What is I-O Psychology?

I’ve done it! I’ve graduated with my master’s degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Harvard! Whenever I tell someone about my masters, their next question is, “what is industrial-organizational psychology?” So, I thought I’d write a little about it today.

The Harvard Extension School website describes Industrial-Organizational Psychology (I-O Psych for short) as a way to “optimize organizations and empower employees through a social science lens.” I had one of my professors describe I-O Psych as “using the research and methods of psychology to improve employee performance and engagement.” I’ve often found myself calling it “psychology for business so that work doesn’t suck.”

People with I-O Psych degrees may fill roles such as Chief Talent Officer, Leadership Development Manager, Organizational Effectiveness Director, Organizational Behavior Consultant, Performance Coach, and more.  Our goal is to understand the complex systems, behaviors, and motivations of people so that we can make workplaces better. If you ever ask us for a solution to some big problem, we’ll most likely reply with “it depends” because we know that very few things are actually cut and dry.

To see what qualifies someone for an I-O Psych masters, I thought it may be helpful to see how the program is laid out. Combining core classes and electives, each I-O Psych candidate qualifies themselves through core understandings in business and are given the opportunity to create a specialty lens to fit their preferences. For instance, I chose many classes focused on understanding wellbeing for my electives. To give you a feel for how this could play out, below is the list of classes I took for my program:

Core Classes

• Industrial Organizational Psychology

• Organizational Behavior

• Intro to Statistics

• Motivation

• Human Resource Management

• Psychometric Theory and Assessment

• Groups and Culture

• Paradoxes of Leadership

Electives

• Advanced Public Speaking

• Stress, Coping, and Resilience

• Well-being from the Inside Out

• Creativity Research

• Emotional Intelligence for Impact

• Applied Coaching

• Negotiation and Organizational Conflict Resolution

I absolutely loved the learnings I gained in this program (and I intend to find professional development budget to keep taking classes). I also get asked quite a bit about what is next for me. What do I plan to do with this degree?

For me, I’ve always been a teacher at heart and so I’m continuing to look for ways to teach what I’ve learned in hopes that I can improve the lives of others. This has already come to fruition in some consulting and coaching opportunities. However, my main focus right now is creating a keynote speech and workshops based on increasing performance without increasing stress. More to come on that one. Also, with all the traction I’ve gained from writing weekly, I’m officially working on a book. So, hang tight and hold on. We’re going to have some fun.

Thanks for reading with me today. It has been lovely to have you join me on this journey.

Also, fun fact, my dad graduated from Harvard 50 years ago! He came to graduation with me, and we explored all his old haunts. It was so fun to see some things come full circle! What a journey this has been!