Master’s in Organizational Psychology Overview

The master's degree program in organizational psychology (MAOP) is your opportunity to join one of the more fascinating specialties in psychology today. With a masters in organizational psychology degree you'll be better prepared to help companies or organizations, and the people within them, reach new heights of success.

This degree organizational psychology program can be useful in a wide range of careers including talent management; organizational development; training and development; human resource management; organizational leadership; diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; and more. Professional psychology career paths can lead to positions in a wide variety of industries, management consulting, education, government, and other sectors.

This one-year, 33-unit master’s program is offered online. All online organizational psychology programs are accepting applications. However, please be aware that on-ground organizational psychology programs are not accepting applications.

To learn more about this program and other offerings, visit our CSPP-dedicated microsite. You’ll find videos featuring our university president, dean of CSPP, and faculty, along with numerous interactive features!

Graduate Program Highlights

Wide Range of Careers

Deepen your skills and find a new career in organization development, talent and leadership development, human resources and talent management, and more in various industries, nonprofits, and government agencies.

Variety of Schedules

Online courses allow you to complete your coursework in the evening and the weekends.

Earn a Master’s in One or Two Years

With full-time enrollment of two courses per term, you can complete the industrial organizational psychology program in just one year, or opt for one course per term to complete the program in two years. Eight-week terms begin in January and August.

Small Classes

Get to know your industrial organizational psychology faculty and colleagues in a supportive climate, developing working relationships that can last a lifetime. Get to know alumni in our network and find jobs through powerful relationships.

Advance Your Degree Further

Take your education further with a degree that prepares you to be a consultant or leader. A PhD in industrial-organizational psychology can be completed in three years. A continuing education adds to your credential whether you plan to work in consulting firms or further utilize your expertise as an IO psychologist.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Increase your cross-cultural skills with multinational, multiracial faculty and graduate students, and support a society of inclusive excellence, equity, and belonging. Our IO psychology programs foster diversity and inclusion.

Experiential Training

Gain experience through class and real-world projects that apply the aspects of organizational setting and organizational behavior. These projects include surveys, interviews, talent assessments, leadership development, and designing programs for skill development and organizational change.

Admissions

Learn About Admissions Requirements

Admissions

Faculty

As an aspiring industrial organizational psychologist, you'll continue to learn from a faculty consisting of renowned experts with years of experience within the organizational and consulting fields and doctoral degrees earned at USC, Columbia University, Fielding Graduate Institute, UCLA, Northcentral University, and Alliant International University. The psychology department is comprised of past and current local, national, and international professional association leaders, organizational psychologists, journal editors, and consultants. Faculty areas of expertise include the following:

• Management consulting
• Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging
• Motivation and employee engagement
• Sustainability and systems thinking
• Organization development and change management
• Leadership and leadership development
• Coaching and mentoring
   

Faculty

Degree Information

What You will Learn

• Describe and apply industrial psychology principles, concepts, models, theories, and/or methods.
• Describe and apply ethical and legal principles to situations in organizational psychology.
• Demonstrate a positive, proactive, and non-judgmental attitude towards diverse cultures and identities.
•  Design culturally competent professional services in respective areas for diverse populations.
• Analyze data, evaluate results and communicate findings using applied research methods.
• Work effectively in teams and apply team building concepts.

How You will Learn

Students learn theories and cases in the classroom and gain hands-on experience through class projects. Coursework prepares students to critically evaluate evidence-based principles of the discipline and integrate these principles into the management and development of human behavior in work environments. Coursework provides progressive learning integrating advanced critical thinking, evaluation of research-based models, technical skill development, and applied learning techniques within the realm of psychological science.

Multicultural and diversity issues, ethical practices, as well as proficiency in business concepts are integrated across the IO Psychology graduate study courses as cross-cutting competencies. Integrating competency development across courses prepares graduates to provide professional-level services in organizations.

Degree Objectives

Build your critical thinking skills through the integration of discipline-specific theories, psychological principles, models, concepts, and methods, and the development of practitioner skills. The master's in organizational psychology covers a wide range of competencies selected to deepen the knowledge and skills for practitioners already in one of the related career paths, and open doors to those career paths for people making a career transition or starting a career in IO psychology.

Discipline-Specific Knowledge

As graduate students of a masters in organizational psychology, you'll work on developing skills in leadership, talent development and talent management, diversity and inclusion, motivation and employee engagement, team dynamics and facilitating teams, coaching and mentoring, and applied research skills for needs analysis and program evaluation. A graduate certificate program gives a specialized focus that lets you tailor your expertise to specific areas within organizational psychology.

Why Organizational Psychology? 

The most important assets of any organization quite often are its people. Organizational psychology graduate program combines the fields of psychology, leadership, business, and other behavioral sciences to provide you with the knowledge and skills to create more effective and empowering workplaces and communities. Organizational psychology degrees at Alliant prepare professionals to create an environment where people develop their full potential, work in meaningful careers, lead effectively, work effectively in teams, and encourage others to do the same.

Links and downloads

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