1. INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS I/O
PSYCHOLOGY?
Psychology is the
science of human behavior
I/O psychology is
the science of human behavior at work
Dual focus
Efficiency/productivity of organizations
Health/well-being of employees
Dual nature
Application of the science of psychology to the workplace
Development/discovery of scientific psychological principles at work
SPECIFIC AREAS OF
CONCERN TO I/O PSYCHOLOGISTS
Recruiting and
selecting employees for jobs
Placing employees
into jobs
Training employees
Assessing performance
Defining and
analyzing jobs
Determining people
feel about work
Determining why
people act as they do at work
Effects work has on
people
Effects people have
on one another
How organizations
are structured and function
Designing work
Designing tools and
equipment
Employee Health and
Safety
I/O AS A
PROFESSION
Graduate degree
necessary (MA or Ph.D.)
Content of graduate
training
Basic psychology
Research methods (heavy emphasis)
I/O content
Thesis, Dissertation
Qualifying exam
Internship, practica
Computer skills
Training technical
Entry requirements
very competitive (Check SIOP website)
Employment
Little or no unemployment
Academic and nonacademic market strong
Field expanding and becoming popular
Settings for I/O work
Percentage of I/O
Psychologists Who Work in Various Settings in 1960 and 2001
|
Setting |
2001 |
1960 |
|
Consulting firms |
32% |
28% |
|
Government |
7% |
11% |
|
Private companies |
15% |
35% |
|
Universities |
38% |
26% |
|
Other |
8% |
|
Note: Trend away
from private companies in favor of consulting firms and academia.
Mean Salaries of
I/O Psychologists in the US in 2000
|
M.A. |
$67,000 |
|
Ph.D. |
$90,000 |
|
Top 10% |
$200,000 or more |
|
Professors |
$73,000 |
|
Companies |
$100,000 |
|
New Ph.D. |
$60,000 |
|
Men |
$93,000 |
|
Women |
$77,000 |
Note: Gender
difference mostly accounted for by women being more likely to be M.A. level and
being younger. Source: Katkowski,
D. A., & Medsker, G. J. (2001). Income and employment of SIOP
members in 2000. Bowling Green, OH: SIOP.
I/O PSYCHOLOGY
AROUND THE WORLD
At one time I/O was
almost entirely American
I/O interest has
exploded over the past 10-15 years and accelerating
American consulting
firms have become international, reflected in names
DDI--Developmental
Decisions Inc. to International
PDI--Personnel
Decisions Inc. to International
Number of graduate
programs increasing rapidly around the world
Number of I/O
Graduate Programs Per Country
|
Country |
Number of programs |
|
Australia |
7 |
|
Belgium |
5 |
|
Canada |
8 |
|
China |
5 |
|
Costa Rica |
2 |
|
England |
7 |
|
France |
4 |
|
Germany |
8 |
|
Hong Kong |
2 |
|
Ireland |
1 |
|
Israel |
3 |
|
Netherlands |
5 |
|
New Zealand |
4 |
|
Nigeria |
3 |
|
Portugal |
1 |
|
Puerto Rico |
3 |
|
Russia |
1 |
|
Scotland |
1 |
|
Singapore |
1 |
|
South Africa |
2 |
|
Spain |
4 |
|
Sweden |
2 |
|
Switzerland |
1 |
|
Turkey |
1 |
|
Uganda |
1 |
|
United States |
115 (63 of which are Ph.D.) |
|
Zimbabwe |
1 |
The Most Popular
I/O Research Topics in Eight Countries
|
Country |
Topics |
|
Canada |
Career
development, Employee selection, job stress, leadership |
|
England |
Employee
selection, gender, job stress, leadership, turnover |
|
Germany |
Job Stress,
motivation, training, work environment |
|
India |
Job satisfaction,
job stress, motivation, organizational level |
|
Israel |
Career
development, cross-cultural, job satisfaction, motivation, performance
appraisal, values |
|
Japan |
Career
development, job stress, leadership, motivation |
|
Scandinavia |
Gender, job
stress, shift work, unemployment |
|
United States |
Career
development, employee selection, leadership, performance appraisal |
Note: From Erez, M. (1994). Toward a model of cross-cultural industrial
and organizational psychology. In M. D.
Dunnette and L. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational
Psychology. Volume IV. Theory in Industrial and Organizational
Psychology. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
CURRENT TRENDS
AFFECTING I/O
Technology:
Computers and the Web
Internationalization:
Rapid expansion internationally and international collaboration
Skilled labor
shortages: Of particular concern in the U.S. and a few other countries
Occupational Health
Psychology: Shift to concern about employee well-being
I/O PSYCHOLOGY
INTERNET RESOURCES
Websites (See linkpage for more links.)
|
Web address |
Description |
|
Paul Spector's
website: Contains updated information to supplement the textbook as well as
links to many I/O sites. The author's own class notes are included. |
|
|
Academy of
Management: Contains information about this I/O related association and the
field itself. |
|
|
American
Psychological Association: Contains information about the association, lots
of psychology links, and abstracts of articles in APA journals. |
|
|
American
Psychological Society's Research on the Net Page: You can participate in
actual research studies on this site. |
|
|
Mostly selection
oriented information and links. |
|
|
Human Factors and
Ergonomics Society: Contains information about the association and their
publications. |
|
|
International
Association of Applied Psychology Organizational Psychology Division:
Contains information and links about the field in Europe. |
|
|
Society for
Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Contents of TIP and lots of
information about the field and about graduate programs. |
|
|
Southern
Management Association: Contains information about the association. |
Listservs
|
List name |
Address to
subscribe to list |
Description |
|
EAWOP-L |
listserv@nic.surfnet.nl |
European
Association of Work and Organizational Psychologists' list |
|
HRNET |
hrnet@yahoogroups.com |
List devoted to
human resources issues |
|
IAAP-L |
listserv@ucmail.ucm.e |
International
Association of Applied Psychology list |
|
IOOBF-L |
listserv@uga.cc.usg.edu |
List devoted to
I/O psychology |
|
OHPLIST |
ohplist@lists.apa.org |
|
To subscribe, send
the following message to the list you wish to join:
SUB [name of list] [your name]
For example,
SUB EAWOP-L Joan Smith
To the address in
the table, e.g.,
listserv@nic.surfnet.nl
Copyright Paul E. Spector, August 30, 2002, all rights reserved.