What is I-O?

Industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology is the scientific study of the workplace. Rigor and methods of psychology are applied to issues of critical relevance to business, including talent management, coaching, assessment, selection, training, organizational development, performance, and work-life balance.

The Teaching of Legal Issues:
A Survey of Graduate I-O Programs

Stephen J. Vodanovich and Chris Piotrowski
University of West Florida

The extant research offers little guidance as to how (and to what extent) legal material is presently taught in graduate I-O programs. Yet a key development in the growth of I-O psychology, particularly in the area of human resources, has been the proliferation of legal literature (see Casio, 1998; Gatewood & Feild, 1998). Survey data have indicated that a course in "legal issues" was rated by former I-O master's graduates as the second most useful factor in obtaining a first job (Erffmeyer & Mendel, 1990). Recently, we described the framework for an Internet-based graduate course in "Legal Issues" within the I-O psychology master's program at the University of West Florida (Vodanovich & Piotrowski, 2000). However, there is a dearth of literature that addresses the content, format, and/or method of instruction used to teach such material in I-O psychology. To this end, this paper summarizes the findings of a recent survey from a sample of I-O faculty regarding what "legal issues" are currently being emphasized in graduate training and the pedagogical methods that are being used to facilitate such instruction.

Findings

A 3-page survey was sent to 97 master's and doctoral I-O programs in the United States. Addresses for these programs were gathered from the 1999 list of SIOP members. The survey included a series of 5-point scales, ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (extensively), which asked the respondents to indicate what legal topics were covered, how the material was taught, and the extent of perceived drawbacks regarding the teaching of legal material.

An average of two surveys were sent to each I-O program and a total of 38 usable forms were returned. Although this number appears low, it is likely that only one person in a given department was primarily responsible for the teaching of I-O-related legal issues. A sizeable majority of the respondents were male (64.9%), from PhD institutions (62.2%), and have taught I-O courses for an average of 14.8 years (SD = 9.1).

Approximately one third (35.1%) of the participants indicated that their departments offered an individual course on legal issues. Respondents were also queried on the extent to which they teach legal material within their program outside a specific course in legal issues. These results are summarized below:

We asked respondents to indicate the extent to which they teach a variety of legal topics. As can be observed in the table below, the most common legal issues covered were related to discrimination (e.g., Title VII) related to employment testing. This is not surprising since this topical area overlaps with psychometric material (reliability, validity) that is central to personnel psychology.

Some surprises occurred regarding the legal material that is not frequently covered (see results below). For example, the lack of coverage of OSHA law is somewhat at odds with the recent emphasis on occupational health topics, particularly regarding funding initiatives for graduate training programs (e.g., Fox, 1999; Quick, 1999). Also, given the controversy surrounding the passage and potential consequences of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), it seems that more didactic attention would be given to this Act.

Finally, we asked the respondents to indicate the degree to which they have experienced problems in teaching legal material. Individuals in our sample did not indicate or endorse any major drawbacks in this regard. The most common concern was in keeping current with the legal literature and the time commitment involved in teaching material in this area, but both means were less than 3.0 (2.9, 2.4, respectively).

Conclusions and Implications

Our findings indicate that a variety of legal issues germane to the field of I-O psychology are being emphasized in graduate training, particularly in personnel selection coursework. Surprisingly, about two-thirds of the programs in our sample do not have a separate legal issues course as part of their curriculum. Secondly, the legal material pertinent to employment testing and discrimination are apparently receiving the most focus. Although other topical issues in this area continue to be taught, the coverage seems to be relatively moderate. Perhaps it would be beneficial for I-O faculty to reconsider the degree and comprehensiveness of didactic exposure to legal topics within I-O graduate programs (and address the incentives and resources needed to do so) in order to meet the future educational and professional needs of students. This would be a worthwhile response to the growing emphasis on such training by prospective employers (e.g., Bena & Mendel, 1980; Erffmeyer & Mendel, 1990). Moreover, future studies that examine the nature and content of individual legal issues courses would provide useful information in determining an appropriate breadth of coverage and use of instructional resources in this area.

In summary, our findings prompt several questions that may need to be addressed in the future, such as:

• Are legal issues in I-O psychology being adequately covered in I-O graduate programs? (Should detailed coverage of this material be required of I-O graduates?)
• What is the appropriate level of faculty training required to teach legal issues?
• Is there sufficient summary material (e.g., texts) to enhance the teaching of legal material in I-O?
• What specific legal issues deserve the most coverage?
• Is it efficacious to offer a separate course in legal issues?

References

Bena, B. G., & Mendel, R. M. (1980). Preferred areas of professional competence for master's level industrial-organizational psychologists among state departments of personnel. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 17, 27-28.

Cascio, W. (1998). Applied psychology in personnel management (4^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Erffmeyer, E. S., & Mendel, R. M. (1990). Master's level training in industrial/organizational psychology: A case study of the perceived relevance of graduate training. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 21, 405-408,

Fox, H. R. (1999). APA funds university sites to develop occupational health psychology curricula. The Industrial Organizational Psychologist, 36 (3), 100-101.

Gatewood, R. D., & Feild, H. S. (1998). Human resource selection (4^th ed.). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.

Quick, J. C. (1999) Occupational health psychology: Historical roots and future directions. Health Psychology, 18, 82-88.

Vodanovich, S. J., & Piotrowski, C. (2000). An Internet-based approach to legal issues in industrial-organizational psychology. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 28, 67-73.

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