What is Industrial and Organisational (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 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 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 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 UWA 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 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 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

Placements 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 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 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 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 at UWA? Browse the School’s I/O Psychology web resources – industrial – Visit the College of Organisational Psychologists WA (COPWA): – Call or Maria Puerta Francos in the School of Psychology –