Course details

Summary

Graduate certificates are intended to develop your knowledge and skills in a subject area that is different to your first degree's major. You may be eligible if you haven't studied for a degree before if you can demonstrate an interest in the subject area and a satisfactory academic ability. By choosing to study a graduate certificate you can quickly develop career competency in a single subject area.

A graduate certificate is a shorter version of a graduate diploma, is studied at undergraduate level, and can be completed in the equivalent of one semester of full-time study.

Labour Studies

Labour Studies looks at the world of work and employment and the social environment in which they take place.

We often think of a job as a way of making a living but work is so much more. The average adult actually spends about a third of their life working. As well as a way of making money, work provides social contact, creates a sense of pride, helps us test our abilities and develops us professionally and personally.

If you are interested in how work shapes people's lives, then Labour Studies is for you. It looks at the social, economic, political and historical foundations of work, from the past to the present.

If you are studying Labour Studies you will look at a number of areas, including changes in the way work is organised, current employment legislation, and the relevance to us here in New Zealand. You will also discuss how these themes fit in the global context and how our employment relations and labour market conditions relate to other important economies, such as Australia, China, Europe, Pacific, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the USA.

Career opportunities

• Employment Relations Advocate
• Human Resource Manager
• Journalist
• Labour Market Researcher
• Policy Analyst
• Union Organiser and/or Researcher

Entry criteria

A qualification considered equivalent to a New Zealand bachelor’s degree with a B average.

English language requirements:

IELTS - 6.5 overall (no less than 6.0 in writing); iBT (internet based TOFEL) - 90 with a score of 22 in writing; Pearson PTE Academic- 65 with English language requirements no less than 58 for each communicative skill; From Waikato Pathways College - Successful completion of Level 8 with a B grade average in the Certificate of Attainment in Academic (CAAE) programme.