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Conflict Resolution Careers

Career Fields l Employment Data l Career Support l Alumni Career Highlights

Find your passion. Be a force for progress.

Career Fields

Conflict resolution is a broad field without defined boundaries. At its core, it involves facilitating improved social relations through better communication, improved understanding, and effective problem solving. These are skills that can be applied across many sectors and professions. That’s why the Conflict and Dispute Resolution Master’s program offers a wide range of practice areas within which students may focus. You can find out more about each of these areas below, and discover jobs relevant to each area here.

Academic
Community
Cross-Cultural, Communication, Gender
Education
Environmental/Public Policy
Family
International
Labor/Management
Organizational/Workplace

Employment Data

Employer Type

45%
Government
19%
Education
16%
Private Company
11%
Nonprofit
7%
Self-Employed
2%
Other

Common Job Areas

Community
 
Facilitation
 
Government
 
Mediation
 
Public Interest
 
Restorative Justice
 
Schools
 
Training and Education
 
Workplace
 

Career Statistics

78%
Employed, full-time
11%
Employed, part-time*
4%
Enrolled in a degree or certificate program
4%
Not employed, seeking employment
3%
Other

* Most respondents responded that they are employed part-time by choice.

Career Support

Employers increasingly value the skills of our CRES graduates. As a broad field with fluid boundaries, conflict resolution gives you knowledge and skills that can be applied across many sectors and many professions. From corporate and organizational settings to public policy and legal practice, government and business leaders recognize that effectively managing and resolving conflict is critical to business and personal success.

We are committed to helping you put your skills into professional practice. In addition to the support available through the University of Oregon Career Center, students are encouraged to meet with our Program Director. Check out our job search tips. cres_job_tips.docx

Alumni Career Highlights

alumni photo

Melanie Knapp, CRES/ENVS '14
Senior Program Associate, Udall Foundation, U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (Tucson, AZ)
Melanie provides situational and program assessments, facilitates collaboration, capacity-building, conflict resolution, and technical assistance and training.
"Through my graduate coursework and internship, I gained knowledge grounded in the realities of the field, grew my network, and was well-prepared to hit the ground running in my current position."

Kouang Chan, CRES/JD '15
Director & Student Ombudsperson, University of Texas (Austin, TX)
Kouang assists students in navigating university structure and policies. He provides systemic policy and procedure feedback to the office of the president and conducts campus workshops and presentations on negotiation, communication, and conflict management.
“The CRES program provided an opportunity to explore other areas of the field I would never have imagined such as consulting, facilitation, nonprofit, community organizing—ultimately leading me to my current position.”