Program Description
The Chicago School's Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Internship/Thesis master's program prepares students to apply the principles of both psychology and business to effectively guide organizations and individuals to success. Students benefit from exceptional theoretical classroom training coupled with opportunities for a broad range of real-world learning experiences. Through a unique educational alliance with Lake Forest Graduate School of Management., Chicago Campus students may also earn an M.B.A. in an accelerated time frame.
The program faculty of the Business Psychology Department is uniquely comprised of business and psychology professionals. By design, our faculty members cross disciplines and are diverse in education and experience, representing the areas essential to our conceptualization of business psychology. Faculty have degrees in I/O psychology, business, clinical psychology, and organizational development. Blending their multidisciplinary perspectives and approaches provides for more integrated learning across fields.
Students in the I/O Psychology master's program choose from two specialized tracks:
- Internship Track: Combines intensive coursework that balances theory and practice with two supervised internships, providing students with valuable real-world experience to develop relevant and transferable skills that can be used to further his or her career. Students may choose one of the Business Psychology Department's approved internship sites or get approval to fulfill this requirement at their current work place. The I/O and Business Psychology Department has developed formal partnerships with dozens of organizations nationwide to assist students in finding their two required placements. The Chicago Campus internship track also offers a concentration in Human Resources—the nation's first and only master's-level HR concentration. Click here for more details.
- Thesis Track: Students may complete a thesis in place of an internship and one elective. This option also requires completion of two courses, Thesis I and II and selection of a faculty member to serve as thesis advisor.
Department
Business Psychology
Concentrations
• Human Resources Management (Chicago Internship Track only)
Licensure
• Human Resource Management concentration prepares students to sit for the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification exam offered through the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI)
Total Credits
40 credit hours (HR concentration - Chicago Internship Track only: 46 credit hours)
Fieldwork Requirements
Internship Track: Two supervised internships of 300 hours each
Sample Courses
Organizational Leadership
Reviews the principal theories of leadership and how leadership is developed. Examines leadership in the context of managing continuous change emphasizing the challenges of multinational corporations working across cultures. Supports self-assessment as students gain knowledge in the key theories and principles of the management/leadership continuum. Reviews practices that I/O psychologists use to develop organizational leaders.
Training: Theory, Design and Evaluation
Provides an examination of the design and implementation of effective training programs in organizations. Addresses critical areas such as conducting needs analyses of the organization, the job, and the individuals performing the job. Students learn and apply modern learning theories, principles of adult learning, and cross-cultural issues and develop their ability to evaluate training, especially the transfer of training, to the workplace.
Organizational Attitudes and Survey Development
Reviews and integrates the extensive literature on the determinants and consequences of job satisfaction, involvement, culture, and commitment with a focus on using this research base for organization diagnosis and intervention. Addresses questionnaire use and development, as well as other methods of measurement. Includes psychometrics in relation to survey development.
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