Master's Degree in Human Development
On-campus and Online program. Duration: two and a half years. Semester-based.
Maestría en Desarrollo Humano
Promote the development of human potential in companies, organizations, and communities
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Program director
Laura Elena García García, Ph.D.
PhD in Education. Master's degree in Human Development (ITESO) and in Systemic Family Psychotherapy. Professor at ITESO since 2007 in the Psychology program. She has coordinated academic departments and diploma programs in Human Development and the Basic Academic Unit of Social Fabric. She facilitates diploma programs in human development, alternative justice, and positive psychology. With 20 years of experience as a humanistic psychotherapist, she has participated in international forums on the Person-Centered Approach.
Reasons to study
this master's degree
You are entering the first postgraduate program of the private universities in western Mexico, with nearly 50 years of experience and constantly updated.
You develop learning linked to your experience and address social problems in companies, educational institutions, communities and organizations in different sectors.
You acquire tools to make conscious and responsible decisions, while increasing your ability to build bonds for collective care and growth.
A program built for professionals like you
The program is aimed at professionals:
- From any discipline.
- That they show interest in enriching and changing their work practices, as well as the way they relate to people.
- With a desire to promote the growth of individuals, groups, and organizations, as well as those who are willing and open to getting to know themselves and others.
- That they have the conditions to direct their training process and that they show clarity, order and consistency in the oral and written expression of their ideas and feelings.
Upon completion of this master's degree you will be able to:
- Implement the principles of existential humanistic psychology.
- To exercise democratic leadership that prioritizes self-management.
- To foster communication and relationships among the members of one or more groups.
- Develop projects, interventions and mediations based on a person-centered approach, existential humanistic psychology and related proposals.
- Promote a clear, direct, and responsible communication style in interactions.
- To perceive and address in a timely manner the problems that generate communication conflicts and interpersonal relationships.
- Recognize the centrality of the person.
- To detect, describe and integrate differences and personal trajectories as resources in the design of interaction modes that promote the development of human potential.
- Demonstrate consistency, empathy, and respect in interpersonal relationships.
- Demonstrate responsibility, social commitment, and ethical behavior.
Career Opportunities
- Companies.
- Areas of staff development.
- Educational and research institutions.
- Private consulting, either individual or group.
- Public service.
- Civil society organizations.
A Rich Graduate Experience
ITESO’s graduate programs are supported by a renowned academic faculty comprising leading experts in their fields, who are actively engaged in real-world projects that offer concrete solutions. The university boasts over 100 researchers, 79 of whom are affiliated with Mexico’s National System of Researchers (SNII). Some are also members of the Mexican Academy of Sciences.
Research at ITESO generates new, rigorous, and relevant knowledge focused on some of the region’s and country’s most pressing challenges. Areas of impact include human rights, access to justice, renewable energy, sustainable resource management, food security, mental health and well-being, quality education, data science, and public communication, among others. These programs aim to offer development alternatives, influence public policy, foster technological innovation, and promote socially impactful projects.
One of the key advantages of ITESO’s graduate programs is the opportunity for international academic exchange through alliances with the International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU), a global network of over 320 institutions. Additionally, programs supported by Conacyt offer research stays in Mexico and abroad for fieldwork, study, or the completion of research projects.
Sustainability is an institutional priority that drives research, education, and community engagement projects at ITESO. These initiatives aim to develop comprehensive, long-term strategies for ecosystem stewardship that are in harmony with local communities. ITESO’s campus is one of the most sustainable in the country, and among the few in the world with a protected forest on its grounds.
ITESO offers access to more than 100 specialized laboratories in areas such as nanotechnology, data science, food engineering, mechatronics, biotechnology, chemistry, systems, communication, multimedia, languages, nutrition, neuromarketing, arts, building technologies, and more. Facilities also include simulated courtrooms, exhibition spaces, mediation rooms, and audiovisual projection labs.
ITESO’s lectures foster dialogue, critical thinking, and the exchange of ideas across sectors. They provide spaces for collaboration between academia, industry, and civil society, aimed at generating knowledge with high social impact. These initiatives also strengthen academic networks and support faculty and student mobility.
With more than 80 active academic journals and a robust catalogue of books, ITESO leads private universities in the region in scholarly publishing. Publications cover diverse disciplines, promote interdisciplinary collaboration, and are widely accessible—many available for free download online.
ITESO holds the most significant number of industry collaboration agreements among private universities in western Mexico. The university also offers dual-degree programs with institutions such as the University of Koblenz (Germany), Boston College, and Central Michigan University (USA).
ITESO’s library houses more than 640,000 physical volumes and 200,000 digital resources, including books, journals, blueprints, films, and a collection of rare and antique books. Open to the public, the library features reading rooms, exhibition spaces, a cinema, an agora, a material library, and collaborative workspaces.
ITESO offers expert consulting and support for businesses at all stages of development through the Center for Innovation and Technology Management, the High-Impact Social Innovation Center, and the University-Business Center. Graduate students engage in projects focused on entrepreneurship, innovation, business acceleration, solidarity economies, and fair trade alternatives.
Distinguished faculty
Research programs
Academic mobility
Sustainability
Computer systems
Lectures
Publications
Partnerships
Library
Business & Entrepreneurship
ITESO’s graduate programs are supported by a renowned academic faculty comprising leading experts in their fields, who are actively engaged in real-world projects that offer concrete solutions. The university boasts over 100 researchers, 79 of whom are affiliated with Mexico’s National System of Researchers (SNII). Some are also members of the Mexican Academy of Sciences.
Research at ITESO generates new, rigorous, and relevant knowledge focused on some of the region’s and country’s most pressing challenges. Areas of impact include human rights, access to justice, renewable energy, sustainable resource management, food security, mental health and well-being, quality education, data science, and public communication, among others. These programs aim to offer development alternatives, influence public policy, foster technological innovation, and promote socially impactful projects.
One of the key advantages of ITESO’s graduate programs is the opportunity for international academic exchange through alliances with the International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU), a global network of over 320 institutions. Additionally, programs supported by Conacyt offer research stays in Mexico and abroad for fieldwork, study, or the completion of research projects.
Sustainability is an institutional priority that drives research, education, and community engagement projects at ITESO. These initiatives aim to develop comprehensive, long-term strategies for ecosystem stewardship that are in harmony with local communities. ITESO’s campus is one of the most sustainable in the country, and among the few in the world with a protected forest on its grounds.
ITESO offers access to more than 100 specialized laboratories in areas such as nanotechnology, data science, food engineering, mechatronics, biotechnology, chemistry, systems, communication, multimedia, languages, nutrition, neuromarketing, arts, building technologies, and more. Facilities also include simulated courtrooms, exhibition spaces, mediation rooms, and audiovisual projection labs.
ITESO’s lectures foster dialogue, critical thinking, and the exchange of ideas across sectors. They provide spaces for collaboration between academia, industry, and civil society, aimed at generating knowledge with high social impact. These initiatives also strengthen academic networks and support faculty and student mobility.
With more than 80 active academic journals and a robust catalogue of books, ITESO leads private universities in the region in scholarly publishing. Publications cover diverse disciplines, promote interdisciplinary collaboration, and are widely accessible—many available for free download online.
ITESO holds the most significant number of industry collaboration agreements among private universities in western Mexico. The university also offers dual-degree programs with institutions such as the University of Koblenz (Germany), Boston College, and Central Michigan University (USA).
ITESO’s library houses more than 640,000 physical volumes and 200,000 digital resources, including books, journals, blueprints, films, and a collection of rare and antique books. Open to the public, the library features reading rooms, exhibition spaces, a cinema, an agora, a material library, and collaborative workspaces.
ITESO offers expert consulting and support for businesses at all stages of development through the Center for Innovation and Technology Management, the High-Impact Social Innovation Center, and the University-Business Center. Graduate students engage in projects focused on entrepreneurship, innovation, business acceleration, solidarity economies, and fair trade alternatives.
Research at ITESO
“Universities are called to be places of possibilities — to open horizons through research and engagement”.
Arturo Sosa, SJ
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