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Program Overview

The Industrial/Organizational (I/O) program trains individuals to be both scientists and practitioners. We believe that a strong grounding in basic and applied research skills and the theoretical underpinnings of I/O psychology are essential for both academic and applied work. The goal of the I/O program is to continue to enhance its national reputation as a center of scholarly excellence in I/O psychology by conducting high-quality basic and applied research. Consequently, faculty and student collaboration in ongoing research projects is strongly emphasized. The program has a major emphasis on academic research-based training with the objective of placing students in academic careers. However, in addition to academic positions, our graduates are qualified for positions in research organizations, government agencies, corporations, and consulting firms. So concerning the placement of our graduates since 2000, approximately 40% are currently in academic positions and 60% are in applied and research positions. These recent academic placements include Rice University, Northern Arizona University, DePaul University, Oklahoma State University, University of Chile, Kansas State University, Eastern Kentucky University, and University of Wisconsin-River Falls. And the recent research and applied placements include VA Boston Healthcare Syatem, ACT, American Institutes for Research, JC Penny, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc., Best Evidence, Inc., IPR Pharmaceuticals (AstraZeneca PLC), Google, U.S. Army TRAC-WSMR, Xerox Corporation, State Farm Insurance, and Thomson Reuters. Over the last decade, all of our students have accepted jobs immediately upon graduation.

The domains of I/O psychology represented in the program include the areas of personnel selection, criterion development, training, performance appraisal, individual differences, motivation, productivity, job attitudes, group processes, decision-making, and conflict. We currently have 5 full-time core I/O faculty and 3 affiliated faculty with a student/faculty ratio of approximately 4:1. The I/O psychology faculty consists of a renowned group of scholars. The program was recently ranked 11th in I/O psychology doctoral programs in North America in terms of publications in the top research journals in the field (Gibby et al., 2002 in The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist) and 11th in terms of presentations at the annual conferences of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (Payne et al., 2001 in The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist). There are numerous faculty in related areas in the Psychology Department and the Management Department in the College of Business Administration.

The standards of scholarship exhibited by the I/O faculty are also reflected in the high standards set for admissions to our graduate program. Over the past 3 years
(2007–2009), students who entered the program have averaged GRE (verbal + quantitative) scores of 1254.

All graduate students admitted to the Department of Psychology are provided a fellowship or assistantship that pays a competitive monthly salary. Almost all students retain their fellowship or assistantship for their entire period of graduate studies (four or five years). Students also may be funded by research grants or practical placements. Office space, computers, funds to travel to professional conventions, and free health insurance also are provided. The I/O program locates summer internships, often with potential employers, for most of its students who want them. The program also supports an active speakers series that each year brings to campus a number of faculty members from other universities. This series provides exposure to different perspectives on the field and the opportunity to network with professors at other institutions.

Program Structure

The program is designed for completion in approximately five years. The student's first year is relatively course intensive. During this year students take the Department's statistics and design sequence as well as basic I/O courses. The latter include Personnel Psychology (focusing on the current literature pertaining to selection, placement, job analysis, performance appraisal, and training) in the fall, and Organizational Psychology (focusing on the current literature in motivation, job attitudes, leadership, group processes, conflict, decision making, organizational change) in the spring. Students are also encouraged to establish a relationship with a research advisor as early as possible during the first year. Through this relationship students typically become involved with ongoing faculty research programs and begin to examine potential thesis topics.

In the second year of the program, students continue taking departmental core courses as well as advanced I/O seminars. Students work intensively on a masters thesis during this year with the goal of defending the research by the summer following the second year. Students are also encouraged to continue their collaborative research with faculty during this period. Students often work with more than one faculty member and these activities are encouraged.

Following completion of the master's thesis, third year students continue to take courses (typically two per semester), begin work on their dissertation research, and continue ongoing research projects. In addition to I/O seminars, students are encouraged to further develop their quantitative skills through advanced quantitative courses offered both in the Psychology and Statistics departments.

Fourth and fifth year students typically take one elective course per semester and continue their research activity. In addition, following the completion of all required course work, students take a set of comprehensive exams. The comprehensive exam consists of a written, content-based examination of basic knowledge in three areas: Personnel Psychology, Organizational Psychology, and Quantitative Methods. Following successful completion of this exam, students are admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree. The remainder of the program is typically devoted to developing the dissertation proposal, conducting dissertation research, and preparing and defending the final dissertation.

Although a formal internship is not required, it is highly recommended for students pursuing an applied non-academic career. Recent internship sites include ACT, AT&T, Home Depot, HumRRO, Jeanneret & Associates Inc., Kenexa, Personnel Decisions International., Valtera, and Xerox.