Global Development Institute Blog

The Global Development Institute offers a range of taught master’s programmes in international development, including four focusing on human resource management (MSc HRM), organisational change (MSc OCD), human resource management and development by distance learning (MSc HRMD-DL) and managing and implementing development projects (MSc MIDP).

The MSc HRMD-DL focuses on the importance of the contextual settings of human resource development and management, especially as they relate to development. Students are able to study via distance learning without interrupting their professional career and frequently join the programme as a stepping-stone for career development or change in professional direction. The eight modules in the programme and the dissertation study are designed to develop theoretical understanding and thinking skills for practice in public, private and not-for-profit organisations across a wide range of country contexts.

On February 1st 2021, the MSc HRMD-DL programme started a new cycle with highly diverse group members, bringing extensive work and life experience from countries and contexts. This blog is to share our sense of this rich diversity with a wider community and to welcome the members of our new cohort.

Among our students, this year is a colleague, originally from the USA who has worked in various capacities in government, NGOs, and the private sector in developing country contexts, including the US Embassy and the USAID projects in Myanmar, local NGOs in Iraq and HR projects in UAE. A second member, who grew up in Brazil and the United States, is now working in Google in London on different programmes in recruitment, learning & development, frontline HR, diversity & inclusion, data analysis and etc. and before working in the UK, has worked in Argentina, Colombia, Germany and Italy. Also in the IT sector is a colleague, who was born in the UK and grew up in Spain, brings extensive working experience in multinational corporations. He is currently working as a Global HR Project Consultant for TikTok’s parent company (ByteDance) in the UK. Before that, he was an Area Manager at Amazon.

Another member who was also born and grew up in Brazil is now living in Netherland. She has extensive working experience in multinational corporations (MNCs) in both developed and developing contexts, on which she offers comparative reflection to the group. She is now working for Royal Dutch Shell as a project manager building and implementing processes for new businesses in different countries. We also have a second colleague in the same energy sector, who is at an early career stage in the HRM&D area in the Seychelles Petroleum Company Ltd. Compared with other members’ organisational contexts, this organisation offers some distinctive characteristics as it is operated as a monopoly in the sector.

Two further early career members include a colleague, originally from Greece who is now working in Austria on an internship in recruitment for an organisation in the IT field. She has been trained in full-cycle recruitment and is also involved in the marketing team, which entails getting in contact with universities around the world and posting job offers on their websites. She is interested in the ‘human side’ of HRM&D. A third early career colleague is working as an HR Coordinator in the tech sector in the UK. He is originally from the South of India and completed an internship in HR in Toyota and Mercedes before joining his current employer. During the pandemic, he has worked as a Mental Health First Aider to help people struggling with mental health issues

Two members with roots in Manchester (aka Mancunians) include one who is now working as a third party stakeholder, legal representative and manager of an organisation with about 250 employees in the food production sector in Colombia. A second Mancunian colleague, now working as an HR manager for a law firm in Manchester, has previously worked as an HR business partner for a global financial services company and is particularly interested in studying HRM&D in international contexts, in the context of the impact of the current pandemic.

Many students bring extensive overseas working experience. One, originally from South India and now living in Sweden, shared her latest experience in HR in a Diversity & Inclusion programme in her organisation, which draws on her extensive background in developing country contexts. Another colleague has an engineering background and has been working in the shipping and transportation sector for several years. He has travelled to many developing countries and is very interested in the theories and practices of HRMD, due to his personal interests and expectations regarding career development.

As Programme Director, on behalf of MGD-GDI colleagues and our MSc HRMD programme staff, I welcome our new study colleagues warmly. We look forward to working together with the members of this diverse and experienced group as they progress through the programme.

Find out more about GDI’s MSc programmes in Human Resource Management and Development

Photo by Headway on Unsplash

Note:  This article gives the views of the author/academic featured and does not represent the views of the Global Development Institute as a whole.