What is Industrial and Organisational What is Industrial and Organisational (I/O) Psychology?(I/O) Psychology?

• The “science of people at work”

• Industrial and Organisational Psychology is a specialist area that applies psychological knowledge and skills to the workplace, with the aim of improving organisational effectiveness and the quality of work life.

I/O Psychologists have knowledge and I/O Psychologists have knowledge and skills in areas such as:skills in areas such as:

• Selection and assessment• Job analysis• Training and development• Career development and

coaching• Organisational

development and change management

• Attitude surveys and research on workplace issues

• Performance development and review

• Wellbeing, conflict, stress and work adjustment

• Occupational health and safety

• Program evaluation• Consumer behaviour and

marketing• Advisory and advocacy

regarding workplace issues

I/O Psychology Career DestinationsI/O Psychology Career Destinations

• Human Resources/Organisational Development– E.g. Department of Treasury and Finance,

RAC, WA Police Service, BHPBilliton, Rio Tinto, Coca-Cola

• General Management– E.g. Department of Health, Wesfarmers

• Consulting– E.g. Chandler & MacLeod, Deloitte,

PriceWaterhouseCoopers, SHL

• Academia

Salary expectationsSalary expectations

• Depends very much on which area you enter

• In a recent Australian survey (n=231) – Median 2006 salary for current full time

employees was $88,465 (range $22,000 - $400,000, mean=$106,530)

– Median 2006 graduate salary for those starting work in the last 2 years was $51,000 (range $10,000-$122,000)

Degree Offerings in I/O Psychology at Degree Offerings in I/O Psychology at UWAUWA

• Master of Science (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

• Master of Psychology (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

• Combined MPsych/PhD (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

• PhD

Master of Psychology (Industrial and Master of Psychology (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)Organisational Psychology)

• Intake of around 15 a year• Acceptance rate varies

– Generally 10%-30% acceptance depending on the quality of applications

• Coursework• Placements in Industry• Thesis

Coursework unitsCoursework units

• Selection and Assessment• Psychology of Training• Organisational Development & Work Design• Occupational Health, Safety and Well-being• Professional Issues in I/O Psychology• Statistics for Field Research• Research Methods in Applied Settings• 2 Elective units (UWA Business School) e.g.

Organisational Behaviour, Accounting, Advanced Human Resource Management, Marketing Principles

PlacementsPlacements

• 125 days (1000 hours) in total divided into 3 separate placements of 42 days each

• Individualised placements depending on career stage and interests

• Individual and group meetings within a peer coaching framework

Example Placement ProjectsExample Placement Projects• Development of internal communication strategy for a

government agency• Analysis of training needs and development of

training options for a diversified corporate• Selection and assessment for mining staff• Organisational culture survey development,

administration, analysis and report for various organisations

• Development of induction process for lateral hires for a top 4 accounting firm

• Development and evaluation of induction program for overseas recruits in a state utility and for mining clients

• Analysis of exit interview data for a large retail client

Example Placement OrganisationsExample Placement Organisations• BHPBilliton• Chandler & MacLeod• ChevronTexaco• Coles• Department of Consumer

& Employment Protection • Department of

Environment and Conservation

• Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor

• Department of Treasury and Finance

• IKEA• People Solutions• Perth Transit Authority• PriceWaterhouse

Coopers• Prime Psychology• RAC• Talent2• Woolworths • Wesfarmers Energy• Western Power

Research ThesisResearch Thesis• Example topics

– Employee burnout– Flexible work

arrangements– Ethical codes– Work stress– Coaching– Turnover intention– Personality and

intelligence– Employee engagement

• Example participant organisations include– ChevronTexaco– Department of Environment

and Conservation– Main Roads WA– Office of Public Sector

Standards– OSA Group– Wesfarmers– Western Australian Institute

of Sport– Woolworths

More information about I/O Psychology More information about I/O Psychology at UWA?at UWA?

• Browse the School’s I/O Psychology web resources– http://www.psychology.uwa.edu.au/courses/postgraduate/

industrial– http://www.psychology.uwa.edu.au/research/industrial

• Visit the College of Organisational Psychologists WA (COPWA):– http://www.groups.psychology.org.au/cop/committee/wa/

• Call or email Maria Puerta Francos in the School of Psychology– 6488 3247– Maria.Puerta@uwa.edu.au