Women have long been underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. In 2015, women made up just 28% of the STEM workforce. One exception is industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology, the subdiscipline of psychology focused on the world of work. In this year’s U.S. News & World Report “Best Job” rankings, I-O psychology is the 21st Best STEM Job and the 2nd Best Science Job.
Many of us have received care from a nurse, perhaps while at school or at a hospital. If you have, chances are, you had a positive experience. Americans rate nurses as some of the most honest and ethical professionals! But, someone had to make sure to get the right person into that job. How did they do it? How did they make sure that the person helping you has what it takes to be a good nurse? What does it even mean to be a good nurse?
Industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists use theories and principles from psychology to scientifically study working populations and improve the effectiveness of organizations. However, for aspiring I-O psychologists, it may not be clear what path to follow to land their dream job. In this post from APA’s Division 14, or the Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology’s (SIOP) Visibility Committee, we point students towards some helpful resources as they start to think about choosing and preparing for a career in I-O!
On my annual family camping trip, I was out on the lake fishing with two of my brothers. We were making small talk as we were getting our lines ready to throw in the water.
“How’s work?”
“Good. Busy.”
“You? How’s work?”
“Same, busy.”
Then my brother asked a question that seemed almost comical, “Amanda, what do you do, anyway?” My other brother piped in curiously, “Yeah, what do you do??” The question came after I had been in my current position for a couple years, and I had been working as an I-O Psychology practitioner my whole career.
The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology’s (SIOP) Visibility Committee recently wrote a blog introducing students to the rapidly growing field of Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology. As a quick reminder, I-O psychologists study behavior in the workplace and are employed in various academic and organizational settings. Perhaps you are now seriously considering graduate school in this field, and while knowing the benefits of a future career in I-O, still have some questions about what life might be like as an I-O student. We can help with that!
We continue our exploration of the field of Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology, the American Psychological Association’s Division 14. I-O Psychology is the study of behavior in the workplace. I-O Psychologists frequently help businesses better hire, motivate, and retain employees. But they can apply their skills in many other ways.
We continue interviewing I-O Psychologists about their passion projects to show you how these individuals are applying their training to enact positive societal change. If you missed the earlier posts of this series, we encourage you to also read about the passion projects of Dr. Haley Woznyj, Dr. Ann Marie Ryan, and doctoral student Mike Morrison.
Meet Dr. Louis Tay, an Associate Professor at Purdue University’s Department of Psychological Sciences, and his graduate student, Louis Hickman. Louis Tay received his Ph.D. in I-O Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011. At Purdue, he pursues cross-disciplinary research with the goals of improving the psychological measurement techniques. He is also developing science-based well-being programs and policies for organizations and societies more broadly.
Louis Hickman received an M.S. in Computer and Information Technology with a specialization in Natural Language Processing from Purdue. He is currently an I-O Psychology doctoral candidate at Purdue, working with Louis Tay on several research projects at the intersection of psychology and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Part two of our series on student research experiences focuses on the mentors. If you have not read our first article make sure to check it out to see student testimonials on how participating in a research mentoring program affected their lives.
This year, as part of the CUNY College Now STEM Research Academy, we had 154 students from 50 high schools across New York City participate in a science-focused pre-college course. Of that initial cohort, 78 students opted to engage in research with faculty over the summer. Over 30 research faculty, across nine City University of New York (CUNY) campuses, mentored Academy students this year. This article is a result of our experiences and as well as our research mentors.
Have you ever looked at a graph and found it more confusing than helpful? Maybe you were sitting in a lecture and found yourself lost trying to decipher what was going on instead of listening to the presentation? You’re not alone, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Data, when used and displayed correctly, should tell a story that everyone can understand – not just data scientists.
We continue our exploration of the field of Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology, the American Psychological Association’s Division 14. If you’ve read our recent blogs, you already know that I-O Psychology is the study of behavior in the workplace. I-O Psychologists frequently help businesses better hire, motivate, and retain employees, but they can apply their skills in many other ways.
This interview series is all about I-O Psychologists’ passion projects and showcases how I-O professionals are applying their training to try to make a difference in the world. If you missed the first two blogs of this series, you can read the interviews with Drs. Haley Woznyj: I-O Psychologists’ Passion Projects: Animal Rescue and Ann Marie Ryan: I-O Psychologists’ Passion Projects: Increasing Fairness For Job Seekers With Criminal Records.
Meet Mike Morrison, a doctoral student in Michigan State University’s Organizational Psychology program. Doctoral students routinely attend the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology’s (SIOP‘s) Annual Conference, where they present their research to other I-O graduate students, academics, and practitioners, and strive to ultimately publish articles describing their research in I-O journals.
Think about someone you know who really loves their job. Now think about someone you know who is frequently stressed about their job and dreads going to work. Have you noticed that some jobs appear to be more stressful than others? Perhaps it’s due to working too many hours, a supervisor that’s hard to work for, or a lack of balance between work and life outside of work.