What is I-O?

I am writing this column shortly after returning from a long, leisurely vacation. After spending all that time having fun with the kids, I tend to run through those personal as well as existential questions about work and life (What is the meaning of work? Why do I work? Am I living the right balance for me?) For me, this is followed by some thinking about alternatives. (Perhaps I should start buying lottery tickets.) Then, as I try to deal with my resistance to returning to work, I come across an article or have a conversation with a student that engages me and energizes me, and I remember why I love what I do.

So, my message for you for this month is to pause and reflect on what you love about what you do, what you find energizing and rewarding about your work. If you find yourself not coming up with much, perhaps theres some opportunity for realigning how you spend your time at work or redirecting your career to focus more on the kinds of things that motivate you.

For those of you who are finding fulfillment in being an I-O psychologist, I urge you to share that enthusiasm with young people thinking about career directions and those who are new to the profession. Elsewhere in this issue youll find a description of Exploring Behavior Week by Dawn Riddle and Neil Hauenstein. Take an hour out of that week to talk to youth about why you love what you do. It ensures the future vitality of our field and increases our visibility in society as a whole. Another way to share your experiences is through volunteering to be a mentor to a new member of SIOP via our M2M program (see related article by Michele Jayne and Annette Towler in this issue). Giving a few hours of your time in this way can provide encouragement to those starting out in I-O.

APA Presidential Elections

Shortly, those of you who are APA members will be receiving your presidential ballots. As was done last year, I have sought the responses of the candidates to some questions of specific concern to our membership. The responses appear in this issue and may be helpful in enabling you to select a candidate who might best represent your interests. 

Web News

By now, you surely have noticed our new Web page design, the product of the hard work of Larry Nader at the Administrative Office, with guidance provided by a very diligent Electronic Communications Committee (Michael Brannick, Matt Barney, Barbara Fritzsche Clay, Steve Hall, Mike Harris, Jeff Stanton, Lori Foster Thompson, and Jason Weiss). We have two active electronic mailing lists nowfor students wanting to share advice (see the Web page for how to sign up for the SIOP-SDL) and for directors of I-O programs wanting to share information. The committee is hoping to institute bulletin boards on specific topics in the near future, so please feel free to e-mail members with your suggestions.

There are a couple of issues regarding the Web site that members frequently raise, so this may be a good place and time to address them. Members often ask why we do not put the entire directory on the Web site, rather than only e-mail addresses, or why e-mail addresses cant be simply listed rather than accessed only through a search format. For privacy purposes, we chose not to put the entire membership directory on the Web site. We do sell our mailing list (check on the Web site about how to purchase) and members can opt out of that if they choose at the time of dues renewal. However, we do not sell the list indiscriminately but to individuals and organizations whose purposes and products may be of interest to our members. Members also question whether they are getting spam e-mail because of SIOP. It is important for you to know that SIOP has not and will not sell e-mail addresses. This is also the reason why we do not list the e-mail addresses in an easily copied format. Despite that, any time personal information such as an e-mail address is voluntarily disclosed on a Web site or electronic mailing list, that information can be collected by third parties using harvesting software and result in unsolicited e-mail or mail. Having to delete junk mail can be annoying, but the advantages of being accessible to colleagues clearly outweigh an occasional unwanted solicitation. 

Education and Training

I also want to point out how active SIOP is on the education and training side. Because I am in academia, I sometimes hear grumbling that SIOP is too practice focused. As I noted in the last issue, we really do strive to meet a variety of member interests. Id like to highlight some of the things that the Education & Training Committee (E & T), under the terrific leadership of Laura Koppes, has been working on just these past few months. An E & T subcommittee, led by Todd Harris, has put a lot of time into building upon our terrific base of instructor modules on I-O topics that are ideal for use in introductory psychology courses. Thanks to module authors Carrie Bulger, Todd Harris, Martha Hennen, Mike Horvath, and Morrie Mullins for their recent work. Not only are these a helpful teaching tool for our members, but they help increase the visibility of I-O by making it easier for other psychologists to introduce our field to the legions of students that go through intro psych each term. Check out the modules on the SIOP Web site (http://www.siop.org/Instruct/InGuide.aspx).

E & T has also been active in responding to various APA documents on teaching and training that are of interest to our members. For example, APA produced a report from the Task Force on Distance Education in Professional Psychology. Clearly, our members should be concerned about what constitutes acceptable distance education in I-O (e.g., can I get a PhD entirely via virtual courses and e-mail correspondence with a mentor) and the SIOP office often gets requests from students about virtual university programs in I-O. You can check out the report at http://www.apa.org/ed/distance_ed.html and forward comments to those putting together our perspective (Steve Cohen, Kevin Ford, Linda Jackson, Laura Koppes, and Paul Spector). A second report that an E & T subcommittee is commenting on from APAs Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) Task Force on Undergraduate Psychology Major Competencies is a report on the Undergraduate Psychology Major Learning Goals and Outcomes (available at (http://www.apa.org/ed/pcue/taskforcereport2.pdf). Given our concerns about the visibility of our field, it is important that pronouncements regarding undergraduate training in psychology attend to I-Os role in the broader field, as well as indicate the type of training wed like incoming graduate students to have. Please send any comments on this report to Laura as well.

Another activity that Laura Koppes and Tom Becker worked with the SIOP Program Committee on was instituting Teaching Forums as a category for conference submissions. As conferences are meant to be a means for us all to gain greater knowledge about what we do, and because many of our members are involved in teaching in some capacity or another, Teaching Forums will provide a means for a better exchange of information regarding teaching I-O. The I-O Program Directors electronic mailing list I mentioned earlier (developed with the assistance of Laura and Mike Brannick) also allows for a greater exchange of information regarding graduate education in our field. If you are a program director and are not already on the electronic mailing list, please contact the Administrative Office about signing up and updating information on your graduate program.

E & T also has a number of other efforts underway and would appreciate your input (e-mail thoughts, suggestions, or volunteer your assistance to Laura Koppes at laura.koppes@eku.edu). One group is exploring the nature of internship requirements and would love to hear your perspectives on what entails a quality internship experience. Another group is exploring ways for retraining psychologists from other areas into I-O and would love to hear experiences of individuals who have retreaded and programs that have helped with retreading. E & T is also developing a page for the SIOP Web site that provides education and teaching resourcesplease send your suggestions regarding what you have found to be particularly helpful in teaching I-O-related topics. Finally, E & T is considering developing a SIOP Distinguished Teaching Award. This would be a perfect opportunity to acknowledge an influential teacher by donating to the SIOP Foundation for the purpose of funding this award. Contact Irv Goldstein (Irv@bsos.umd.edu) to explore funding opportunities.

Thanks to all the E & T committee members for all the terrific work! 

In keeping with the reflective start to my column, there are two other areas that members have led me to think about recently. One stems from a few (and actually just a few) write-in comments on the recent member survey (and yes, I did read every single one and there were many!) Some members believe it is who you know that gets you places in the field of I-O. As someone who is able to network effortlessly, whose graduate school mentor is a big name, and who works at a program with well-known colleagues and graduates, I may not be seen as understanding difficulties individuals have in meeting others and getting known in our field. (Although, I do like to point out that my own graduate degree is from a university that no longer offers a degree in Organizational Psychology). Ive heard concerns from individuals who feel that being from a less established graduate program works against you, or working as a solo practitioner or sole I-O in an academic setting without a graduate program has a second-class citizenship status in I-O, or that SIOP is not welcoming of those who come to the field through other areas of psychology. I certainly hope that members of our society value the contributions and respect the choices and career paths of others that differ from ones own. To make our field more visible and to continue its vitality, we need the involvement and perspective of individuals with different backgrounds and careers. For those of you interested in getting to know more people in SIOP, in this issue of TIP Bill Macey provides some information on getting involved in SIOP. Further, the Program Committee is making plans for ways to help individuals to better connect with those with similar interests at the conference in OrlandoIm sure youll be pleased with some of the new sessions and formats that will help all of us to broaden our networks.

The second issue that many members approach me about is that of worklife balance and how one manages career and young children. My girls (Marilyn, 5 and Clare, 3) have wandered into my home office quite a few times since I started writing this column to show me artwork, ask questions, put on a show, and to settle squabblesthere isnt a lot of segmentation right now between my work and home lives. While Ive achieved a comfort zone around a lot of issues regarding work and family, I still struggle greatly through any business travel and get up pretty early to fit work around my childrens lives. Having a flexible job, understanding colleagues, and a terrific spouse helps me tremendously, but I have gained a great deal from the many conversations I have had with others in SIOP (and yes, I have talked to many male as well as female members) regarding how to best balance doing what you love in I-O with being with those you love. I encourage all of you to seek support from others in the field regarding the challenges you face and to offer support to colleagues who are struggling to live their priorities.

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