High school human resources internship and research fellowship
This high school human resources internship lets students in Grades 9 to 12 design sustainability training and volunteering for workplaces, with a mentor who reviews each draft. You interview working adults you know, plan a short training session or a volunteering day, and measure how people respond and what they remember.
For school students who take IB Business Management or Psychology, or CBSE and ICSE Business Studies, and want to design a real programme for people at work. Online, with field work near home and a parent or guardian present at every self-guided activity. The fellowship is paid because every student receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders.
Why people and workplaces matter for sustainability
A company’s climate targets depend on what its staff do each day, from how the canteen handles food waste to how a buyer picks a supplier. Human resources teams hire and train staff and shape the habits of a workplace. When sustainability is part of training and volunteering, more people in a company understand the targets and act on them.
Earth5R runs employee volunteering and sustainability training for companies. Its field work also includes lake, river and beach cleanups and community training on waste segregation and composting. These programmes show how a session is planned and what gets people to take part. As a fellow you study them and design a programme of your own.
This work links to the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 8, Decent work and economic growth and Goal 12, Responsible consumption and production.
Available projects in this high school human resources internship
Each project fits around school work and takes place near home. Your mentor shapes the final project with you.
Plan a volunteering day
Design an employee volunteering day around a beach or park cleanup, covering the briefing, safety and roles, and write the feedback form staff would fill in afterwards.
A short training module
Write a 20-minute training module on waste segregation for office staff, try it with family members or school staff, and check what they remember a week later.
What makes staff join in
Survey working adults in your family and neighbourhood on which sustainability activities they would join at work, and analyse what the answers mean for a company programme.
A guide for new building staff
Interview housekeeping or security staff in your own housing society, with a parent present, about how they learned to segregate waste, and design a simple picture guide for new staff.
What you do in the field
- Interview working adults about training at their workplace
- Design surveys and feedback forms and record the answers
- Draft a training module with clear learning goals
- Try your session with a small group and note what works
- Analyse attendance and feedback in a spreadsheet
- Present your programme in a research conversation
Skills you build
On a high school human resources internship, you collect your own data near home with a parent or guardian, using the Earth5R app and data forms. Earth5R checks the data on its platform before it goes into your project report.
How a high school human resources internship fits your school programme
For IB, IGCSE, CBSE and ICSE students. Your school decides what counts towards its own requirements.
IB CAS
Running a short sustainability training for school staff or families can give a CAS project a service element. Your CAS coordinator decides how it fits.
Extended Essay and IA
Survey and feedback data from your programme can support a Business Management Extended Essay on human resources, or a Psychology question on motivation. Your supervisor approves the topic.
MYP, IGCSE and CBSE projects
A training design can fit the MYP Personal Project and Business Studies project work in CBSE and ICSE schools. It also applies IGCSE topics on motivating workers.
University applications
A programme you designed and tested, with real feedback data, gives you a specific example for a business, management or psychology personal statement.
How the high school human resources internship works
Every student moves through four phases. Your mentor checks each phase before you move on, and sessions pause during board exams.
Observe and Map
Go into the field near home, with a parent or guardian, and collect primary data for your project in Human Resources.
Frame and Design
Find the root cause in your data and frame a problem worth solving, with your mentor.
Model
Build a working model, analysis or design for your solution, and test it.
Build and Deploy
Put your solution to work, measure the result and publish a verified record on earth5r.org.
Along the way you take part in research conversations with professors at MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, LSE and other universities, and ask your own questions. See how FIELDWORK works.
Where this can take you
University courses this leads to
- BSc in Human Resource Management
- BSc in Business Management
- BA or BSc in Psychology
- BSc in Employment Relations
- BA in Sociology
Careers in this field
- HR business partner
- Learning and development specialist
- CSR and employee volunteering manager
- Talent acquisition specialist
- Organisational psychologist
Universities to aim for in Human Resources
Human resources and management admissions tutors look for students who understand how people behave at work and can design something that changes it. A high school human resources internship with FIELDWORK gives you a programme you designed and tested, with feedback data, reviewed by your mentor and recorded on earth5r.org. Students use a high school human resources internship to build a record of real work for applications to universities like these.
Cornell University (ILR School)
USA · Department of Human Resource Studies, ILR School
Cornell’s Department of Human Resource Studies, in the ILR School, teaches the full range of HR topics to undergraduates as well as graduate and executive students. Alumni and HR leaders add guest lectures and live-case projects, and the department hosts the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies.
University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management
USA · Work and Organizations Department
Minnesota’s Work and Organizations Department offers undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programmes on the workplace, people management and how individuals and groups behave at work. Graduates go into HR management, talent acquisition and consulting, and the department runs the Center for Human Resources & Labor Studies.
USA · BA in Human Resource Management, School of Management and Labor Relations
Rutgers’ BA in Human Resource Management draws on business strategy, psychology, economics and sociology. Students take courses such as talent acquisition, training and development, and compensation and rewards, with special topics on ethics, diversity and inclusion, and the future of work.
Pennsylvania State University (Penn State)
USA · B.A. and B.S. in Labor and Human Resources, School of Labor and Employment Relations
Penn State’s Labor and Human Resources major studies work and the employment relationship within a liberal arts degree. It draws on industrial relations, economics, history, law, sociology and psychology, and the B.S. adds more quantitative coursework than the B.A.
UK · BSc (Hons) Management (Human Resources), Alliance Manchester Business School
Students on this Manchester degree specialise in human resources from the second year, studying HRM, employment policy, industrial relations and organisational psychology. The final year offers a dissertation or a live consultancy project with a real organisation.
UK · BA Human Resource Management, Strathclyde Business School
Strathclyde’s BA Human Resource Management looks at how people are managed at work, covering recruitment and selection, training, rewards, diversity and managing conflict. Year two takes an organisational psychology view, and Honours students write a dissertation based on research they design.
Canada · Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources (CIRHR), Faculty of Arts and Science
The University of Toronto’s Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources offers undergraduate programmes in Industrial Relations and Human Resources and in Work and Organizations. Students study work and employment in Canadian and global settings, and an internship stream adds paid work experience.
Netherlands · BSc Human Resource Studies: People Management
Tilburg’s English-taught bachelor’s studies people management through psychology, sociology, economics and management. Students look at work, organisational performance and employee well-being, learn to advise organisations on people policy, and can use a Mobility Window for an internship, a minor or study abroad.
This list is for guidance. These universities offer undergraduate study in Human Resources. Earth5R has no admissions arrangement with them, and admission decisions rest with each university. Students get help researching universities, scholarships and applications, depending on the programme.
What your fellowship fee pays for
An internship fellowship at Earth5R is time and attention from senior researchers and leaders. Each part below takes staff time and resources that we set aside for every fellow.
Live mentoring with experts
One-to-one mentoring in most fellowships, with regular check-ins on your project.
Dialogues with global researchers
Academics from international universities and renowned scientists, who answer your questions and discuss your work.
Support in the field
Guidance while you collect data and work on your project in the field.
References for your next step
References when you apply for jobs, higher studies and research programmes.
Your work, hosted for life
Your work and data stay on Earth5R’s website and servers for life, where universities and employers can check them.
Time from senior people
Each fellow receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders, set aside for them.
Fee details available on request.
Choose your fellowship
The Multi-Year Fellowship can run from Grade 9 to Grade 12, with more scope each year.
The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details available on request.
High school human resources internship: common questions
What does a high school human resources internship have to do with the environment?
Many companies run volunteering, sustainability training and green workplace policies through their people teams. You learn how these programmes are planned and how a company checks whether staff took part and learned something.
Who will my child interview or train?
Working adults the family already knows, classmates, and staff at your school or housing society. A parent or guardian is present for any interview outside school, and the mentor reviews each survey before it is used.
Do I need to know about business already?
No. Your mentor explains how companies train staff and how a needs survey works. Students who take Business Management or Psychology can add theory on motivation and learning to their design.
Is the high school human resources internship paid?
Yes. FIELDWORK is a paid, mentored programme. The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details are available on request.
Can my child do this high school human resources internship online?
Yes. Mentoring sessions run online, and field work takes place near where you live.
Is a parent or guardian present during field work?
Yes. A parent or guardian is present at every self-guided field activity. Online sessions are for students.
Does FIELDWORK pause during board exams?
Yes. Sessions pause during board exams, so the fellowship fits around school work.
What do students get at the end?
A certificate, a letter of recommendation, a project report and a verified profile on earth5r.org, where universities can check the work.
Related subjects for school students
Already at university? See the Human Resources internship fellowship for university students.
Apply for a FIELDWORK fellowship in Human Resources
This high school human resources internship is for students in Grades 9 to 12. Work on a live Earth5R project with a mentor, take part in research conversations with global researchers, and build a verified record of your work. Fee details available on request.
