So, you’re thinking about becoming an industrial organizational psychologist? This might be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made! Industrial organizational psychology is the scientific study of workplace injustice. It is applied research into how and why inhumane workplaces affect employee health and performance.
It is not psychology as typically defined in everyday lives. Rather, it’s more closely related to sociology or even economics. It incorporates the study of topics like leadership, management, and employee motivation.
Why You Should Choose Industrial Organizational Psychology
Industrial organizational psychologists (IOPs) can work with employees who experience discrimination in the workplace or employees who are denied basic benefits and services at work. IOPs can help coworkers overcome their differences or deal with stressful or isolating situations. These high-impact coworkers act as motivators for others, which inspires people to learn more and become more informed IOPs themselves.
What is an Industrial Organizational Psychologist?
An industrial organizational psychologist applies scientific principles in the workplace to improve employee performance. A career as an IOP involves studying different types of organizations from the perspective of industrial psychology.
In general, industrial psychologists have an undergraduate degree and a masters degree. Courses like Touro’s graduate degree in Organizational Psychology is a great option for people wanting to get into the field. With all this in mind, let’s break down the steps you’ll need to take if you’re going to become an industrial organizational psychologist and pursue your career goals.
How to Reach Your Goals
· Make Sure You Want To Do This
There’s no point in becoming an industrial organizational psychologist if you don’t actually like the field itself. There are more than enough people who are professionally dissatisfied as it is. So take a moment here and ask yourself if this is really something that you want to do.
· Get a Bachelor’s in Psychology
In order to be able to practice IOP, you’ll obviously need a degree. And that degree needs to be in psychology. As a general rule, the more specific your career focus is, the more opportunities will be available for you once you’ve completed college. When applying for jobs as an IOP, it’s important to consider which aspects of your personality match up with the job description.
Knowing what you want out of life and knowing what your career path will look like are both really important to this stage in your life. If you’re not sure, it might just be best to go with something more general.
· Get a Master’s in Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Online degrees can be great for convenience but also for flexibility when it comes to taking master’s. However, if you’re looking to become an industrial organizational psychologist, a master’s degree isn’t necessarily going to be enough. This field requires an advanced level of understanding of how the human psyche works, how different people with different personalities react differently to certain environments and situations, and more.
· Go to Graduate School
If you can’t master the core material at your undergraduate institution, don’t let it stop you from applying to graduate school immediately after college. Get a master’s in psychology and get ready to start applying for graduate school. There are countless schools you can choose from with different programs and unique specialties for industrial organizational psychology, so take your pick!
