Graduate training in industrial-organizational psychology: some oft-ignored contextual issues

Canadian Psychology, Feb-May 1998 by Kline, Theresa, Rowe, Patricia

From a graduate training perspective we need to develop consulting and marketing skills in our graduate students through practical work experiences. We are not alone in our thinking on this issue. The "sneak peek" at the revised guidelines for doctoral training by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology reveals that the practice of I-O Psychology will receive greater emphasis (Major, 1996). If our students are going to survive on their own, in a small consulting firm, or with a large consulting firm, there are clear tasks that should be systematically taught. These include: Writing proposals for work (very different from writing proposals for grants), making contact with the individuals within the organization, building confidence with the members of the organizations (particularly important to get compliance for survey work), meeting with and getting the backing of unions if applicable, estimation of time and cost for project work, writing reports for organizational consumption (very different from writing articles for journal publication), presenting reports (very different from making scholarly conference presentations), and being aware of specific ethical issues in organizational work. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but it does give some sense of the skills needed in the consulting world, and ones to which most I-O graduate students are not exposed.

Trying to teach these skills has been an almost impossible task. One former student, now a consultant, indicated that such skills are actually not teachable -- you need to learn by doing: The message here is clear from a training perspective; foster opportunities for students to engage in doing these activities.

Career Change

Given that many of us will change careers several times in our lives, we must be prepared for change and the wearing of many hats. Most I-O graduates will work in some capacity of I-O psychology all their lives. What they will actually be doing on a day-to-day basis in those roles will change are more knowledge is acquired and as organizations face different problems through the course of time.

Much of the concrete work and hurdles graduate students must go through to earn their degrees focusses on research. Less attention is given to applying that knowledge to real-world settings. However, traditional graduate training does provide a wealth of opportunities to learn skills that are transferable to many careers. Many graduate students are unaware of the many skills they have acquired in the training process. For example, there is no perceptible landmark that shows students that problem identification, problem solving, and a schema for making decisions is now with them.

Organizations as well as literatures are rampant with questions to be asked and a methodology with which to glean the answers. Often we don't tell our students that they know how to identify problems, solve problems, and make decisions, yet these are very valuable competencies. Another skill they learn is time management -- juggling classes, TA work, and research (and for many a family) is not not an easy task. The sooner they are assisted in doing this well, the better.