Careers in Industrial Organizational Psychology

Quick Links to Subsections on this Page
Introduction	Education
Brief History	Employment
Important Terms	Learning More
Subfields	Outlook
A Typical Day	Summary
Pros and Cons	Acknowledgments

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Introduction

INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONAL (I/O) PSYCHOLOGY is the study of behavior in work settings. I/O psychology is very important in the workplace for promoting productive worker attitudes and behaviors and for selecting and promoting candidates in the most effective fashion . More and more companies are hiring I/O psychologists to come in and help revamp certain aspects of their company. It seems that today there is a great demand for equal employment, equal pay and an enjoyable yet productive environment. With these thoughts in mind, the demand for I/O psychologists is increasing rapidly. With this increase it is important that people have a general understanding of how I/O psychology came to be, how to become an I/O psychologist and what the future is expecting of I/O psychologists.

A Brief History

I/O psychology is a relatively recent subfield of psychology. In fact it did not become fully productive until about the late 1920's. Before the late 1920's many people had started to improve the workplace. Differential psychology, which became popular during WW I, was the start of improving the workplace. It focused in on how people are different but was not very successful in helping with ones job. The second idea was experimental psychology. This branch attempted to treat everyone as the same and tried to define laws in how people are similar. It too failed. The third idea was scientific management. This was the idea that there is only "one best way" to perform a job. It was based on the fact that money is a motivator and left out the idea of job satisfaction. The last factor that helped I/O psychology become prominent was the human relations movement. This particular movement wanted to keep people happy through motivation along with job satisfaction. It also led to the Hawthorne Studies, which was the true start of I/O psychology.

The Hawthorne Studies were conducted from about 1927-1932 by Elton Mayo at the Western Electric Company. Some results that came out of this study were that a workplace must be seen as a social system not just a productive system, that including workers in decision making process can reduce resistance to change, and that individual work behavior is determined by a complex set of factors.

Some Important Terms and Definitions in I/O Psychology


	Validity			The accuracy of a measurement instrument. This helps tell if you are predicting what you want to predict. Unfortunately there can be many threats to your accuracy of measurement.
	Groups			Groups are extremely important in today's workplace. In order to be defined as a group, the members need to be trying to achieve the same goal.
	Job Analysis			A job analysis is useful for describing what someone does at a particular job. It also helps in placing people in similar salaries, types of tests and performance appraisals.
	Performance Appraisals			Performance appraisals focus on evaluation of job incumbents to assess employees' strengths and weaknesses and to identify appropriate pay raises.
	Affirmative Action			Affirmative action efforts are meant to ensure that members of all demographic groups receive equal employment opportunities in order to avoid discrimination in the workplace.

Some Interesting Subfields Within I/O Psychology

The following table describes five important subfields within I/O psychology. With each subtopic you can learn a little more about the area along with being able to visit some different web pages about these topics.


	Performance Appraisals		Performance appraisal is one subfield that helps in assessing worker performance. It can provide information that is valid for pay increases, promotions ,and various other opportunities.
	Organizational Development		This subfield addresses change in the workplace and how a company goes about the transition process to new ways of managing things.
	Assessment Centers		This section focuses in on the idea of evaluating job applicants in a structured way in order to find the best fit for hiring and/or promotion.
	Leadership		This section talks about what makes a leader and what the different styles of leadership are.
	Training and Development		In this linked page, you can learn about different types of training and how companies go about providing training in the workplace.

A Typical Day Practicing I/O Psychology

There are various jobs that one can choose to focus in on. One particular job is that of providing training in the workplace. This job has been growing over the years since companies have the need to provide training about various topics. A typical day in which someone provides training can be very complicated. One might start out with brainstorming with a group of managers about a certain topic that they have been asked to teach, perhaps sexual harassment in the workplace. Or one might start the day by siting in on a training session so that they can teach other people what you have learned. Other parts of your day could include teaching seminars or training courses about a particular topic or putting together packets that talk about different areas that one might need training in.

One's day would also be packed with teaching and talking to people. This shows that communication is one main aspect of being an I/O psychologist. One has to be extremely organized and prepared to answer almost any type of question. Other aspects of ones day could involve studying a certain job to see what type of training would make a job run more smoothly or looking through past research to help find the best training strategies on topics that need to be taught. Your day can be very long, but in the end it is always interesting to see the results of your training on other people.

Pros and Cons of a Career in I/O Psychology

There are both potentially rewarding and frustrating aspects to working in I/O psychology that need to be carefully considered before pursuing a career in this field. It is important to understand that these pros and cons to I/O psychology are not meant to scare you away from this particular field but to help you better your understanding of this field.

*Some Potential Attractions of Careers in I/O Psychology*
	Many Opportunities	There are many career paths possible in I/O psychology. One can work for a human resource department, work in management or work for one main company while being staffed out to smaller companies.
	Challenges	I/O psychology also presents constant challenges because it is a relatively new field and people are still trying to learn more about people in the workplace.
	In Demand	Many companies are realizing that they need to increase job satisfaction and in order to do so they need I/O psychologists to help them out.
	Set Own Hours	If you choose to work on your own and provide help to various companies, you can have somewhat flexible hours that may fit in better with your daily routine.
	Can be Independent or Work for a Company	Often, you can choose to work by yourself by creating your own consulting firm or you can work with a large company and have a set salary and workday.

*Some Potential Drawbacks of Careers in I/O Psychology*
	Education	Often many of the jobs in I/O psychology require one to have a masters or a doctorate in I/O psychology.
	Risk of Burnout	Burnout may result unless people try different subfields in I/O psychology and/or try to regularly learn new things .
	Clients	If you are not a people person and do not like dealing with people, I/O psychology may not be for you. When working in I/O psychology, there often is an intense relationship with a client.
	Dependence on You	Another drawback is the fact that people depend on you to help their company. Often there is nothing you can do to help the company if the people in the company are not willing to change.
	Changing Settings	If you consult on your own, you are constantly working in new settings and/or situations in order to help client companies.

Education and Training for Careers in I/O Psychology

THERE ARE VARIOUS KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS and ABILITIES that one needs in order to pursue a career in I/O psychology. One skill that is very important is communication. Another skill/ability that one needs to have is the idea of organization. It does not matter if you are teaching a large class of students or if you are interviewing one person you have to be organized in the way that you do your work and plan your day. If one is interested in consulting work, they would have to have a great deal of knowledge and background in I/O psychology. They would have to be able to look at a corporation and help them decide which training style will best fit their company. This knowledge is very beneficial and if one is willing to go through all the schooling it will definitely pay off.

WITH A BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN PSYCHOLOGY, one can have numerous job opportunities. If I/O is what one is interested in, human resource (HR) jobs could be appealing. These particular jobs involve lots of interaction with people. For most companies, it is the HR department that helps with the hiring of new employees, training of employees and benefits. These particular jobs usually start from about $25,000 to about $28,000 (Salary Data). This pay range also depends on the type of background skills one might have. For instance, if you have been certified in healthcare/insurance information, you would be considered to be an HR specialist in insurance and might have a higher pay range. If you do not focus in on any particular topic you would be considered an HR generalist and would be participating in small aspects of various different jobs, ie. interviewing, training, benefits and recruiting. With a bachelor's degree, there is room for promotion but if you wanted to move on to management, you would most likely have to continue your education to the masters level.

WITH A MASTER'S DEGREE IN I/O PSYCHOLOGY, one has many more choices when it comes to job opportunities.With this degree one could start off their career working as an HR specialist. They could also focus their career on working for a consulting firm, teaching at a university or devoting their life to research in I/O psychology. The pay ranges for this degree start at about $30,000 and work their way up to about $40,000. If one chooses to move up to management, the salary could reach about $50,000 to $80,000 (Salary Data). Some typical job titles with a master's degree are Senior Research Consultant, HR Consulting Assistant or Employee Relations Manager.

*Some Terminal Master's Degree Programs for Pursuing a Career in I/O Psychology*
	I/O Psychology at West Chester University	This program is designed for students with interests in Human Resources, business and industry. It also prepares students for doctoral programs in I/O.
	I/O Psychology at University of North Texas	This program offers concentrations in Personnel Psychology, Consulting, and Employee Counseling.
	I/O Psychology at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis	This program gives both an industry and doctoral program background in a work related research teaching style along with applying problem solving skills.
	I/O Psychology at Rensselaer Polytechnical	This program focuses on traditional personnel psychology along with traditional organizational psychology. It also allows you to individualize your studies.

WITH A DOCTORAL DEGREE IN I/O PSYCHOLOGY, the amount of education and experience needed increases along with the pay. In order to pursue a doctoral degree in I/O psychology, one must first have both a BA/BS and a master's degree in a related field. Often one can participate in a doctoral program while receiving their master's at the same time. There are many different doctoral programs but most of them require you to spend a year working on an internship along with writing a dissertation. Some typical job titles that people with doctoral degrees in I/O psychology have are research/senior scientist, organizational development leader and a professor working on a tenure track position. With these type of positions one would be performing job and task analysis assessments, managing company's consulting practice or teaching college students. A typical salary can start at about $40,000 (Salary Data).

*Some Doctoral Degree Programs for Pursuing a Career in I/O Psychology*
	I/O Psychology at the University of Tulsa	This program also allows choices of specialization (e.g., business, law).
	I/O Psychology at University of Connecticut	This program h applies personnel and/or human factors psychology to problems of business, government and industry.
	Philosophy and I/O Psychology at Old Dominion University	The program combines philosophy and I/O psychology in approaching personnel issues, training, organizational psychology, and human factors.

Employment Resources for I/O Psychology

There are many different resources one can use to find out more about I/O psychology. One can look on the internet for more information, contact a faculty member that has specialized in this field or contact a consulting firm that deals with this type of work. Often these sources can have a big impact on helping you decide if this field is right for you and what type of jobs exist in the field.

*Some Resources for Exploring Careers and Career Prospects in I/O Psychology*
	Human Resources	This site is designed only to help people find positions in Human Resources.
	Society for Human Resource Management	This site provides access to various job levels in Human Resources, many of which are management level positions.
	Careers in Psychology	At this site, one can find a list of all types of jobs offered to psychology majors.
	Jobs for Human Resources	This site provides a targeted search for careers in human resources.

Learning More About I/O Psychology

This section provides information to help you learn more about I/O psychology. The web sites listed below help you to learn more about aspects of research that have been previously published along with past history and research that has been done.

*Some General Resources for Learning More about I/O Psychology*
	Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (SIOP)	SIOP provides information about past and recent research that has been published about I/O psychology. It also has job postings.
	American Psychological Association (APA)	This web site provides archival descriptions about I/O psychology.
	I/O Psychology	This link provides a list of various web sites one can visit to find out more about I/O psychology and sub-areas of human resource management, organizational psychology and statistics.

Outlook

With training and team building becoming a large part of the business world, I/O psychology is also becoming a large part of the business world. Many companies are looking to hire full time I/O psychologists or consulting firms to help their company keep up with new technology. With this demand increasing, so are the number of jobs in this field. According to the Business of Labor Statistics, I/O psychology is likely to remain competitive through 2008. They say that employment demand is high in consulting firms and personnel supply and that in the future it is likely that small business will be looking for human resource specialists. The one thing that may hold back the increase in I/O jobs is technology. However, the I/O field nevertheless looks productive for the next eight years or more.

Summary

Industrial Organizational psychology is a rapidly growing field. There are many new opportunities in this field which help make it appealing to many. If one chooses to become involved in this particular career, they will have a vast array of opportunities to explore. Although a higher education seems mandatory in this field ,it is not necessary. One can enjoy a job in the work force without having a complete background in I/O psychology. In fact there seem to be numerous positions available in human resources and other related fields that work closely with the ideas that I/O psychologists work with.

Acknowledgments

This page was created by Lauren P. Morris as a project for a Senior Seminar in Psychology (PSY400) class taught by Dr. Arvid J. Bloom at West Chester University in Spring 2000. The author is particularly grateful for the assistance of Dr. Catherine Renner, Dr. Stefani Yorges, and Mr. Lee Sprague.