Psychology, Industrial/Organizational Concentration, M.A.
Patrick McCarthy, program coordinator
(615) 898-2126
Patrick.McCarthy@mtsu.edu
The Department of Psychology offers programs which lead to two graduate degrees: the Master of Arts with a major in Psychology and concentrations in Clinical, Experimental, Industrial/Organizational, Pre-Specialist in Education: School Psychology, and Quantitative Psychology and the Specialist in Education with a major in Curriculum and Instruction and concentration in School Psychology. The department also offers a minor at the graduate level.
The goal of the Industrial/Organizational (I/O) concentration is to produce professionals who are able to apply the science of psychology in business, industry, and government settings. The program is designed to prepare students for positions in human resource departments or consulting, or for entry into an I/O doctoral program.
Please see undergraduate catalog for information regarding undergraduate programs.
Admission Requirements
Admission to graduate study in Industrial/Organizational Psychology not guaranteed for students meeting minimal admission requirements. Students are selected from a pool of qualified applicants. Each year the number of students admitted to the program depends on the availability of adequate faculty supervision.
In order to be considered for admission, candidates must meet the following standards: an undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 or higher and a minimum score of 141 on the quantitative measure of the Graduate Record Examination is expected for admission. Additionally, all applicants should have successfully completed an undergraduate course in statistics.
Applications for Summer/Fall admission must be completed by February 15 and applications for Spring admission must be completed by October 1. Late applicants who meet the admission criteria may be considered on a case-by-case basis. Applicants to the Industrial/Organizational Psychology program must provide a letter of intent stating goals and objectives.
Students who do not meet admission requirements may be admitted as non-degree seeking. Students admitted as non-degree seeking must maintain a 3.25 GPA in their first semester (9 hours minimum) of required graduate courses in their concentration areas to be fully admitted to the program.
It is recommended that applicants have completed an introductory course in I/O Psychology before applying. Most applicants have completed 15 semester hours in the core areas of psychology prior to admission to the graduate program in Industrial/Organization psychology. Those applicants without 15 semester hours in core areas of psychology may be admitted to the program but must complete those credits at the undergraduate or graduate level. See additional requirements listed below.
Application Procedures
All application materials are to be submitted to the College of Graduate Studies.
Applicant must
- submit an application with the appropriate application fee (online atwww.mtsu.edu/graduate/apply.php). Once this initial application has been accepted, the applicant will receive directions on how to enter the graduate portal to be able to submit other materials.
- submit official transcripts of previous college work;
- submit letter of interest/intent;
- submit official scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE);
- submit three letters of recommendation;
- submit a resume' or curriculum vitae.
For more information about application materials, please see www.mtsu.edu/programs/psychology-ma-io/.
NOTE 1: Admission to graduate study in Industrial/Organizational Psychology is not guaranteed for students meeting minimal admission requirements. Each year the number of students admitted depends on the availability of adequate faculty supervision.
NOTE 2: To be considered for graduate assistantships, student must submit additional material. Information is available at www.mtsu.edu/psychology/grad/assistantship.php.
Degree Requirements
The Master of Arts with an Industrial/Organizational concentration is designed as a 43-hour program for students who have demonstrated knowledge of the core areas of psychology prior to entering the Industrial/Organizational program.
Students must complete a minimum of 43 semester hours including at least 38 hours in psychology courses. Only 30 percent of the total number of hours may be dually listed (5000-level meeting in conjunction with 4000- or 3000-level) courses.
Candidate must
- successfully write and orally present a written thesis evaluated by a committee of psychology faculty in conjunction with PSY 6640;
- pass a written comprehensive examination prepared by the Industrial/Organizational faculty (may be taken no more than twice).
Curriculum: Psychology, Industrial/Organizational
The following illustrates the minimum coursework requirements.
Required Courses (6 hours)
PSY 6280 - Psychological Statistics: Regression
3credit hours
Prerequisite: PSY 3020 or equivalent or admission to Psychology graduate program. Corequisite: PSY 6281. Review of basic statistics; various correlation coefficients; multiple and partial correlation; simple and multiple regression. Laboratory included.
PSY 6281 - Psychological Statistics: Regression Lab
0credit hours
Corequisite: PSY 6280.
PSY 6290 - Psychological Statistics: ANOVA
3credit hours
Prerequisite: PSY 3020 or equivalent or admission to Psychology graduate program. Corequisite: PSY 6291. Review of basic statistics. Scientific quantification, research design, and statistical analysis from the perspective of analysis of variance: one-way, factorial, repeated measures, and mixed designs. Laboratory included.
PSY 6291 - Psychological Statistics: ANOVA Lab
0credit hours
Corequisite: PSY 6290.
Core Courses (22 hours)
PSY 6070 - Advanced Industrial Organizational Training and Development
3credit hours
Prerequisite: PSY 3020 or equivalent. Theory and methodology used in the training and development of human resources in organizations: needs assessment, program development, program evaluation, and legal and special issues in training and development.
PSY 6090 - Internship: Industrial/Organizational Psychology
3credit hours
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Supervised experience in industry, business, or government using psychological principles at a professional, applied level.
PSY 6300 - Literature Review and Reading in Psychology: Industrial and Organizational
2credit hours
Supervised literature review and/or readings on a topic of current importance in psychology. Topics and requirements obtained from individual faculty members. Specific courses may be repeated to a total of 6 credits.
PSY 6320 - Performance Appraisal and Job Analysis
3credit hours
Covers the theory, techniques, current research, legal issues, and reliability and validity concerns associated with the practices of: job analysis, competency modeling, performance appraisals, and developing performance management systems.
PSY 6330 - Professional Issues in Industrial and Organizational Psychology
1credit hours
Survey of issues related to professional ethics, relevant legislation, professional affiliations, professional identity, and professional responsibilities.
PSY 6420 - Advanced Personnel Selection and Placement
3credit hours
Prerequisites: PSY 5260 or PSY 6050 and preferably PSY 6280. Employee selection decision making. Considers individual differences, recruitment, selection tools, measurement issues, validation procedures, and legal constraints.
PSY 6450 - Advanced Organizational Psychology
3credit hours
Review of theory and empirical research in organizational psychology. Students will apply theory and research findings to understand and explain work behavior at the individual, group, and organizational levels and will use this knowledge to solve organizational problems.
PSY 6570 - Psychological Research Methods in Human Resource Management
3credit hours
Prerequisite: PSY 6280 or permission of instructor. Theory and appropriate methodology for conducting research relevant to human resource practices in organizations. Applied psychometric theory and quasi-experimental design.
PSY 6085 - Pre-Internship: Industrial/Organizational Psychology
1credit hours
Prerequisite: Admission to program. Expectations, requirements, and procedures involved in a practicum in the Industrial/Organizational Psychology program. Encourages students to assess career goals and helps facilitate selection of a practicum that moves toward exploring and meeting those career goals.
Electives (12 hours)
At least two of the following four courses must be among the electives selected:
PSY 5290 - Compensation System Design and Administration
3credit hours
Design and management of compensation systems including job evaluation, salary market data, pay for performance, legal issues, benefits, and practical applications.
PSY 6360 - Organizational Change and Development
3credit hours
Prerequisite: PSY 6450 or permission of instructor. Analysis of theory and practice of organizational change and development, process of change, organizational development (OD) interventions, and evaluation and research of OD effectiveness.
PSY 6365 - Organizational Surveys and Employee Attitudes and Motivation
3credit hours
Prerequisite: PSY 6450. Special topics in employee attitudes and motivation and the measurement of employee attitudes through the use of organizational surveys. Develops skills in survey techniques and includes practical experience with surveys.
PSY 6380 - Work Group Effectiveness
3credit hours
Prerequisite: PSY 5380, PSY 6450, or permission of instructor. Analysis of factors leading to effective work groups. Topics covered include task effects on performance, group composition, leadership, group processes, and team building.
NOTE: Students may fulfill all 12 elective hours by taking all four classes above. If interested in one or two alternate elective courses, consult your advisor. Following are examples of alternate electives that are sometimes available:
PSY 5340 - Human Factors Psychology
3credit hours
Prerequisite: PSY 3320/PSY 5320 or consent of instructor. The process of designing for human use. Considers individual differences, visual, auditory, and tactile displays, anthropometry, illumination, noise, humans in motion, and space and environmental studies.
PSY 5830 - Occupational Health Psychology
3credit hours
Prerequisites: PSY 1410 and PSY 3020 or equivalent statistics course. Focuses on identifying and improving the key health, safety, and well-being issues that employees face.
PSY 6460 - Factor Analysis and Related Methods
3credit hours
Prerequisites: PSY 6280, HHP 6700, or equivalent. Surveys each of the major factor analysis techniques and related latent trait theory with main focus on application. Nature, power, procedure, computer programming, interpretation, and limitations of each technique.
NOTE: This is not an inclusive list of all potential alternate electives, and some may be available from other departments. Advisor approval required for all electives.
Thesis (3 hours)
PSY 6640 - Thesis Research
1 to 6 credit hours
(3 hours required)(3 hours required)
dotslash:(3 hours required)
title:(3 hours required)
(3 hours required)
PSY 6640 - Thesis Research
1 to 6credit hours
Selection of a research problem, review of pertinent literature, collection and analysis of data, and composition of thesis. Once enrolled, student should register for at least one credit hour of master's research each semester until completion. S/U grading.
Additional Requirements (0-15 hours)
Students who lack one or more of the core areas of psychology will be required to complete additional coursework to fulfill the requirements listed below. Relevant courses offered at MTSU are listed in parentheses.
- introductory course in I/O psychology (PSY 3320);
- group measurement/testing (PSY 4260/PSY 5260);
- abnormal psychology or personality (PSY 3230/PSY 5230, PSY 3590, or PSY 6020);
- learning or cognition (PSY 4040, PSY 4480/PSY 5480, or PSY 6190);
- social or developmental (PSY 2210, PSY 2300, PSY 4190, PSY 4210, PSY 4610/PSY 5610, or PSY 6380).
Program Notes
Students must be able to meet the demands required for professional work in psychology. Therefore, students may be subject to dismissal from the Psychology Department if they (a) commit a serious breach of ethics or gross professional negligence or (b) present evidence of impaired psychological functioning that would present a danger to themselves or others in a professional role. Students who are dismissed may reapply and will be considered for readmission on a competitive basis. Students who reapply may be asked to provide evidence of improved ability to meet performance requirements.
