Learn More and ApplyIndustrial-Organizational Psychology (MA)/(PhD)

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Psychology
Program Requirements Quarter Hours
MA Degree Requirements 48
Total hours required 48
Program Requirements Quarter Hours
PhD Degree Requirements 24
Total hours required 24

MA Learning Outcomes

  • Identify major theoretical concepts in Industrial Organizational psychology, trace their historical development, and integrate theory, research, and domain-specific knowledge to explain and interpret how Industrial Organizational psychology currently advances knowledge.
  • Critique and synthesize theoretical and empirical articles from peer-reviewed Industrial Organizational scholarly journals in terms of theory, methods, data analyses, and conclusions in order to compose novel perspectives and ideas.
  • Develop testable research questions, identify strengths and limitations of research designs and data analysis techniques, conduct appropriate research and analytic strategies, and interpret the findings to situate them within the extant research literature in Industrial Organizational psychology.
  • Describe and discuss the ethical issues associated with human subjects/participant protection and the sequence of procedures needed for IRB approval of research projects, and apply these ethical practices in research.
  • Exhibit effective communication skills for presenting at professional conferences and publishing in professional journals in Industrial Organizational psychology.
  • Demonstrate competence in the practice of Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
 
 

PhD Learning Outcomes

  • Identify major theoretical concepts in psychology, trace their historical development, and integrate theory, research, and domain-specific knowledge to explain and interpret how Industrial-Organizational Psychology currently advances knowledge.
  • Critique and synthesize theoretical and empirical articles from peer-reviewed scholarly Industrial-Organizational Psychology journals in terms of theory, methods, data analyses, and conclusions in order to compose novel perspectives and ideas.
  • Independently develop testable research questions, identify strengths and limitations of research designs and data analysis techniques, conduct appropriate research and analytic strategies, and interpret the findings to situate them within the extant research literature in Industrial-Organizational Psychology.
  • Independently describe and discuss the ethical issues associated with human subjects/participant protection and the sequence of procedures needed for IRB approval of research projects and apply these ethical practices in research.
  • Exhibit effective communication skills for presenting at professional conferences and publishing in professional journals in Psychological Science. Demonstrate competence in Industrial-Organizational Psychology applications.

MA/PhD Degree Requirements

The Industrial-Organizational (I-O) MA/PhD is a combined degree. The MA is non-terminal and, therefore, only students intending to confer the PhD are admitted.

The MA degree requires a minimum of 48 quarter hours beyond the completion of a bachelor’s degree, including four quarter hours of thesis research.

Statistics and Methodology Courses

Course Title Quarter Hours
PSY 410ADVANCED STATISTICS I4
PSY 411ADVANCED STATISTICS II4
PSY 419FACTOR ANALYSIS AND STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING4
or PSY 450 PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT
PSY 420QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN4

Psychology Core Courses

Course Title Quarter Hours
Select one of the following:4
PERCEPTION AND COGNITION
LANGUAGE AND COGNITION
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF JUDGMENT AND DECISION-MAKING
Select one of the following:4
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF THE SELF
SPECIAL SEMINAR IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
PREJUDICE AND INTERGROUP RELATIONS
SOCIAL COGNITION
PSY 550SEMINAR IN TEACHING PSYCHOLOGY0

I-O Psychology Core Courses

Course Title Quarter Hours
Select five of the following:20
PSYCHOLOGY OF WORK AND MOTIVATION
PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
ADVANCED TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS
ORGANIZATIONAL CONSULTATION
CONCEPTS, METHODS, AND ETHICS FOR INDUSTRIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
ADVANCED SEMINAR IN WORK TEAMS AND COLLABORATION
SEMINAR IN INDUSTRIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Research Course

Course Title Quarter Hours
PSY 597MASTER'S THESIS RESEARCH4

PhD Course Requirements

I-O Psychology Core Courses

Course Title Quarter Hours
Select five of the following courses which were not taken during the MA program:20
FACTOR ANALYSIS AND STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT
ADVANCED TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS
ORGANIZATIONAL CONSULTATION
ADVANCED SEMINAR IN WORK TEAMS AND COLLABORATION
SEMINAR IN INDUSTRIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Research Course

Course Title Quarter Hours
PSY 599DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH4

 Teaching Course

Course Title Quarter Hours
PSY 550SEMINAR IN TEACHING PSYCHOLOGY0

Doctoral Candidacy Examination (Comprehensive Examinations)

Designed to assess the student’s knowledge of psychology and the student’s area of specialization. The examination is given in two sections. The first section consists of a written examination related to I-O psychology. The second section is an oral examination in the area of I-O psychology.

Admission to Doctoral Candidacy

Formally given to the student with satisfactory coursework performance who has successfully completed the master’s thesis and passed the Doctoral Candidacy Examination; the candidate has no more than five years from the date of admission to doctoral candidacy to complete the PhD requirements or dismissal from the program will ensue.

Students denied candidacy will be required to withdraw from the program.

Doctoral Teaching

Students are required to demonstrate competency in the teaching of psychology through teaching one undergraduate course during the doctoral portion of their degree. 

Dissertation

Departmental committee approval and acceptance of topic and outline of dissertation given only after admission to candidacy. Dissertation research should be completed during the student's fourth year in the program.

Oral Examination

Student to defend their dissertation and to show competence in the general field of psychology and in the area of specialization.

Time Limitation

  • No more than four years between admission to the MA/PhD program and admission to doctoral candidacy.
  • No less than eight months and no more than five years between admission to doctoral candidacy and the final doctoral oral examination; or dismissal from the program will ensue.

Program Graduate Academic Student Handbook

Minimum Grades 

  1. The minimum grade considered acceptable for a graduate course is a B-. This applies to courses taken both within and outside of the department for psychology graduate students. Grades below that (i.e., C+ and below) indicate that the student has not mastered the relevant content of the course.
  2. If a graduate student earns a grade lower than B- in a particular course, the student, instructor, and advisor will discuss the situation and circumstances and a remediation plan will be required. The student, his or her advisor, and the instructor, will work together to create a plan through which the student can (a) gain competence in the course material, and (b) demonstrate that competence. The remediation plan might include, for example, requiring the student to complete additional assignments, retaking the class, taking a substitute class, completing an independent study, or pursuing other options. The remediation plan must be approved by the instructor, advisor and the program director.
  3. A second occurrence of a grade lower than a B- (for the same or different course) will put the student on academic probation. Once placed on academic probation, the student’s record and any mitigating circumstances will be evaluated by a Psychology Department review board comprising the student’s advisor, the program director, and the department associate chair (the department chair might be included in special circumstances). Additional remediation and intervention might be suggested by the review board.
  4. If there is a third occurrence of a grade below B- (for the same or different course), the student will be dismissed from the program. The student may choose to appeal this decision, in which case the Chair of the Psychology Department will appoint a committee of three tenured Psychology Department faculty outside the student's program to hear the appeal. Depending on the student’s academic record and any mitigating circumstances, he/she may be allowed to complete his/her Master’s degree but will not be permitted to continue onto the PhD (not applicable to terminal Department of Psychology MS degrees) without a successful appeal.

Academic Probation

Students are expected to maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.20. If a student’s cumulative GPA falls below this minimum, the student will be put on academic probation and will have one quarter of coursework to raise their cumulative GPA to at least a 3.20 or face academic dismissal from the program. If the student raises his/her cumulative GPA to at least a 3.20, but it falls below the minimum a second time, he or she will be dismissed from the program before the next term begins.

Academic Dismissal

In addition to violations of satisfactory progress, including but not limited to, earning minimum grades, failing the comprehensive exam (including any possible retakes) or project, or maintaining a minimum cumulative GPA, students may be dismissed for breaches of academic honesty, or breaches of the code of student responsibility articulated in the DePaul University Student Handbook.

Time Limitations 

Students must complete their MA degree requirements prior to completing their requirements for admission to doctoral candidacy. Further, no more than four years may pass between admission to the doctoral program (i.e., successful completion of the doctoral candidacy examination/project), and no less than eight months and no more than five years may pass between admission to candidacy and the final examination (i.e., the oral dissertation defense).

Students are required to meet the timelines specified by the program even if the timeline is more stringent than the College timeline. Failure to do so could result in dismissal.

Extensions on these timelines must be requested in writing to both the department (Program Director) and the college (to the Dean) and must be approved at both levels. Students must complete all requirements for the degree (which may include additional coursework, examinations, or other conditions) by the deadline outlined in the extension. Failure to meet specified time limitations or deadlines can result in dismissal from the program.  

Graduation Requirements 

Students need a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.20 in courses required by the program. In addition to meeting the minimum cumulative GPA requirement, failing the doctoral candidacy exam (or one retake) or project, lack of progress towards degree completion, and/or unsatisfactory evaluation could result in academic dismissal. See individual program policies for more details. 

Graduation with Distinction for MA 

The criteria for graduating "with distinction" are a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.75 and the recommendation of "with distinction" by the thesis committee.

For topics not listed above, please consult the Graduate Student Handbook of the Department of Psychology, your program manual or the Psychology Graduate Program Assistant.