Psychology, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, M.S.

The Master of Science in Industrial/Organizational Psychology (MSIO) is a rigorous, 36-unit program designed to prepare students to enhance organizational performance and human well-being in professional settings. Students learn and develop skills through seminars, practicum experience, engagement in research, and development of a professional portfolio or a research thesis.

The MSIO program offers students a choice between two tracks: 1) applied/portfolio and 2) research/thesis. Students must declare their choice of track by the beginning of the second year in the program. While the coursework for the two tracks is largely the same, the tracks are differentiated primarily by the culminating experience. Students planning on a career as a practitioner of Industrial/Organizational psychology are encouraged to choose the applied/portfolio track. In this track, a student will assist a faculty member in a supervised research project and will develop a portfolio of his or her applied projects. Students planning on pursuing a doctorate in Industrial/Organizational psychology may consider the research/thesis track, which requires students to conduct an entire thesis. Steps in thesis development include choosing a research topic, creation of a thesis proposal, data collection and analysis, and writing a discussion of study findings.

Admission Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree in Psychology from a four-year accredited college or university, or a bachelor’s in another area and the equivalent of four lower division and eight upper division CSULB courses
  • (Please see Non-Psychology Bachelor’s Degree)
• Minimum undergraduate GPA of 2.5
• Prerequisite coursework must include the following CSULB courses (or equivalents, to be determined by the Psychology Department at time of application):
  • PSY 220 Research Methods
  • PSY 310 Intermediate Statistics (requires Introductory Statistics)
  • PSY 314 Psychological Assessment*
  • PSY 332 Cognition or PSY 333 Psychology of Learning
  • PSY 351 Social Psychology or PSY 381 Introduction to Industrial/Organizational Psychology or PSY 453/553 Principles of Group Dynamics*
• *PSY 314 & PSY 351 or PSY 381 or PSY 453/553 are prerequisites for first semester MSIO program courses and must be taken prior to MSIO program entry.