Organizational Psychology

Our highly respected MSc Organizational Psychology, accredited by the British Psychological Society, will develop your understanding of people and organisations within the context of both occupational psychology and organisational behaviour.

Why choose this course?

- We are proud of being the first department of occupational psychology established over 60 years ago in the UK. We also started the first online organisational psychology programme in 1981.

- As the home of organisational psychology in the UK, we have strong links to employers and organisations, with opportunities for additional training, networking, internships, career learning and research collaboration.

- This course is ideal if you are interested in pursuing a career in organisational psychology, want to develop in a role related to managing people, or simply want to pursue your intellectual passion in this area.

What you will learn

As the world of work continues to change, we equip you to ask, and answer, questions about the impact of work on individuals, organisations and society. You will begin by examining ideas about careers as the axis of the individual-organisation relationship, important at social and economic levels and relevant to you at any stage of your life. Simultaneously, you will learn about organisational research methods to prepare for carrying out your own project.

You will go on to examine learning, motivation, organisational change, leadership, selection and assessment, and wellbeing.

How you will learn

Teaching on the course is informed by cutting-edge research from the teaching team and from the field. The course is structured around flexibility, with recorded lectures and pre-set readings offering you choice about where and when you study and learn. These are accompanied by weekly, evening seminar sessions where you will have the chance to engage with teaching staff and peers discussing that week’s learning content. We also have termly weekend sessions on campus.

This course is part of our new Birkbeck Flexible Master’s UK, which gives you the choice of how you want to study - on campus, online or via flexible learning, which combines both.

Highlights

- You will be taught by leading academics and practitioners who have a wealth of experience in supporting and encouraging students who are studying in the evening and online. You will have access to an extensive range of electronic resources for each module.

- This degree provides the materials to enhance or develop your career in organisational psychology, management, human resources, training and development or consultancy.

Careers and employability

On successfully graduating from this MSc Organizational Psychology, you will have gained an array of important transferable skills, including:

- a broad knowledge base in the field of organisational psychology

- critical thinking skills in order to evaluate theory and assess its application to organisational contexts

- sound research skills to develop your own independent investigations and to critically evaluate existing research investigations and findings

- the ability to critically assess and challenge practices and procedures in organisational psychology

- an awareness of ethical issues in research and practice

- synthesising and applying academic knowledge to an applied work situation and issues

- translating academic understanding to a lay audience.

Our MSc Organizational Psychology is industry-relevant, so graduates can pursue career paths in psychology, human resources and management. Possible professions may include:

- psychometric developer/assessor

- recruitment and selection associate/consultant

- learning and development advisor

- business or organisational psychologist

- management consultant

- human resources officer

- change manager/consultant

- health and safety/occupational health and safety officer

- research associate

- talent manager.