Growing up in a developing country, I was accustomed to the idea that the main purpose of education was to ensure we got decent jobs. At GC, I was exposed to the idea, possibly for the first time, that service can and should be a core tenet of not just education, but of life in general.
People and Culture Management
Minor
Studying people & culture through a unique lens
Managing people well means managing conflict well. Most management programs give that a two-week unit. Goshen gives it a required course, “Mediation: Process, Skills, Theory,” out of a peace and conflict studies program with its own faculty and more than a century of institutional conviction to back it up. You learn mediation from expert faculty who study and practice it, not from a chapter summary. The course centers on the third-party role and is taught experientially, so you practice the work rather than read about it.
That’s the pattern across the whole minor: only half your courses come from the business department, with the rest drawn from sociology, psychology and peace studies — because you can’t manage people without understanding how they develop, how groups behave and how conflict actually resolves.
Management with a Heart
Your coursework covers how people develop, how teams function, how you hire and retain well, the power dynamics and culture codes that decide who gets heard in a room and who doesn’t. Your management courses include organizational behavior, principles of sociology and then a closer look at human behavior. Graduates can read the workplace accurately, including the parts nobody says out loud. Through practice both inside and outside the classroom students build confidence and conviction to speak up and say something about it.
Working in people & culture
Every organization you’ll ever join runs on people. If you’ve ever been on a team with a good leader and a team with a bad one, you already know the difference this makes. This minor turns that instinct into something you can name, teach, and do on purpose. These careers involve not only hiring, onboarding, and the daily practices that decide whether people stay and whether they do their best work, but also conflict mediation.
The roles and careers that apply these skills are diverse and fall under a variety of titles. Here are just a few that our alumni hold: HR Business Partner, Talent Manager, Employee Experience Manager, and Director of Training and Development.
Shashi Buluswar '90
CEO of the Institute for Transformative Technologies
What it costs, and the aid behind it
Scholarships make up a large portion of Goshen financial aid packages, which average almost $26,000 per student, not counting work-study or loans. As students in a business program, accounting majors may also qualify for endowed awards including the Sauder Scholarship and the Gorsline Scholarship. Run the net price calculator to see your own number and talk it through with the financial aid office when you are ready to take the next step.
Common Questions about the People and Culture Management Minor
The 18-credit minor includes People & Culture Management (BUS 315), Organizational Behavior (BUS 364), Operations Management (BUS 318), Mediation (PJCS 325), and Principles of Sociology (SOC 200), plus your choice of Developmental Psychology (PSYC 210) or Human Behavior (SOWK 221).
You’ll be able to manage the people side of an organization, hiring, culture, motivation, and team performance, and use mediation to turn conflict into progress. You’ll understand how people behave in groups and across a lifespan, which makes you the kind of person teams actually want leading them.
Almost any of them. Because every field is run by people, the minor strengthens majors from business, sport management, and nursing to the arts and sciences. Anywhere you’ll manage a team, build a culture, or handle conflict, it’s a portable credential that signals you can lead people well.
Two things. The minor mirrors the People and Culture Management concentration in the Business major, and you choose one course between Developmental Psychology (PSYC 210) and Human Behavior (SOWK 221). Like every business minor at Goshen, you must earn a grade of C- or higher in each required course. Your advisor can help you map it out.
Ready to get started?
Michelle Horning
Professor of Accounting
Program Director
Department ChairJerrell Richer
Professor of Economics
Carl Kreider Chair and Co-Director of Global EngagementAlysha Liljeqvist
Associate Professor of Business
Patrick Farran
Associate Professor of Business
Andrew Hartzler
Professor of Accounting
Jason Harrison
Assistant Professor of Business
Jorge Montenegro Martinez
Assistant Professor of Business
Eyob Zeleke
Assistant Professor of Information Technology
