multilingualism, career identity, and career development. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach, I sought to understand the phenomenon of being a multilingual faculty member in an HRD and/or adult education program in the United States, i.e., the essence of the participants’ experiences in their academic roles. The participants were 12 multilingual faculty members and the data included interview transcripts and participants’ CVs. The data revealed that the participants perceived multilingualism as an integral part of their identity and listed multiple benefits of multilingualism for research, teaching, and service. The participants also discussed multiple challenges to leveraging their multilingual skills for career purposes. While the participants confidently described their international identities, these were not as prominently featured on their CVs. Additionally, participants sometimes struggled to negotiate their international identities within the largely monolingual context of the United States, opting to adapt to the dominant context. The participants highlighted the fact that multilingualism is not a highly valued skill within their professions and organizations. Still, the findings revealed multiple benefits related to academic careers, including the potential to engage in cross-national and international research, to help students develop as global citizens, and to lead international engagement efforts. The findings point to several areas of improvement in terms of policy and practice, inclusive of supporting career development related to international research and engagement, leveraging multilingual literacy skills in teaching, and establishing an inclusive climate.

In this paper, we propose a conceptual model to improve moral sensitivity in human resource development (HRD) practices to assist human resource (HR) practitioners in contending with moral challenges in HRD. The literature on the relationship between ethics and HRD suggests that the organizational and employee development discipline deals with ethical issues at three different levels: Individual, organizational and  and communal, and international levels. In section I, we elaborate on moral challenges facing HRD. In section II, we conceptualize moral sensitiveity in HRD, and propose a conceptual model in virtue of some essential ethical theories and concepts, that assist HRD face those problems. We will show how each theory and concept can help HRD to deal with relevant problems. In section III, we elaborate on the practical approaches to implement moral sensitivity in sensitivity HRD. We put forward some strategies that help HRD bring those theories and concepts to bear on the ethical problems facing this discipline. Finally, we discuss moral education through learning theories to cultivate moral concepts and ethical dimensions in HRD education.

The Problem The global financial crisis and uncertainty has the potential to significantly affect the human resource development (HRD) field in terms of investment levels in training and development; the nature, content, and focus of HRD interventions and programs; evaluation processes used to determine return on investment in HRD; and the role of HRD scholars and practitioners in assisting organizations to navigate such uncertain and turbulent economic environments. However, there is little to no debate about how HRD is responding to the crisis or how HRD scholars and practitioners can or should influence people management and development policy and practice during an era of ongoing economic turbulence. The Solution The current issue will address the gap that exists in our understanding of HRD during uncertain times. The issue draws together multi-level and multi-perspective insights into how HRD has responded to the uncertainty and ongoing economic turbulence. The papers are drawn from a range of different cultures and countries, across different levels of analysis, from the individual to the organization, to government and regulation. The methodologies used in the current issue papers are diverse and include quantitative, qualitative, integrative literature review, and an academic-practitioner reflection. The current issue sets out important implications for how HRD practitioners and researchers can assist the HRD field to respond to and shape organizational and government responses to the uncertainty and ongoing turbulence. The Stakeholders Scholars, practitioners, and policy makers interested in the human resource development field.

In recent years, there has been a surge of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the United States. These laws undoubtedly reinforce cisheteropatriarchal ideologies that heterosexuality and gender conformity are the only acceptable ways of being, while other forms of sexuality and gender identity are unnatural, immoral, and deserve punishment. Given that the workplace, mirroring the broader society, exhibits the prejudices and preconceptions that are ingrained in our cultural milieu, it is incumbent upon human resource development (HRD) education to expose students to the ways in which cisheteropatriarchy structures workplaces so, as HRD practitioners, they can work towards disrupting it.

The Problem There is a dearth of research focusing on undergraduate human resource development (HRD) education. As a result, programs offering undergraduate degrees in HRD or degrees related to HRD may be making program decisions without the benefit of empirical research. Alternatively, programs may be conducting their own action research projects where the results may not be generalizable to other institutions. The Solution The present issue takes one small step forward related to filling the gap in undergraduate HRD education. The empirical articles in this issue are reviewed and synthesized to identify five opportunities for research that can inform education and practice. The Stakeholders The primary audience includes HRD scholars and scholar-practitioners, including master and doctorate students, interested in conducting research relevant to undergraduate HRD education. The secondary audience includes leaders of the field, including board members of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD), the AHRD Foundation, the University Council for Workforce and Human Resource Education (UCWHRE), program administrators, department chairs, associate deans, and deans.

The quotation by Cohn and Mullennix that begins this article is also an apt beginning for this issue. Globalization and workforce demographics have made diversity an organizational concern. In response, organizations typically have made diversity work a human resource development (HRD) responsibility, because diversity initiatives fit traditional HRD functions of training and development, career development, and organization development. So the question arises, What are we doing to prepare our students not only to live and work in a diverse world but also to contribute to building more inclusive systems as HRD scholars and practitioners? An answer we propose is to include diversity in graduate and undergraduate programs that teach HRD.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to point out the importance of having an ethics-related course for human resource development (HRD) graduate programs; and second, to highlight HRD potential to minimize ethical misconducts through an ethical filter in organizations.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is conceptual in nature. The authors used their own experiences in HRD programs, looked at HRD graduate programs’ curricula in different universities and reviewed literature on ethics and HRD to develop a conceptual model. The model is to guide future studies and identify the role of HRD practices to create an ethical climate in organizations.FindingsIn this paper, the authors illustrate the connection between HRD practices and ethical climate in organizations by providing a conceptual framework. In the concluding paragraphs, the authors provide a discussion, implications and recommendations for future studies.Originality/valueThe authors highlight the limited research conducted on how ethics and ethical dilemmas need to be represented in HRD practitioners’ activities and practices. Many graduate-level HRD students do not receive enough training on ethics, whereas it is their responsibility to help improve organizational ethical climate and educate and prepare human resources to minimize ethical misconducts and wrongdoings. The paper provides a framework for HRD practitioners to create a strong ethical climate in their organizations.

ABSTRACTThis paper examines standard-setting and standardization processes currently being undertaken in the human resources field and makes a ‘call to action’ for human resource development (HRD) scholars and practitioners to influence these developments. The paper provides a reflexive ‘insider account’ of HR standards development combining personal experience with theoretical perspectives; ‘grey’ and practitioner literatures; and secondary data sources. Drawing on scholarly literature sources, opportunities and dilemmas of standardization processes in the HR field are discussed. Grounded in the standardization literature, alternative approaches to system-wide (meta) standards are identified. Drawing on publically available information, different standardization approaches in USA and UK are discussed. The paper critiques the dominant performance-orientated paradigm and ‘rules-based’ approach to standards and argues for an alternative, principles-based approach for HR standardization to support sustainable individual and organizational performance. These issues have important consequences for HRD identity, pedagogy, education, and practice. In addition to the development of an original typology of emerging HR standardization, the paper contributes a new perspective to debates about the identity, values, purpose, and contribution of HRD and the relationship between HRD and human resource management (HRM).