President Steven Rogelberg sent all candidates for APA President four questions that are directly related to SIOP interests. All five candidates responded, and their full answers appear below.

Thema S. Bryant-Davis, PhD
 

Question 1
I will reflect on my experience in applied psychology and listen to individuals and organizations with a primary professional identity of Industrial and Organizational (I-O) Psychology.  I have provided consultation and training for corporations, schools, faith-based organizations, governmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations.  I have also been active in media psychology, translating psychological science to the public in ways that are accessible and relevant.  My work with I-O psychology has primarily centered providing trainings on self-care, trauma-informed approaches, recovery after school and workplace crises, and addressing issues of equity, justice, inclusion, and diversity.  I am pleased to say that the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology of South Africa has endorsed me and I am giving an invited address this summer on rebuilding organizational community in the aftermath of COVID which is one of my presidential keys for thriving.  To ensure I understand I-O psychology priorities, I look forward to learning more from staff in the Office of Applied Psychology, receiving the Exploratory Committee on Applied Psychology’s report from Dr. McHenry, and supporting the establishment of the official APA Committee on Applied Psychology in the near future. In addition, I will deepen my knowledge through dialogue, reading, and attending relevant conferences and symposia. 

Question 2
Several of APA’s 2021 advocacy priorities are very relevant to applied psychology and I-O in particular (e.g., future of work, psychology workforce development, funding for applied psychological research). It is critical that the I-O psychologists and the Office of Applied Psychology staff continue to engage and recommend critical issues of importance regarding the science of human behavior in work settings to APA’s Advocacy Coordinating Committee. This group provides an inclusive and equitable process to address priorities across psychology intersecting with federal funding agencies, organizations, and policy-makers.

Question 3
I-O psychology has often been overlooked and I aim to correct any erasure with my approach to leadership which is intentionally inclusive and collaborative.  I would love to have experts from your division at the table as we map out ways to best enhance people’s lives given the realities of both COVID and the on-going stress and trauma of inequity, particularly in the workplace. Today, we recognize that many workers and employers are seeking to understand and adjust to a potential “new normal” given the significant lessons learned from millions of employees being out of work and others working from home during the past 15 months. Equally, it seems vital to investigate and understand the unique experiences of “essential workers” who have been significantly affected by COVID-19 while being on the front lines. This group includes individuals from low-income and working-class families, racial, ethnic and immigrant families and communities, health professionals (e.g., nurses, physicians, behavioral mental health professionals, etc.), and PreK-16 educators.  I would use my task force appointments and media engagement to highlight the work of I-O psychologists, applied psychology, and the contributions that have and are being made to address the ways people can thrive in every domain of their lives including work, school, and government. I would utilize the APA Communications Office to collaborate with I-O psychology and the Office of Applied Psychology to disseminate its important work. Furthermore, I hope that I-O psychology feel empowered to engage in the pipeline of APA governance. 

I-O psychology is central to my presidential theme of Thriving in a Post-Pandemic World: Applying Psychological Science to Enhance People’s Lives. Applied psychology translates our psychological science to the issues of these times including: loss of work and productivity, gender and racial inequities, and isolation because of working at home. As the leader of our association, I would call on the expertise of I-O psychologists to help communities and corporations not only survive but thrive. Your expertise in work stress, hostility and harassment, as well as issues of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace are critical to my platform. I will appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with you to highlight your work to extend its reach and impact.

I would also create methods to make the APA convention more accessible to the public through a public track available to the general public.  I would also seek to make convention a venue to better inform psychologists and psychology students about the multi-faceted ways to be a psychologist. This will lead to greater unity, collaboration, strength, and appreciation of our diversity within the discipline.

We need to incorporate awareness of I-O psychology in APA directorates, including advocacy and practice, as well as in our academic programs. Structurally we need to ensure that I-O psychology is presented as an important domain for psychologists to make a contribution to the field and society as a whole. I would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with SIOP, TOPSS, and other divisions to submit a CODAPAR grant project that will encourage high school teachers and undergraduate faculty to inform their students about I-O psychology and the breadth of options available to them in applied psychology. I have an inclusive approach to leadership that centers marginalized voices including those who have been professionally marginalized such as I-O psychologists. Marginalization is an issue that I am not only aware of but committed to combating it on every level. I will ensure that applied psychologists’ expertise and voices are represented on my task forces. I will also partner with BEA to help spread the word about the contributions of applied psychology starting in high school psychology education and in undergraduate programs. By bringing more I-O psychologists into the field, there will be a great influence and awareness of I-O throughout the field.

Question 4
Lessons from Covid-19 that directly apply to I-O psychology include: (1) the benefits of telehealth training for general employees and leaders to respond to trauma and loss appropriately and effectively; (2) the need for trauma-responsive transition plans for return to work including psychological consideration for hybrid models; (3) and the use of technology to better serve and empower individuals with special needs, including those with management responsibilities, those who were laid off and are returning to the labor force, and those who faced additional losses due to injustice and inequity; (4) working remotely can be effective for some individuals in some jobs, opening up an important research area for I/O psychologists, to determine for whom and it what circumstances remote work is advantageous or disadvantageous.

I-O psychologists are uniquely positioned to usher corporations, organizations, governments, and communities into rebuilding in the aftermath of the pandemic. I-O psychology researchers have developed and evaluated prevention and intervention programs that clarify protective factors and resilience building factors to promote health and wellness among individuals and organizations.  While psychology practitioners in counseling and clinics take the lead in practice with individuals and families, I-O psychologists with expertise in crisis response, leadership in times of crisis, virtual fatigue, and organizational transition are experts in the work that is now needed to restore, and in some cases build for the first time, strong, resilient, twenty-first century organizations.  

Mary Ann McCabe, PhD
 

Question 1
I have been paying attention to I-O psychology since my training in graduate school.  Yet I developed a more sophisticated appreciation for the professional needs of applied psychologists – and how they sometimes differ from health service psychologists - when I joined (and later Chaired) the APA Board of Professional Affairs a decade ago. 

APA has begun the hard work of earning the trust of I-O (and general applied) psychologists that their interests will be appreciated and their work will be elevated (e.g., Office of Applied Psychology (OAP), Advisory Group for Applied Psychology (AGAP), Exploratory Committee on Applied Psychology (ECAP)). As APA President, I will rely on a personal relationship with SIOP, SCP, ECAP, the General Applied Psychologists and Psychology Caucus of Council (GAPP) and leader of the OAP to remain abreast of priorities of I-O and applied psychology. I will support governance changes that make the voices of I-O and GAP psychologists constant. It is the diversity of subfields of psychology that need to be represented in decision-making, not percentage of members in any given subfield.

That said, I also propose several strategies for engaging prospective APA members in I-O, particularly students and early career psychologists (ECPs). I believe the long-term strategy for ensuring the health of APA as an organization is a strong pipeline for membership and governance; like my platform with other issues, I believe that we need to begin early. Lifelong engagement in, and loyalty to, APA often begins in undergraduate and graduate school with inspiration from role models and mentors. We need to promote this. I was heartened to see that APA recently offered free membership for new graduates through the remainder of the calendar year; that is a smart strategy and one that can be encouraged for new graduates from I-O programs. (Please see the statement on my campaign website for further detail about my proposals in this area:  https://maryann4apa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Student-and-ECP-statement.pdf.)  Several of my priorities related to science support the priorities of I-O, particularly: cultivating a more diverse psychology workforce (see also www.maryann4apa.com/statements); exposing young people to the full range of subfields and careers in psychology; and advocating for funding for basic and applied psychological science, innovation, and technology. Following the pandemic year, APA is positioned to enhance public understanding of I-O psychology.

Question 2
I have a strong experience base working with federal funders, federal agencies, policymakers, private foundations, business groups, and other professional organizations. Having served as senior leadership in a professional science organization (Society for Research in Child Development, 2003-2009), I developed skills and relationships in advocacy for funding psychological science. This included serving on the Executive Committee of the Coalition of Social Science Associations (COSSA) and partnering with other scientific societies and professional associations (including APA) in policy coalitions (e.g., Coalition for National Science Funding https://cnsf.us/), in hill visits and in requests to Congress for science appropriations. I have led, planned, or participated in a number of Congressional briefings and attended numerous hearings about science. I have had occasion to collaborate with organizations that overlap the interests of I-O, such as the Society for Human Resource Management and the National Business Group on Health. Finally, as a member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Forum on Children’s Wellbeing, I have led workshops and co-authored papers on business investment in child, family, and community wellbeing.

This experience positions me to understand the ways in which APA can ensure that I-O priorities are included in its advocacy efforts. First, APA needs to nurture and expand its partnerships with other organizations (e.g., SHRM, Business Roundtable, others) that promote the work and interests of I-O psychology; policy coalitions are often the most effective vehicle for advocacy. Second, APA needs to seek opportunities to feature I-O psychology and psychologists in its meetings with, and written correspondence to, Congress and leaders of federal agencies. Third, I-O psychologists need to be nominated to serve on the APA Advocacy Coordinating Committee (ACC), for both immediate and longer impact. Likewise, it is critical for I-O psychologists to complete the survey regarding advocacy priorities so the data reflect their needs. And finally, it is important for I-O psychology to have a strong presence in the annual APA Science Advocacy Summit.

Question 3
I was not aware of the omission in the National Standards for High School Psychology. This runs counter to my priority for educating youth about the subfields of psychology. Having just completed a term on the Board of Educational Affairs (BEA), I have several recommendations within APA: seek a slate on BEA or a standing liaison to BEA for I-O; collaborate with the Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPPS), including presentations at their meetings and special projects that showcase I-O teaching resources (e.g., GIT SIOP, Department 12.com mini-course); add/update the free APA lesson plans for high school teachers regarding I-O for https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/topss/lessons. Outside APA, I recommend seeking opportunities to introduce youth to I-O psychology through collaborations with science museums and youth organizations, high school and college internship offerings, and career fairs.  I believe we are seeing surging demand for I-O psychologists and need to capture this momentum for both educating young people about it and attracting them to careers in the subfield. I closely follow the work of the APA Center for Workforce Studies and hope that their data collection can track progress.

Regarding more broad promotion of I-O psychology, I believe that some of the enhanced communications that APA is doing in response to the pandemic will surely be helpful (see below), as was having a recent President (Shulman). The aforementioned increase in demand for the I-O workforce will also garner attention in the near-term. Longer-term, sustainable promotion of I-O psychologists within APA will require a steady pipeline of members in all levels of governance, particularly ECP’s, and ongoing activities within the association that focus on I-O.  An example of the latter could include the equivalent of “professional practice guidelines” (which capture best practices for health service psychologists) that focus on best practices in I-O (and general applied) psychology. I believe that it will be helpful to monitor improvement by conceptualizing a way to measure it. 

Question 4
Never has I-O psychological science and practice been so prominent in public discourse, and never has the appetite or demand for this subfield been so obvious. There are several topics of critical interest to employees and employers alike, including: virtual and hybrid work and teams; virtual learning; artificial intelligence and emerging technologies (including employee surveillance features); leadership development; and employee wellbeing and burnout. There are several lessons learned from the events and impacts of the pandemic year, including: structural racism within organizations; systemic effects of leadership and organizational culture related to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (in terms of race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ability status); demand for flexibility regarding employees as caregivers, and the foundational roles of health care benefits, family leave and child care for employee morale and retention and organizational wellbeing; the fundamental importance of employee assistance programs, mental health benefits and other ways to support employee wellbeing; and the importance of corporate social responsibility for community health and wellbeing.  

All of these areas are opportunities for I-O psychology to be seen as essential for the wellbeing of individuals, organizations and society. APA has been featuring I-O in convention programming, webinars, podcasts, social media, and other platforms recently. I have learned a good deal from these personally, including being directed to the review article by Drs. Kniffin, Narayanan, van Vugt and colleagues in the American Psychologist early this year http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0000716 . This communications work will need to be sustained and expanded if APA is to nurture public understanding of the essential applications of I-O psychology.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your questions. I would be honored to earn your endorsement.
 

Diana L. Prescott, PhD
 

Question 1
One of the major pillars for our campaign is entitled “Applied.”  I am interested in assuring a bigger space for I-O and applied psychologists at APA.  Industrial-Organizational and Applied Psychology have answers for many of the major societal issues we have been facing.  Industrial-Organizational and Applied Psychology are critically important to global psychology, connecting us with our colleagues around the world.  Industrial-Organizational and Applied Psychology reveal to us and the world the breadth of what a psychologist can do with a degree in psychology.  Our systemic thinking and ability to facilitate organizational and larger systems change is critically important in our global society.  I believe APA should meet the professional needs of our valuable and talented industrial-organizational and applied psychologists.

I recently met with Dr. Stewart Cooper to discuss the Exploratory committee for Applied Psychology.  I regularly talk with psychologists engaged in I-0 and applied psychology, such as Dr. Sandy Shullman and Dr. Randy White.  As Recording Secretary for APA, I listened carefully to the concerns expressed to me by Dr. Jeff McHenry about the Division 42 proposed name change.  I have observed Dr. Shullman’s many contributions to APA as an organization in her leadership roles, including as APA President.  I learned firsthand about organizational change and behavior, while twice serving with her on the APA Board of Directors.  I am currently a Member at Large on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP).  This service has provided me with an opportunity for increased awareness of contemporary global issues in the field of Applied Psychology.

Question 2
As a Federal Advocacy Coordinator for APA and the Maine Psychological Association, I have trained for over 15 years to be able to effectively utilize my advocacy skills and experiences to address the priority of assuring applied psychology and I-O psychology is included in APA advocacy efforts and is a visible force within APA among external stakeholders.  The Advocacy Coordinating Committee outlines the APA Advocacy priorities relevant to applied psychology and I-O psychology.  Governance including the APA President should then work in tandem with APA staff to partner with external stakeholders, including business (which often holds the purse strings), state and federal funders, and non-profit organizations to meet these priorities.  Advisory groups to those involved with advocacy would include trusted colleagues from Division 14.

Question 3
The APA President should partner with the Exploratory Committee on Applied Psychology, the Director of Applied Psychology, the Education Directorate, SIOP and other identified stakeholders to promote I-O psychology to psychologists and psychology writ large.  It seems to me this current state of affairs described above does not correspond with the high priority APA is placing on advancing I-O and applied psychology.  In academics, it would be important to bridge psychology with business and health psychology to elevate the critical importance of the field of I-O and applied psychology. 

I have worked to bring visibility to the importance of health psychology in rural areas, which is an example of how I can work to elevate issues that need more prominent attention.  Perhaps it would be important to write a letter to advocate for the importance of I-O and applied psychology in the high school and college psychology curriculum.  The graduate training community will need to be engaged in this important conversation.  In our educational system, I believe we are doing all future psychologists and psychology majors a disservice, if our academic departments do not develop awareness of I-O psychology and its relevance to larger systems change. 

Question 4
I tweeted this article from Consumer Reports on this topic today:  https://www.consumerreports.org/coronavirus/life-lessons-from-the-pandemic/.  As this article notes, we have learned during the pandemic how to harness technology to work remotely.  For example, the APA staff was incredibly productive working remotely this past year.  Many workers report increased happiness from working remotely and eliminating the commute.  I found working with CEOs during the pandemic information from I-O and applied psychology was critically important to them in supporting their psychological health and that of their workers.  After our year of working together in a weekly Leading through COVID Leadership Dialogue, one of the CEOs with whom I have worked proposed adding a mental health day to their organization’s list of formal holidays. 

A systemic approach to problem identification and problem-solving is essential.  Systemic responses require effective collaboration, coordination, and communication among all the units of a system addressing crisis situations like the pandemic.  Industrial-organizational and applied psychology offer the evidence-based expertise for such systemic responses.
 

Beth N. Rom-Rymer, PhD
 

Question 1
I think broadly about our field of Psychology.  I am both a practicing clinician and a forensic psychologist, with a national consulting practice.  I have worked extensively with police departments and have done organizational consulting with Fortune 500 companies.  I also am very much involved in legislative advocacy and founded my own organization, the Illinois Association of Prescribing Psychologists in 2018.  In my early education and training, my mentors were social psychologists, I/O psychologists, clinicians, and social justice advocates.  I remain true to my wide array of training models and open to new and fresh perspectives.

At my undergraduate institution, Princeton University, I did an extensive literature review on conflict theory, for my junior thesis, highlighting the work of social psychologists, Sherif and Sherif (The Robbers Cave Experiment, Conflict and Cooperation, 1954). The title of my junior thesis is: “Psychology in the Service of Society.”

For my undergraduate senior thesis, I did a field observational study in the Princeton High School, in which there was a high level of student group conflict; for reference, I used the theoretical paradigms that I had reviewed in my junior year. The title of my senior thesis is: “The Process of a Social Intervention in the Princeton High School.”

For my Master’s thesis, I worked under the tutelage of Charles L Hulin, Ph.D. at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Dr. Hulin is credited with developing the I/O Psychology Program at Illinois; he is now professor emeritus. My Master’s thesis is entitled: “The Role that Gender and Administrative Position Constellations Play in Organizational Behavior.” For this research, I drove all around the state of Illinois, in both rural and urban areas, interviewing and observing administrative relationships in 8 community mental health centers.

For my Ph.D. Dissertation, I worked under Frederick H. Kanfer, Ph.D., on the clinical faculty at the University of Illinois, and created an intervention paradigm to assess whether elderly residents of four nursing homes in Champaign-Urbana, when given opportunities for greater control in their lives, would experience higher levels of self-esteem and suffer from fewer mild, acute illnesses, than the control group of elderly nursing home residents.My Dissertation is entitled: “Aging in a Community’s Nursing Homes:A Clinical and Systems Intervention.”

To fully ensure that I understand the priorities of I-O psychology (and applied psychology more generally), given the strongly clinical practice presence of APA, I will engage in an ongoing conversation with SIOP/Division 14, I-O psychologists, as well as with other applied psychologists, to hear your concerns and priorities.I give you my commitment that I will continue to be responsive to all that I am hearing from you.

Question 2
The APA Mission Statement declares: “Our mission is to promote the advancement, communication, and application of psychological science and knowledge to benefit society and improve lives.”

The application of our science is at the heart of what we do at APA!It is my understanding that our APA leaders are currently very much aligned with the goals of making the work and priorities of I/O psychologists more visible.I understand that Jeff McHenry is chairing the ECAP, Exploratory Committee on Applied Psychology.It is the work of this Committee to both articulate the interests and desired outcomes of I/O and other applied psychologists and operationalize how APA achieves these desired outcomes. My understanding is that the Committee will share its recommendations with APA leaders by the end of this year.As APA President, I certainly support the work of this Committee and will enthusiastically look forward to assisting in the implementation of the action plan, as will be articulated in the new year.

Certainly, the creation of the Office of Applied Psychology in the Science Directorate has been an innovation that furthers the interests of I/O and Applied Psychology.This Office will be led by a Senior Director and a search for that person is being held right now, since the first senior director had been uncomfortable with working remotely.I am excited about the creation of this new Office and will be closely advised by this Office.

Our Advocacy Office has been working closely with SIOP leadership and other applied psychologist leaders.It is through our Advocacy Office that SIOP and APA developed a partnership with the National Association of Manufacturers and with the National Association of Firefighters.APA recognizes, and I recognize, that applied psychologists are key to helping associations create and sustain healthy workplaces.

Recently, there was an HBO documentary that featured a Texas police department.It was pointed out, by I/O psychologists, that police procedures were falsely portrayed, with an overly negative perspective.APA and SIOP co-wrote a letter to HBO, citing the false portrayal.

At the same time, I/O psychologists are leading our current APA Task Force, that is creating science-based recommendations to combat the use of violence by law enforcement againstour citizens who are BIPOC/AAPI/LGBTQAI+.I/O psychologists are experts in personnel selection, training, leadership, and creating culture change.

ASPPB issues an e-passport that allows its user (in a PSYPACT state) to practice interjurisdictionally but requires a license.I/O psychologists are ineligible for the e-passport and have voiced concerns that they might be blocked from pursuing professional activities across state lines.APA is working with SIOP and ASPPB to change this landscape.I support the fostering of these alignments so that SIOPP’s voice can be heard and rules can change.

SIOP wants to engage with the NFL and wants to directly engage with Human Resource managers of large companies.APA is seeking to facilitate this.

When I began to fully explore the field of Psychology, as a young college student, it was very exciting to me to think about all of the ways in which psychologists could impact organizations, the criminal justice system, the medical system; the ways in which psychologists could create social change.Applied psychologists are engaged in creating change.That remains an exhilarating prospect for our field.

Question 3
As APA President, I will speak and write and urge the larger field of Psychology to broaden its parameters to always be inclusive of applied psychology.  It certainly appears that the Office of Applied Psychology will be focused on this issue and I will strongly support this!

Question 4
The Covid-19 pandemic illuminated fragilities and disparities in many of our systems, especially in our healthcare system.  What are the barriers to creating a system that delivers high quality healthcare to all?  The expertise of applied (social and I/O) psychologists is very much needed to help us create a more equitable healthcare system that protects and cares for the most vulnerable in our society.

The pandemic pushed all of us to work from home.As our society is contemplating a return to the workplace, companies are considering the lessons learned from the more frequent and the more effective utilization of technology and the lessons learned from working at home. Which jobs can be done effectively if folks work remotely?What individual differences need to be considered? How do folks who work from home maintain a healthy work/life balance? Applied psychologists can assess the relative successes and failures and will be able to be instrumental in advising companies on moving forward in some different modalities, always with an eye toward improving work efficiency and productivity, with an insistence on DEI, employee/employer relationships, employees’ physical health and mental health.

APA has supported the utilization of applied psychologists’ expertise in both the White House and the CDC. Applied psychologists are advising the White House on how to most effectively counter vaccine hesitancy and how to combat the dissemination of disinformation.A CDC grant is currently funding the development of an APA national “conversation” on disinformation that will be convened in the Fall 2021.

I wholeheartedly support continued reassessments of how we apply our psychological research to our environments. Covid has taught us many lessons.We at APA are learning and growing, with the help of all of our psychologists, including applied psychologists.I am delighted with the enormous potential, that lies before us, of what we, in our broad inclusiveness, can accomplish together!
 

Kirk J. Schneider, PhD

•   Shift psychology from a secondary to a national and international priority.  Do this by
   
•   Mobilizing psychologists to facilitate healing dialogues to address the alarming  political and racial divides in our country and within our profession.  See The Depolarizing of America: A Guidebook for Social Healing and demonstrations of a healing dialogue format I developed and continue to facilitate called the Experiential Democracy Dialogue. See also an application of this format to divisions within our profession.
   
•   Empowering a Relational Equity Task Force to further the work of APA’s current Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Framework, but with an emphasis on optimizing in-depth emotionally reparative mental healthcare and organizational functioning—particularly in underserved areas. The elaboration of medical, vocational and other off-sets would be key to this Task Force.
   
•   Calling for a summit of leaders in all our specialties to investigate how we can holistically address the major mental health crises of our time—violence, racism, healthcare, and political extremism—and communicate our findings to the public.
   
•   Calling for a Presidential Task Force to investigate the merit of urging the U.S. Congress to create an Office of Psychological Consultant(s) to the U.S.  This office would be comprised of distinguished experts in psychosocial approaches to mental healthcare and organizational functioning, and would augment the excellent work of our current APA advocacy efforts by 1) collating and streamlining the wealth of data from our specialties; 2) being available 24/7 from within government to advise leaders from the Executive branch to Congress to the U.S. public on the present crises we face;  and 3) utilizing the large presence of a government office to boost our media presence and public voice
   
•   For more information on Kirk Schneider’s 2021 campaign and background visit https://kirkjschneider.com and the APA President-Elect Candidacy portal.

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