ODKM, MS

Develop the essential leadership, creative problem-solving, and analytical skills needed to become a change agent in your organization, work, and life with the organization development master's degree, including coaching courses to apply for a coach credential with the International Coach Federation (ICF).

In this cohort-based master's program located in the D.C. metropolitan area in Arlington, Virginia, you will be part of a dynamic community of professionals. Explore organizational leadership theory and practice, the shift from hierarchical structures to group-based learning, and best practices to promote the creation of adaptive, collaborative work environments. You will graduate from the organization development master's program with the capacity to manage, evaluate, and affect rapid change in government, corporate, and nonprofit organizations.

Whether you're a human resource professional, mid-level executive, or senior leadership, this program will help you develop critical career skills.

Email us: schar@gmu.edu

Call: 703-993-8099

Skills You'll Gain

This program develops three levels of core competencies:​

• Individual: analytical skills, emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and appreciative intelligence ​

• Group: coaching skills, dialogue, change conversations, and process work​

• Organizational and Societal: systems thinking, knowledge management processes, organizational analysis and diagnostic tools,  appreciative inquiry, action research, dialogical organization development, and organizational transformation  ​

Master's or certificate students who reside in Washington, D.C., and Maryland can qualify for a tuition rate is equivalent to the in-state rate! This new policy applies to Schar School students who begin their degree in fall 2023 or later. 

Where Our Recent Graduates Work

Academia: 12%
Federal Government: 13%
Private Sector - Consulting: 25%
Private Sector - General: 50%

Data gathered from recent graduates from from 2022-23

Students are required to take the following core courses:

• Foundations of Organization Development and Knowledge Management
• Group Dynamics and Team Learning
• Social and Organizational Inquiry
• Creating Learning Organizations
• Foundations of Coaching
• Coaching and Organization Development:
• Knowledge Management and Collaborative Work
• Leadership and Social Justice
• Organizational Development Practices
• Learning Community

Insights from Faculty in the Master of Organization Development and Knowledge Management Program

Leadership scholarship is in the process of making an evolutionary leap. The old notions of the leader being a charismatic lone actor who rides in on a white horse, saving the day and fixing everything, are fading into the past. This evolution is a process of sensebreaking leadership.

With George Mason University's prime location in the Washington, D.C. area, Schar School students gain access to leading scholars and practitioners who bring real-world experience to the classroom, providing you with the mentorship and skill sets needed to advance in your career. The Schar School has 80+ faculty members, as well as hundreds of adjunct faculty, allowing students to gain access to a variety of perspectives and subjects through elective courses.