I am a senior currently majoring in psychology at the University of South Florida. I am interested in pursuing a master’s degree in industrial psychology. I have looked into many online schools such as Capella and Walden. Although both of these schools, as well as others, seem to be good institutions, I still have some haunting questions such as, will employers care that theses schools are not APA accredited? And also, how will a future employer receive someone whom has gotten his degree from an online school, and does not already have a job in the field. I would appreciate any advice or comments. Thanks
USF? Is there any reason why you're not considering staying at USF for your Master's? IIRC, USF's I/O program is highly regarded in the field.
Adrienne, Your right USF has an awesome program for i/o psy. Unfortunately for me, I dont stand a chance at getting in the program. My 3.3 GPA is just enough to get my application laughed out of the door. I noticed your attending capella, hows that going? Lastly, do you think that I could get a job in the i/o field if a got a masters degree from capella? thanks for your time
Capella's going great, thanks! My focus is HR, in the School of Business Organization & Management program, so quite similar, in many ways, to i/o. I feel challenged in my program, and am learning loads. It's also great that I'm able to apply what I'm doing in the classroom to work, so it's as if I've got a feedback loop between work and study. As to getting a job, that's not something I can predict. I think the education you get at Capella is very good, and you do have good networking opportunities whilst enrolled. My best advice would be to start hunting for a job when you graduate with your bachelor's so you'd have some experience to go along with your degree. That is always a plus. Perhaps someone in the i/o field, or psych field could respond a little better than me as to how a Capella master's would be regarded in that field? Regards, Adrienne
Hi Jordani, I'm currently enrolled at the I/O at Capella, and I'm also taking some classes at USF (non related to psychology). What I've seen is that employers place more value in school name recognition in degrees that are related to business (MBA), but in psychology that doesn't seem to be the case much, especially in I/O. This is because, IMO there is a deficit in I/O practitioners as opposed to the saturation of MBAs). So an I/O degree from Capella will work just as fine. If you really want name recognition, try Teacher's College at Columbia University. They have an MA in I/O strictly online. The only problem that I see with doing this is that you will have problems finding I/O practitioners and employers in your local area (Capella is located in Minneapolis). So, unless you already have a job in I/O or HR, the Capella endeavor can be risky. Unfortunately, Tampa (if you live there) no longer has an I/O chapter that can give you a list of referrals. Why not try the University of Central Florida? And one more thing. There are NO I/O programs that are APA accreditted. APA only accredits counseling, school and clinical psychology programs. So employers are not going to discriminate against you because your school is not APA accreditted. Any more questions email me at: [email protected] and maybe we can meet for coffee and tell you more about my experience with Capella. I frequent the USF campus quite a bit. take care, -S
Adrienne and Sulla, thanks for your suggestions. I would appreciate any other comments and opinions from any others. Jordan
FIU as an alternative I/O school Sulla is correct that the APA does not accredit I/O programs to date. Another school to throw into the pot is Florida International University. Sometime back I heard that the faculty there seemed desperate to attract students even though it is a good school. Maybe they market poorly. I understand that there are some good faculty there. Here is the web address and maybe you can give them a call to check whether you should apply or forget it: http://w3.fiu.edu/psych/grad/IndustrialorganizationalPhD.htm Best regards...
What branch of industrial pschology are you interested in? Ergonomics/Human Factors is considered by some to be a branch of Industrial Psychology; ERAU has a DL MAS with Human factors as a specialization http://www.erau.edu/omni/ec/dleo/dleodegreenondegreecerts.html ERAU also has a resident Masters in Safety.
blackbird, thanks for the info. i got two questions for you. First, do you have any input on how future employers would view a young man whom has gotten his degree online, instead of a traditional school? Secondly, what do you think about Sarah McLachlan's version of blackbird, from the i am sam soundtrack. jordan
Hi Jordani: I wanted to throw in my two cents, I don't know if you're considering an I/O psych MA program with a short residency but if you are you should check out the Union Institute and University. They offer a two year, 48 credit MA in I/O that takes one week per year residency at their Brattleboro, VT learning center typically in July and February. Other than that all learning is at a distance. If you want to take a look go to http://www.tui.edu/prospective/ma/psych/program/default.asp?strLink=Bb.2.2.2 Best of luck in your search.
Ian, thanks for the response. i find ergonomics to be very interesting. however, i would ideally like to work as an external consultant, dealing with employee motivation, productivity, and selection. do you work in the field of ergonomics? jordan
Your two questions... Jordan, Question No. 1: I don't feel I am the best qualified to answer that question with respect to I/O. But what I sense is that there are not many Ph.D.'s in I/O to cover the market and you are also competing with MBA's and other consultant types. I would recommend you get on the misc.business.consulting newsgroup or one of those where business consultants hang out. And pose the questions of, first, what about a Ph.D. in I/O, and then the question of, "How about the credibility of an acreddited online I/O Ph.D. ect.?" I've gone to that newsgroup before and obtained a ton of very helpful input. Also figure that with your Ph.D. you are in the club. It looks good on you and it immediately commands a little more respect than when you hear someone has a Masters degree. Ultimately, you'll need experience which is mostly what folks will look for. One thing you can do to overcome this is to get on board with some experienced Ph.D.'s in I/O and become part of their name. You then can put that on your promo. I do it with several well known doctors in town and it helps to give me credibility in my private practice in the community. Also, teaching, even as an adjunct at the local community college/university gives you a lot of initial credibility. Question 2: No... I have not heard that version. I would love to! I'll keep my eyes open. I think Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Yound also did one cover of it also. Best regards.
