M.S. in Applied Psychology, Industrial and Organizational Psychology Concentration
ATTENTION APPLICANTS:
- Beginning with fall 2023 applicants, the GRE will no longer be required for the I-O Psychology Concentration program.
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The 42-credit Industrial and Organizational (IO) Psychology Concentration prepares students for careers as practitioners and researchers by emphasizing a curriculum of evidence-based practice and course activities that enhance student experiential learning. You'll focus on preparing yourself to facilitate effective leadership within organizations and to help those same organizations hire, train and motivate employees.
Why IO psychology?
IO psychology applies psychological principles developed from rigorous scientific research to enable problem-resolution in the workplace. As half of adults' waking lives are spent in the workplace, IO psychologists contribute to aligning organizations' missions with its people. We do that by focusing on the essential human components that create high functioning organizations, including selecting the right job applicants, training employees and measuring their performance, designing professional growth and motivation strategies, assessing organizational climate and facilitating change management. Due to the important role that IO psychologists play in organizations' success, job opportunities in the field continue to grow. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has labeled IO psychology the fastest growing occupation, with a median pay of over $77,350.
We also offer a Graduate Certificate in Global Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
Krystal Roach, M.S. '18
"During my time at UBalt, I took a cross-cultural psychology course as well as an organizational psychology course where I traveled to Barcelona with my classmates. I'm currently applying for jobs, and I feel confident that the cross-cultural competencies I gained in the program and my experiences abroad help to set me apart from other candidates."
Krystal is an IO psychology doctoral student at Central Michigan University.
Megan Erickson, M.S. '20
"The University of Baltimore's IO psychology program really fosters a tight-knit community; even after graduating, I keep up with my cohort and I also plan to keep in touch with my professors. You definitely don't see that from all programs!"
Megan is a research analyst with The University of Baltimore's Center for Drug Policy and Prevention.
Contact us.
Thomas Mitchell
program director
phone: 410.837.5348
email: tmitchell@ubalt.edu
Angie Miller
academic adviser
phone: 410.837.6282
email: amiller@ubalt.edu
M.S. students Bryson Barksdale and Derrick Scheetz
Bryson and Derrick are learning how psychology can be implemented into the workplace in UBalt's Applied Psychology master's program with a concentration on Industrial and Organizational Psychology. The program, which boasts 100 percent job placement, is helping to prepare its students to excel in this high-demand career. Learn about the IO Psychology program's global engagement opportunities.
Graduate students outside of Maryland pay in-state tuition.
UBalt is now offering in-state tuition to graduate students who live in Washington, D.C.; Northern Virginia (Arlington, Loudoun, Fairfax and Prince William, Clark, Culpeper, Fauquier, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford and Warren counties and the city of Fredericksburg. As well as Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park); Pennsylvania (Adams, York, Chester and Lancaster counties); and all Delaware counties.
What's the difference between an M.S. and an M.P.S.?
The IO psychology concentration in our M.S. in Applied Psychology program prepares students to rigorously and methodically address organizational issues. An M.S. (Master of Science) is not the same as an M.P.S. (Master of Professional Studies):
- The M.S. emphasizes psychological ethical principles around freedom and autonomy of the individual, privacy and confidentiality, public representation, honest brokering (record keeping & fees), training, research and dissemination of information, and assessment and evaluation. These essential principles are integrated in all UBalt classes.
- The emphasis of the M.S. in UBalt's IO psychology program is developing students' competencies that far surpass basic knowledge and research. Students gain the advantage of not only “doing” IO psychology, but understanding the essential “why” behind the practices. This fundamental knowledge ensures ethical and relevant interventions and engagements that fulfill organizational missions.
- We require our students to enter the M.S. program with a psychology background.
- UBalt students who graduate with an M.S. in Applied Psychology, IO psychology concentration are prepared for careers as organizational contributors, independent consultants and researchers.
Conversely, an M.P.S. degree is aimed at the early to mid-career professional who desires credentialing and basic competencies in IO psychology. It is also not regarded the same by industry professionals and academics.
Our program is the only M.S. in IO psychology in the Mid-Atlantic region, other than New York. We are proud to have been graduating hundreds of M.S. students for over 30 years.
What competencies do IO psychology students develop?
The IO psychology curriculum develops student competencies in all domains recommended by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP, Division 14 of the American Psychological Association). Our students engage in real-world and simulated experiential learning activities, such as conducting job analyses with real clients, preparing personnel assessment reports and developing organizational surveys.
The IO psychology concentration also offers students opportunities to prepare for the global workforce through relevant coursework and international collaborative projects (both virtual and in-person), such as the European Erasmus Mundus Winter School program.
Where do UBalt's IO psychology graduates work?
Our graduates are employed in numerous industries and settings, including:
FEDERAL JOBS
- DHS/TSA
- FBI
- OPM
- U.S. Customs & Border Protection
- U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency
HEALTHCARE
- Kennedy Krieger Institute
- Johns Hopkins Medicine
- Bristol-Myers Squibb
STATE JOBS
- Maryland Aviation Administration
- Maryland Transit Administration
CONSULTING FIRMS
- Booz Allen
- Grant Thornton
- PDRI (a CEB company)
- Deloitte
- Kaisen
RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS
- Loyola University
- IMPAQ International
- UMD CASL
RETAIL COMPANIES
- Under Armour
- McCormick & Company, Inc.
Learn more about your career and internship opportunities.
Helping pay for your degree.
To help you learn while putting your skills into practice, and to offset the cost of your education, consider applying for a graduate assistantship .
The Schaefer Center for Public Policy offers selective fellowships for full-time students to work on applied research projects. In addition, there are opportunities for students to work as student assistants or as research assistants on various center projects. Deadlines are April 15 (fall semester) and Oct. 15 (spring semester).
Who are the IO psychology faculty?
The Division of Applied Behavioral Sciences hosts three full-time faculty with backgrounds in industrial and organizational psychology:
-
SHARON GLAZER
division chair and professor
410.837.5905
sglazer@ubalt.edu
view Prof. Glazer's faculty profile
-
THOMAS MITCHELL
program director and professor
410.837.5348
tmitchell@ubalt.edu
view Prof. Mitchell's faculty profile
-
Archana Tedone
assistant professor
410.837.5315
atedone@ubalt.edu
view Prof. Tedone's faculty profile
We also have several regular adjunct faculty who bring IO psychology field experience to further enhance your classroom learning, including:
IO Psychology Spotlights
2023 IOP Graduates
2023 IO Psychology graduates pictured with Professor Thomas Mitchell (center)
Professor and Chair Sharon Glazer Receives Two Top Honors
Sharon Glazer, professor and chair of the Division of Applied Behavioral Sciences, has been named the winner of the 2021 President's Faculty Award and the 2021 Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Activities Award. The President's Faculty Award is the highest that The University of Baltimore's president may bestow upon a member of the faculty, and is based on letters of nomination from the deans to a selection committee in the Office of the Provost. The Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Activities Award—awarded every other year by the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences—recognizes a faculty member who has been judged to be distinguished in scholarly or creative activities. Learn more about Prof. Glazer in the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology's May 2021 Member Spotlight.
X-Culture Project Leads to Paid Internship
Recent graduate Leigh Cantor, M.S. ’21, landed a paid summer internship with CapSource as a result of her X-Culture capstone project. X-Culture is a marketing project in which students from all over the world join global virtual teams to conduct an analysis on a company, developing strategies for the company to improve profitability, gain sponsors, and corner new markets in other countries. The project consists of a 25-page report with three sections: market analysis (industry and competition analysis, competitors, and a SWOT analysis of the company), marketing (promotional channels and materials), and pricing and distribution (proposed partnerships and suggestions for growth, profit, and cornering new markets). Following the project there is an optional presentation students can make summarizing the findings; if their presentation is chosen, the team then gets to present live at the closing ceremony, where representatives from the companies involved in the project are present to listen to the findings and ask clarifying questions. Cantor’s X-Culture project—which was selected out of 650 global teams—resulted in her landing the internship opportunity with CapSource.
Andrea Garry: Research Accepted for 2021 SIOP Conference, and Team Wins Second Place in PTCMW Consulting Challenge
Congratulations to Industrial and Organizational Psychology student Andrea Garry, whose symposium submission was accepted for the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology’s (SIOP) 36th annual conference, a hybrid event that will be held April 15-17, 2021. Andrea’s research—which she did in collaboration with Assistant Professor Archana Tedone—is titled: The Moderating Effect of Home Workspace Design on the Relationship Between Technostress and Mental Fatigue.
Andrea was also part of the team that placed second in the Personnel Testing Council Metropolitan Washington’s (PTCMW) 2020 Graduate Student Consulting Challenge, sponsored by Amazon. Student teams were presented with a request for proposal (RFP) that outlined a real organizational challenge. Andrea and her teammates from peer institutions created a selection protocol with request parameters for Amazon. They were given three days to submit an RFP and oral presentation, which was delivered virtually on the final day to a panel of judges that included experts in I-O psychology and related areas from PTCMW and Amazon.
The consulting challenge was developed in 2014 by PTCMW to allow students to develop key professional skills, while expanding their professional networks and winning great prizes—the winning team wins $1,350, the runner‐up team wins $750, and every participating team receives a free year of PTCMW student membership.
Capstone Course: Virtual Trip to Silicon Valley, CA
Due the global 2020 global pandemic, students in the M.S. in Applied Psychology, Industrial and Organizational Psychology (IOP) and Graduate Certificate in Global IOP programs completed the global engagement portion of their capstone course with a week-long virtual trip to Silcon Valley, CA. The students met with leaders from start-up to fully mature multinational companies, including Intuit, Google, Salesforce, Culture Amp, Numerify, Solaredge, Facebook, Hewlett Packard, Houzz and Pulse Secure. Watch the students deliver 5-minute Ignite presentations about their experiences studying and visiting these companies.
Capstone Course: Consulting Project for Truvelop
IO psychology students and faculty at Baltimore start-up, Truvelop. The students worked on a consulting project for the company as part of their capstone projects.
Winterim Course: Barcelona, Spain
IO psychology students studying in Barcelona as part of the 2020 organizational theory and development winterim course, visited printer manufacturing company EPSON IBERICA to gain practical insights into their HR operations and strategies. Our students were joined by their counterparts from Universitat de Barcelona.
Professor Glazer Presents at ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute in Portugal
In fall 2019, Prof. Sharon Glazer was invited to ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute in Portugal to conduct a series of workshops on cross-cultural occupational stress. She's pictured here (3rd row, 3rd from the right) with master's students from ISCTE.
2019 IOP Graduates
2019 IO Psychology graduates pictured with professor and chair, Sharon Glazer (third from right)
2019 SIOP Conference in Washington, D.C.
UBalt faculty, students and alumni at the 2019 Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) Conference in Washington, D.C.
2018 SIOP Conference in Chicago, IL
UBalt students and alumni networking at the 2018 Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) Conference in Chicago, IL.
IOP Students Take First Place at Graduate Counseling Competition
Industrial-Organizational Psychology graduate student Jay Souder (2nd from the right) and his teammates from other universities (pictured) took 1st place in the Personnel Testing Council Metropolitan Washington's annual graduate consulting competition held on Nov. 8, 2017 at George Washington University.
IOP Faculty, Students and Alumni Attend Conference at the Maryland State Highway Administration
Program director Thomas Mitchell (center) with students and alumni attending the Modernization Project kickoff conference at the Maryland State Highway Administration.
2017 IOP Graduates
Group shot of the 2017 I-O psychology graduates.
2017 SIOP Conference in Orlando, FL
Program director Thomas Mitchell (front row, center) and his students at the 2017 Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) Conference in Orlando, FL.
For more information about graduate admission, please contact the Office of Admission at gradadmission@ubalt.edu, 410.837.6565.