Undergraduate and Graduate Capstone Courses in HR: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Capstone courses in HR have received scant attention in HR journals. This paper begins with a review of capstone courses with a primary focus on capstone courses in business. Based upon this review, research questions were formulated to guide an analysis of HR capstone course syllabi at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. This analysis of HR capstone course syllabi leads to several main conclusions. First, undergraduate and graduate HR capstone courses are quite similar. HR capstone courses are also comparable to capstone courses in other business fields.  However, there are considerable differences in the topics covered, teaching methods used, and delivery approaches employed across these courses. The prevalence of HR capstone courses was also examined. HR capstone courses appear to be more commonly found in graduate HR programs than in undergraduate HR programs.