Should I get masters in I/O with my MBA? Is it necessary?

Hi guys, I had a couple questions for everybody. Im hoping you can help me out. I have a b.s in marketing from university of hawaii and a mba from texas a & m commerce. I did their online program while I was deployed in Kuwait and it was wonderful, I highly recommend it. I finished the whole program in a year and a half. Normally I prefer traditional classes, however, in this case it was unavoidable. My question is...After all this I have come to the decision that I would love to work in HR, I feel this is where my passion lies and am very interested in the whole i/o psychology field. Should I get my masters in I/O or will it be worth it? I dont want to get a phd and it seems that is what most of the programs are focused around. If I did get my masters in i/o what would be some good schools to look into? Im interested in doing it online as well because I want to get back to working again, I feel I have been out of the game for too long with the national guard and everything. My end game would be to get a job in consulting, what is the best route for me to get there and any school recomendations would be of much help.

Thank you very much everyone,

Jeremy Wells

 

If the end goal is teaching at a B&M school, get the PhD in I/O Psychology. If the goal is consulting or such, a masters would be OK IMHO.

Shawn

 

If you're passionate about I/O Psych, then why not go for it? Not sure if you want to go this route, but the University of Phoenix offers an online PhD in I/O Psych, with a Masters awarded in passing.

In addition, The Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology, Inc. (SIOP) website has a ton of information on graduate programs in I/O Psych.

Best of luck,
Tom

 

Jeremy, you may wish to explore the potential value of obtaining a graduate certificate in I/O rather than taking a second masters degree in I/O. The addition of such a certificate may complement your MBA and may provide you with the credentials you need to engage in consulting within the context of human resources.

Check out such schools as the University of London's external post graduate diploma in I/O (online) as well as others. It just may provide you with the edge you are seeking.

 

about getting a PHD...

The more and more I look at it, getting a PHD in I/O psychology would be a great idea. Is there anyway to continue your education from a mba? Maybe use your mba as credit toward getting a PHD in I/O or even business psychology or do you have to start a whole new 4-5 year program. What other phd degrees that include business classes would take credit for a mba>

 

I don't believe so. I have looked at Ph.D.'s in Business Administration (Org. Behavior) and the Master's degree (MBA) doesn't transfer over. A few credits might transfer over as electives but the MBA is a totally different degree. So far it seems like you'd have to start over (or at least close to it). But the good thing about Ph.D. programs is that you are doing research that you love and you usually can get funding so you don't get more student debt.

Ph.D.'s in Org. Behavior and Ph.D.'s in I/O are similar but have a few differences. Mostly, I/O is more applied and gives you more opportunities. You can work academically with IO in Business or Psychology departments or more easily go into the private sector than you could with an Org. Behavior degree.

I/O is a great field and if you have an MBA that you did well in it will look good to admission committees (committees like being able to see that you can perform well at the graduate level). If you do apply just be sure to highlight the overlap between your MBA and the IO degrees (there probably won't be much but try) and be sure to explain by you are switching from an MBA path to an IO path. Why you got the MBA etc.