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Program Competencies

The M.S. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology (MSIO) program at APSU follows the Guidelines for Education and Training at the Master's Level provided by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP).These guidelines contain a series of competencies that reflect the knowledge, skills, and abilities that students should develop as a result of completing this degree program. The program follows a scientist-practitioner model to prepare students to design, develop, implement, and evaluate psychological science-based organizational interventions.

The following guidelines are reproduced from SIOP.  For detailed descriptions of each competency, please visit the SIOP Education and Training Guidelines.

Areas of Competence to be Developed in Master's Level I-O Psychology Programs

This table lists the competencies identified as relevant to the training of I-O psychologists at the graduate level. The competencies are organized into three groups. The first group reflects the more-general knowledge and skill areas deemed appropriate in the training of I-O psychologists. The second group contains those competencies that reflect core content in the field of I-O psychology. The third group contains related competencies for consideration.

General Knowledge and Skills

  1. Ethical, Legal, Diversity, and International Issues
  2. Fields of Psychology
  3. History and Systems of Psychology
  4. Professional Skills (Communication, Business/Research Development, Consulting, and Project-Management Skills)
  5. Research Methods
  6. Statistical Methods/Data Analysis

Core Content

  1. Attitude Theory, Measurement,and Change
  2. Career Development
  3. Criterion Theory and Development
  4. Groups and Teams
  5. Human Performance
  6. Individual Assessment
  7. Individual Differences
  8. Job Evaluation and Compensation
  9. Job/Task/Work Analysis, Competency Modeling, and Classification
  10. Judgment and Decision-Making
  11. Leadership and Management
  12. Occupational Health and Safety
  13. Organization Development
  14. Organization Theory
  15. Performance Appraisal/Management
  16. Personnel Recruitment, Selection, and Placement
  17. Training: Theory, Delivery, Program Design, and Evaluation
  18. Work Motivation

Related Areas of Competence

  1. Consumer Behavior
  2. Human Factors