Ph.D. in Psychology: Industrial/Organizational

Wayne State's Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology is a full-time program that prepares students by following the scientist/practitioner model to develop skills as both researchers and practitioners. Our location in a metropolitan area, along with a research-intensive focus, allows Wayne State graduate students with opportunities to interact with practicing I/O psychologists in local business and industry, access data pertinent to their studies and gain valuable field research and work experience.

An exciting aspect of our I/O doctoral program is the Applied Psychology and Organizational Research Group (APORG). APORG provides consulting services to local and national organizations, allowing students to gain experience in the real world.

Admissions

See graduate admissions for more information.

About the program

The industrial/organizational psychology doctoral program:

• Prepare students to be effective scientists and practitioners in a wide range of career settings
• Contributes to the knowledge base of human behavior and interaction at work through research that is both practically and theoretically meaningful
• Pursues these goals in a setting in which faculty and students teach and learn from each other through collaboration, discussion, classes and other opportunities for interaction

The industrial/organizational psychology doctoral program has graduated well over 100 students. These graduates have accepted positions in business and industry, at colleges and major universities, in government agencies and with applied research and consulting firms.

Faculty

Wayne State's faculty have been recognized for their teaching and mentoring through numerous awards such as the Outstanding Graduate Mentor in the Social Sciences, WSU President's Award for Excellence in Teaching and the SIOP Distinguished Contributions in Teaching Award.

Affiliated faculty

• Catherine Kwantes
• Larry Williams

Research

Wayne State University has a strong research orientation, adhering to Lewin's maxim that "There is nothing so practical as a good theory." Throughout their educational program, we encourage our doctoral students to become involved in research, both through collaboration with faculty members and through conducting their own thesis, dissertation and other original research. Students are encouraged to present their findings at professional meetings and to publish papers in professional journals. The hard work of Wayne State students has been recognized in the form of awards and fellowships, including:

• John C. Flanagan Award for the Best Student Paper at SIOP
• Humboldt University Research Fellowship
• Crawford HumRRO Fellowship
• Kenneth E. Clark Outstanding Leadership Research Award, presented by the Center for Creative Leadership
• Best Leadership Dissertation of the Year Award, presented by the Jepson School of Leadership Studies
• Michigan Association of Industrial-Organizational Psychologists (MAIOP) Best Student Paper Award
• Research highlighted by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP)

Curriculum

The doctoral program in industrial/organizational psychology prepares students to be knowledgeable in all phases of I/O psychology. Our courses cover such topics as:

• Research methods in I/O psychology
• Job analysis
• Criterion development
• Performance appraisal and feedback
• Personnel selection and placement
• Employee training and development
• Occupational health psychology
• Work motivation and job attitudes
• Leadership
• Analysis of organizations
• Organizational change and development
• Organizational climate and culture
• International/cross-cultural issues in the workplace

In addition, through a master's thesis and doctoral dissertation research and both minor and cognate courses, students can specialize in a variety of areas within the realm of I/O psychology. Cognate offerings include social psychology, small group processes, the psychology of justice and fairness in the workplace, environmental psychology, consumer behavior, personality and interpersonal processes, cognitive psychology and learning theory.

Quantitative courses cover such topics as meta-analysis, advanced statistics, psychometric theory and methods, advanced measurement, research design, advanced experimental design, multivariate analysis, structural equation modeling and longitudinal data analysis.