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Our flexible, interdisciplinary major lets students pursue a wide range of academic interests and careers.

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Graduate Programs

Study the workplace comprehensively with the world's highest concentration of workplace faculty.

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Professional Education

Invest in your career by learning from instructors who blend world-leading research with business-tested practicality.

Professional Education

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Undergraduate Programs

Our flexible, interdisciplinary major lets students pursue a wide range of academic interests and careers.

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Graduate Programs

Study the workplace comprehensively with the world's highest concentration of workplace faculty.

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Professional Education

Invest in your career by learning from instructors who blend world-leading research with business-tested practicality.

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Every ILRie Has a Story

JC Tretter ’13 talks in an interview about broken bones, ruffling feathers, a bum knee, almost quitting football, constant eating, the fun of pro football, what’s next (not lawyering, fyi) and Cornell places he loves.

Joseph Carl "JC" Tretter Jr. '13
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ILR School Events

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Unionizing the Ivory Tower - A Special Book Event with the author, Al Davidoff

The Worker Institute is sponsoring a special book event that should be of interest to union leaders and activists, social justice organizers, labor studies students, and everyone wishing to promote worker rights. Unionizing the Ivory Tower chronicles how a thousand low-paid custodians, cooks, and gardeners succeeded in organizing a union at Cornell University.
book launch
Unionizing the Ivory Tower - A Special Book Event with the author, Al Davidoff

Make Your Shortlist Longer

eCornell Keynote Progress toward gender equity in most industries — especially in leadership — continues to be disappointingly slow. While there are many blockers of progress, one particular hiring practice stands out: In informal hiring situations, managers will often devise a shortlist of potential hires. The informality of that shortlist — and the familiarity with candidates — reproduces implicit and systemic bias by its very informality. In short, hiring managers know people who look and think like them, and they are the people who typically get shortlisted and hired. Managers then end up missing out on the best talent available to them. New research by Professor Brian Lucas and a team at Cornell’s ILR School finds that when you make your shortlist longer to include more women, you reduce the risk of overlooking strong female candidates who may be better suited for the role than typical male shortlisters. Why deprive your organization of the best, most-qualified talent? Make your shortlist longer and you’ll not only make smarter hiring decisions, but you’ll also be helping to reduce systemic and implicit bias in your workplace. Minimal effort, maximal return.

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Make Your Shortlist Longer

Joint Labor & Public Economics Workshop: Guo Xu

Guo Xu, Berkeley Beyond the War: Public Service and the Transmission of Gender Norms This paper combines personnel records of the U.S. federal government with census data to study how shocks to the gender composition of an organization can persistently shift the gender norms of its workers. We exploit city-by-department variation in the sudden expansion of female clerical employment driven by America’s entrance into World War I, and find that daughters of civil servants exposed to female co-workers are more likely to work later in life, command higher income, and have fewer children. The effects are driven by exposed fathers and daughters in their teenage years at the time of exposure. We also show that cities exposed to a larger increase in female federal workers saw persistently higher female labor force participation in the public sector, as well as modest increases in private sector labor force participation. Collectively, the results are thus consistent with both the vertical and horizontal transmission of gender norms, and highlight how increasing gender representation within an organization can have broader labor market implications.

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Joint Labor & Public Economics Workshop: Guo Xu

Future of Work Fellowships

The ILR Future of Work fellowship program supports postdoctoral researchers and doctoral students who work with our world-leading faculty on innovative and impactful research projects.

This fellowship program is designed to promote the benefits of strong collaboration between newer researchers and resident faculty members in studying impactful topics related to the future of work. Fellows and their faculty sponsors alike are enabled to address challenging research questions and break out of any stereotypes or default thinking around the future of work.

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“My time at the ILR School helped me understand both labor and management perspectives, which has proven to be a solid foundation for my career.”
Rob Manfred, Commissioner of Major League Baseball

Justin Bloesch Q&A

Faculty Spotlight

Assistant Professor Justin Bloesch, whose research covers labor economics and macroeconomics, joined the ILR faculty in the fall. 

Justin Bloesch
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ILRies Change
the Future of Work.

Learn about ILR's impact

Catherwood Library

The Martin P. Catherwood Library is the most comprehensive resource on labor and employment in North America, offering expert research support through reference services, instruction, online guides and access to premier collections.

Studying in the window bay at the Catherwood Library
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ILR in the News

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Malcomb Leads ILR WIDE Undergraduate Research Program

Doctoral student Claire Malcomb supports undergraduate research on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Claire Malcomb
Malcomb Leads ILR WIDE Undergraduate Research Program

Konvitz Lecturer Encourages Forgiveness

Student Azhaar Sholgami, whose family was terrorized in the Sudan war, called Freddy Mutanguha’s journey toward healing “an epiphany of hope.”
Dean Colvin with Konvitz Lecture speaker Freddy Mutanguha.
Konvitz Lecturer Encourages Forgiveness

Weingarten ’80 Reflects on Week at ILR

As the 2024 Alice B. Grant Labor Leader in Residence, ILRie Randi Weingarten spent time at ILR teaching, speaking and meeting with students, professors and university staff.
Randi Weingarten '80
Weingarten ’80 Reflects on Week at ILR

QA with MS Student Claire Sleigh

A connection “around a shared motivation for social justice and the importance of the labor movement in achieving better outcomes” is shared by students in the cohort, Sleigh said.
M.S. Student Claire Sleigh
QA with MS Student Claire Sleigh

Campus Life

A view of student life at Cornell University's ILR School in Ithaca, NY.

@cornellilr

The Thomas P. Golden Courtyard is a great space right outside of Ives! Have you gotten a chance to spend time there? #CornellILR #ILRSchool

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ILRie Izzy Daniel became the first Big Red player to earn the esteemed Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, presented annually to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey. The honor caps a stellar senior season in which Daniel was named the Ivy League Player of the Year and the ECAC Hockey…

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2024 Cornell Asia-Pacific Leadership Conference | April 5-7 Designing a Sustainable Future: The Importance of Collaboration, Innovation, and Action Learn more, link in bio.

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Last weekend, @cornellsds hosted the largest novice tournament of the year: The Cornell Novice Nationals! Congratulations to all the speech and debate winners and a big thank you to the Cornell community for helping make this event a memorable one! 🙌 #cornelluniversity #ilrschool #cornellilr

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After being unanimously voted first-team All-Ivy earlier this week, ILRie Chris Manon was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Region First Team. #ilrschool #cornell #cornellilr #yellcornell 🏀

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The first blooms of the season 🌼 Happy first day of Spring, ILRies! #cornellilr #ilrschool

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