Professional and academic training in organizational psychology

Abstract

Many advocates of a new professional degree argue that present degrees offered by the universities are unsatisfactory for the training of organizational psychologists who plan to work in non-academic settings. The arguments supporting professional degrees assume firstly, that psychological knowledge is mature enough for application, secondly, that there are strong overseas precedents for such degrees, and thirdly, that new degrees are necessary if psychology is to be socially relevant. These assumptions are critically examined and it is concluded that none of them are tenable. However, it is agreed that there is a need for improved training in organizational psychology. It is maintained that present courses are generally inadequate because they do not provide substantial research experience. Furthermore, improved training in organizational psychology is unlikely to appear until the profession defines what is meant by a competent psychologist and university departments hire more staff who are able to teach organizational psychology. At present, staffing policies of university departments reflect an unsubstantiated belief in the primacy of traditional experimental areas of psychology. If the goals of training were defined and staff provided for teaching then professional and academic training could be accommodated by the Ph.D degree. This would require some universities to recognize that coursework and practical experience could be an essential but not a primary component of the Ph.D.