The Student Network
Bryan C. Hayes
Greg E. Loviscky
Old Dominion University
Is your I/O psychology program providing you with the knowledge, experiences, and credentials needed to obtain a career oriented job upon graduation? This is a question and concern expressed to us by many students. In response, the next two issues of The Student Network will be devoted to the identification of the criteria used to select I/O psychologist for various positions and provide suggestions on how to satisfy those criteria. In a related event, this year a subcommittee of the SIOP Education and Training Committee is charged with reviewing the Guidelines for Doctoral Education in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. According to subcommittee chair Debra Major, the central objectives are to determine the extent and the nature of needed revisions to the guidelines. Published in 1985, the guidelines have never been updated. Although the subcommittee is focused on the appropriateness of the included competencies in the guidelines as opposed to credentials required by hiring institutions, certainly areas of overlap exist. In this sense, we hope information provided in this two-part issue are useful for both students and faculty alike. The first article in this two-part series focuses on the needs of I/O psychology students interested in an academic career. The second article, to be included in the April issue of TIP, will focus on needs of students seeking an applied career. We hope you find these issues informative and interesting.
Three Considerations for I/O Graduate Students Seeking
Academic Positions: Publish, Publish, Publish
Gary J. Greguras
Bowling Green State University
Jeffrey M. Stanton
University of Connecticut
We have all heard the common phrase and title of a recent book, A Ph.D. is Not Enough (Feibelman, 1993). What then, is enough for a successful career in I/O Psychology? The goal of the present article is to discuss what graduate students in I/O Psychology can do to initiate a career in academia. This article presents the various criteria used by academic institutions when hiring new faculty members and the activities and issues that graduate students should consider to prepare themselves for academic positions. We hope that this article serves as a useful source of information and stimulates questions for graduate students planning or simply considering an academic career.
What do academic institutions look for in applicants?
We contacted a variety of academic institutions that are currently advertising faculty positions in I/O Psychology or related fields (e.g., Human Resource Management), posted a request for information on HRNet, interviewed faculty members at various institutions, and consulted a variety of published articles on this topic (Feibelman, 1993; Morgan, 1993; Rheingold, 1994; Zanna & Darley, 1987). More than 20 different respondents provided information. This sample consisted primarily of faculty in psychology departments at research institutions; however, information provided by respondents from business schools or teaching-oriented institutions generally converged with that obtained from psychology departments at research-oriented institutions.
The responses we received suggest that the selection process of many academic institutions follows a multiple hurdle approach. Certain criteria may be used to decide who should be invited for an interview (e.g., number of publications, letters of recommendation), whereas other criteria (e.g., performance in colloquium, interpersonal skills) may be used to decide which candidate is actually made a job offer. Four criteria seem to permeate the academic selection process: research productivity, teaching experience, applicant fit, and applied experience.
Research Research productivity or potential for research productivity was the most frequently used criterion for evaluating applicants. Respondents indicated that publications in refereed journals are weighed the heaviest when evaluating applicants' credentials in the initial stages of the selection process. No minimum requirement of research productivity was provided, although many respondents indicated that at least one or two first-authored articles in a refereed journal were necessary to be considered a serious candidate. Several respondents indicated that although the quantity of research required to be invited for an interview is market-driven, generally applicants with several publications do exist in most applicant pools. Conference presentations are also considered evidence of research productivity, however, these do not serve as substitutes for publications.
Search committees also consider evidence of programmatic research. This information can be conveyed by the applicant's publication/presentation record, verbally during interviews, and in a research statement. Committees are interested in certain aspects of the candidates research program. Does the candidate have a clear sense of what he or she is going to be doing for the next few years? Is there some direction to the research? Is this area of research new and exciting?
Although publications appear as the most important criterion for obtaining an interview, at some universities publications may play a smaller role in reaching the final decision. Publications, therefore, apparently comprise the first hurdle of the academic selection process. Publications may receive less weight at teaching institutions. Nonetheless, several respondents noted that due to the increasing number of competitive candidates, teaching institutions may also emphasize research publications.
Teaching Teaching experience is a second factor considered when evaluating applicants -- albeit quite distant from research productivity. As one respondent stated, "Excellent research can to some extent compensate for nonexistent teaching experience, but excellent teaching cannot compensate for nonexistent research." Relevant teaching experience may include working as a teaching assistant or assuming responsibility for all aspects of a course; the latter holds more value. Respondents indicated that they seldom see candidates without some teaching experience, and many applicants have substantial amounts of teaching experience.
Teaching has become more important in the sense that candidates must often include a lot of information about their teaching experience or interests with their application materials. For example, many applicants provide statements of teaching philosophies or include previous course evaluations. Letters of recommendations often comment on teaching ability, and teaching awards also signify the quality of teaching.
Faculty members also evaluate an applicant's teaching potential and research-oriented scholarly skills during the applicant's colloquium. The results of this evaluation may weigh quite heavily on the applicant's chances of being made a job offer. Often the colloquium is the only opportunity that members of a department not on the search committee have to assess the candidate. One respondent indicated that if a candidate does poorly during the colloquium, it is unlikely that his or her candidacy can be justified or supported to the rest of the department. A candidate may also be asked to teach a class to demonstrate his or her teaching ability or potential. Thus, while research productivity will help you obtain an interview, teaching ability comprises the second hurdle.
Applicant Fit Applicant fit refers to the degree to which the candidate matches the needs of the department rather than how similar the applicant is to the department's members. Applicant fit is the third determinant in the selection decision for most of our respondents. In fact, some institutions suggested that applicant fit is weighed equally with research productivity. An applicant may have a wonderful vita but not be invited for an interview because he or she does not fit with the current needs or preferences (e.g., research, teaching) of the department.
Applicant fit is a hurdle that all successful candidates must eventually clear. One's fit is continually assessed from the time of application (e.g., Does this candidate's research area and expertise fit with the department's needs?), through the interview (e.g., Does this candidate appear to be someone with whom we can work?), and at the time of the final decision (e.g., Which candidate best fits the department based on research productivity/ interest, teaching ability, and collegiality?).
Applied Experience Finally, applied experience is viewed as a selling point but not a necessity. One respondent noted: "We are looking for teachers and researchers, but applied experience may tip the balance." Applied experience may hold importance at those programs that strongly emphasize field research and/or consulting. Some such programs expect their faculty to consult and to provide applied experience for their students. Graduate students serve two goals simultaneously by working to develop field research during applied experiences.
Summary
Overall our results suggest that research productivity and applicant fit are two major factors in obtaining an academic position. These factors hold particular significance in research-oriented institutions, but also apply to teaching-oriented institutions. In addition, teaching institutions clearly value proven excellence in teaching. Finally, while successful candidates often have applied experiences, this factor typically receives less weight, at least in the initial stages of the selection process.
How can graduate students translate this information into practical and strategic actions? After all, the previous paragraph may seem obvious to many students who have been in graduate school for several years. Nonetheless, even experienced graduate students still pose the question, "How do I go about getting an academic job?" The ubiquity of this question suggests a lack of viable, specific information for making intelligent decisions about various courses of action in graduate school. Space restrictions prevent this article from serving as an encyclopedic resource for provision of this information.
Moreover, it is unclear that even an encyclopedia could serve the distinctive needs of all I/O graduate students. The abundant permutations of student, advisor, interests, and aptitudes make the success of such a resource unlikely. Useful information is, however, available to every graduate student who directs the right questions to the right people. Thus, the next section of this article is devoted to the stimulation of productive questions concerning the major issues involved in obtaining an academic job.
The Questioning Approach
In a previous issue of TIP, Clause, Kaiser, and Roch (1995) discussed the importance of socialization processes in the adjustment of first-year graduate students to their new environments. These authors describe an information acquisition approach where socialization is enhanced when first-year students obtain or are taught critical skills, knowledge, values, goals, and roles. New students obtain this information from experienced organizational members such as faculty and more advanced graduate students. This information acquisition process should continue throughout the graduate student's career and can be fruitfully directed toward the goal of obtaining (and thriving at) an academic position.
Early Questions: Program Entry through Completion of Thesis. Beyond the fundamental question of whether one desires an academic career, the initial years of graduate school serve as the optimal period to ascertain what an academic career is like, whether one's personality and proclivities might fit in an academic setting, and whether one enjoys the two essential activities of academia, research and teaching. Positive responses to these queries reveal another layer of questions. For example, a strong preference for teaching has clear implications for choices both within and after graduate school. Regardless of preference, first year students are typically obliged to crystallize a research interest for a first, independent research project (in many institutions, the Master's thesis). Early involvement in ongoing research projects or research groups can facilitate this process. Arguably, a first questions new students should ask their advisors is: How can I get involved in a research project as soon as possible?
The respondents who provided information for this article were unanimous concerning the importance of first-authored journal publications in establishing the credibility of an academic job applicant's research potential. The graduate student's Master's thesis provides a critical opportunity for first-authorship. The student should ask thesis committee members what considerations will maximize the likelihood that the finished product will be publishable. Upon or near completion of the thesis, the student should begin to ask the advisor to which conference or journal the completed study might be sent.
The early years of graduate school often provide options for additional research projects. Graduate students can get involved in research with various faculty members and other graduate students. Although graduate students are encouraged to be involved in multiple research projects simultaneously, over extension can result in a decrease rather than an increase in research productivity. Because of the long lead times associated with the review of manuscripts and their acceptance for publication, conducting research early and submitting promptly is important.
More Questions: Thesis to Dissertation. The interval of the I/O graduate student's career between completion of a thesis and achievement of the Ph,D. provides an opportunity for additional reflection on career choices. Many sources interviewed for this article agreed that the dissertation serves as the linchpin to subsequent academic career plans. The student's overriding question during this phase of graduate school should be: How can my dissertation help me launch a research program that can carry me into academia? This question raises a number of subsidiary questions: Should the Master's thesis be extended or developed to display evidence of programmatic research? Should one consider more timely topics to enhance the likelihood of publication of the dissertation? How can one best capitalize on the experience of trying to publish the thesis while deciding on a dissertation topic?
In parallel to the previous section, the dissertation cannot command 100% of the advanced graduate student's time. More to the point, one respondent suggested that it is never sufficient for a graduate student to work solely on one research project at a time. Again the academic-bound student must pursue additional projects, especially those with promising publishing potential. At the same time, the student with an inclination toward teaching should decide which lab or lecture experience will provide the greatest opportunity in the chosen job setting. Finally, the aspiring academic needs to consider whether additional applied experience might help obtain a position in a business school or an I/O psychology program with an applied orientation.
Closing Questions: Starting the Job Search. Many authors have considered and discussed the final stages of obtaining an academic job: preparation of the vita (Brems, Lampman, & Johnson, 1995), crafting an application letter of interest (Morgan, 1993), and preparing and delivering the job talk (Zanna & Darley, 1987). Some important preparatory issues, however, have not received as much attention. What resources can applicants tap to find out as much as possible about the institution, the faculty, and the graduate students at the hiring institution? Who are the key decision makers there? Applicants who pose these questions may become better prepared to market their strengths successfully.
Conclusion
This article is meant to stimulate fruitful thinking and questioning by the I/O graduate student who seeks an academic career. Naturally, we have had to leave out many useful questions and issues due to space constraints. We trust, however, that the important message of this discussion has shone through: to ensure future career success, the prudent graduate student will take an active, information seeking approach to career development. This approach can serve the student regardless of whether he or she chooses a career in academia or industry. Remember, when in doubt, ask your advisor: "What have I forgotten to ask you that might be important?"
The preceding article has been aimed primarily at graduate students in I/O Psychology who are contemplating an academic job after graduation. Relating this information to the training of I/O psychologists, however, may be of interest to a wider audience. In particular, on the eve of a revision of the Guidelines for Education and Training at the Doctoral Level in Industrial/Organizational Psychology (Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1985), those who are concerned with curriculum design for I/O Psychology students may wish to consider how our industry evaluates and selects newly trained I/O psychologists for jobs. For example, faculty selection committees emphasize the importance of research, however, the process of conducting and reporting research during the doctoral training in I/O Psychology does not seem to be adequately represented in the current guidelines. Future revisions of the guidelines may need to emphasize not simply competencies, but also processes considered important by the I/O psychology committee. This point will be addressed further in the next issue of The Student Network that will focus on applied careers.
References
Brems, C., Lampman, C., & Johnson, M. E. (1995). Preparation of applications for academic positions in psychology. American Psychologist, 50, 533-537.
Clause, C. S., Kaiser, R. B., & Roch, S. G. (1995). Using socialization literature to shed light on the first year transition. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 2, 91-95.
Feibelman, P. J. (1993). A Ph,D. is not enough. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Morgan, K. (1993, January). A guide to the academic job search. APS Observer, 29-31.
Rheingold, H. L. (1994). The Psychologist's guide to an academic career. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Inc. (1985). Guidelines for education and training at the doctoral level in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. College Park, MD: Author.
Zanna, M. P., & Darley, J. M. (1987). The complete academic: A practical guide for the beginning social scientist. Hillsdale, NJ: LEA Publishing.
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