Master of Commerce in Industrial Psychology

Purpose

To prepare selected students for eventual statutory registration as Psychologist (Industrial Psychology) with the Professional Board of Psychology of the Health Professions Council of South Africa and to prepare them for registration in an additional focus area as Registered Counsellor (Psychometrics and/or Human Resources and/or Employee Relations Wellbeing).

The Bachelor of Commerce (Psychology), Honours Bachelor of Commerce (Psychology) and Master of Commerce (Psychology) programmes will provide the necessary foundation training for statutory registration as Psychologist (Industrial Psychology). The Bachelor of Commerce (Psychology), Honours Bachelor of Commerce (Psychology)and Master of Commerce (Psychology) programmes will run parallel to the Bachelor of Commerce (Human Resource Management), Honours Bachelor of Commerce (Human Resource Management) and Master of Commerce (Human Resource Management) programmes, aimed at non-statutory registration with the SA Board of Personnel Practice (SABPP).

In providing the necessary ground training for statutory registration as Psychologist (Industrial Psychology), the Master of Commerce (Psychology) programme will place a significantly stronger emphasis on Psychology than the Master of Commerce (Human Resource Management) programme. The Master of Commerce (Psychology) programme will equip students with the requisite research competencies to succeed on the Doctorate level.

Rationale

The prerequisites for statutory registration as Psychologist (Industrial Psychology) with the Professional Board of Psychology of the Health Professions Council of South Africa changed to such an extent in 2004 that the current Master of Commerce (Human Resource Management) programme no longer will provide training for registration acceptable to the Board due to the insufficient exposure to basic and applied Psychology offered by the existing programme. The revised prerequisites set by the Professional Board for Psychology for future registration as Industrial Psychologist require the development of managerial, business and financial competencies in conjunction with the development of specific psychological competencies.

The current programmes offered by the Department largely satisfy the first requirement but fail to comply with the expectations of the Board in terms of the latter requirement. Hence the need for a programme which still provides the aspirant Industrial Psychologist with an in-depth exposure to a spectrum of important business and financial topics but combines that with a more comprehensive coverage of an array of relevant psychological themes.

The proposed Master of Commerce (Psychology), following on the Bachelor of Commerce (Psychology) and Honours Bachelor of Commerce (Psychology), will allow for eventual registration as Industrial Psychologist with the HPCSA.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Access may be gained to the qualification through the recognition of prior learning (RPL).

Entry Requirements

"Honours Degree in the related field or equivalent qualification, Level 8.

1. Paper and pencil simulations will be used to assess outcomes 1-9. These simulations will place the student in a realistic situation to which he/she is required to provide a professional and responsible response. Since the quality/professionalism of the responses will in part depend on the extent to which the student has critically and creatively given due consideration to all pertinent aspects of the problem, cross-field outcome (a) will be incorporated in the aforementioned exit level outcomes.
2. Group assignments will be an integral part of the assessment strategy at the postgraduate level with regards to all exit level outcomes. The quality of the group's response to the simulated scenario will in part depend on the ability of the group to organise their activities. The marks awarded to the completed assignment will thus in part (indirectly) reflect the competence of the group in "working with others as a member of a team, group, organisation, community".
3. Will only be assessed indirectly through formal evaluations in as far as "organising and managing oneself and one's activities responsibly and effectively" is a prerequisite for the achievement of outcomes 1-9 given the nature of the work load.
4. To achieve outcomes 1-9 will require of students to process large volumes of information. The extent to which they will perform well in evaluation will firstly depend on their ability to separate wheat from chuff, and secondly to find meaningful structure in the learning material. Simulations will at times confront students with a scenario which requires the "critical evaluation of information" to be able to respond appropriately. The program, furthermore, will require of students to write seminars on contemporary topics within the various modules which will require a competence in "collecting, analysing, organising and critically evaluating information".
5. Paper and pencil simulations will be used to assess outcomes 1 - 9. These simulations will place the student in a realistic situation to which he/she is required to provide a professional and responsible response to a client. The manner in which the response is structured and articulated will be evaluated, in conjunction with its substantive content. The evaluation of outcome 3 will require the development of an argument, which convinces that the research objectives are worth pursuing, which convinces that the theoretical/structural model provides a persuasive answer to the research initiating question and which convinces that the methodology of the research project will in fact serve the epistemological ideal of science. This argument will also have to explicitly utilise psychometric indices and statistical measures. In addition, competence in "communicating effectively using visual, mathematical and/or language skills in the modes of oral persuasion" will be assessed via formal presentations made by students.
6. The ethical and responsible use of behavioural research will be evaluated via paper and pencil simulations used to assess outcome 3. The student's ability to analyse ethical dilemmas typically facing industrial psychologists in research and practice [including consulting], and to respond with appropriate professionalism, will be appraised via paper and pencil simulations used to assess outcomes 2 and 4.
7. Paper and pencil simulations will be used to assess outcomes 1-9. These simulations will place the student in a realistic situation to which he/she is required to provide a professional and responsible response to a client. In as far as these real life problems/request are multi-faceted and to the extent that problems are shaped by numerous inter-related influences, the quality of the response will depend on the extent to which the student understands that numerous inter-related aspects need to be considered simultaneously.
8. The programme will not formally and directly evaluate the extent to which it contributed to the "full personal development of each learner and the social and economic development of society at large, by making it the underlying intention of any programme of learning to make an individual aware of the importance of reflecting on and exploring a variety of strategies to learn more effectively". Nonetheless by continuously stressing the instrumentality of true understanding in contrast to mere mechanical memorisation in achieving the practical objectives of the Industrial Psychologist and by demonstrating this in paper and pencil simulations, students should become "aware of the importance of reflecting on and exploring a variety of strategies to learn more effectively".
9. The programme will not formally evaluate the extent to which it contributed to the "full personal development of each learner and the social and economic development of society at large, by making it the underlying intention of any programme of learning to make an individual aware of the importance of participating as responsible citizens in the life of local, national and global communities" via the attainment of the aforementioned outcomes. Nonetheless, to the extent that the exit level outcomes will be attained, the student will be empowered to participate as a responsible citizen in the life of local, national and global communities.
10. Paper and pencil simulations will be used to assess outcome 4. These simulations will place the student in a realistic situation to which he/she is required to provide a professional and responsible response to a client. An appropriate response to some of these vignettes will require "being culturally sensitive across a range of social contexts".
11. The programme will not formally evaluate the extent to which it contributed to the student's competence in "exploring education and career opportunities". The various possible employment roles the Industrial Psychologist and the Registered Counsellor could play will, however, be explicated during lectures and via the scenarios sketched in paper and pencil simulations used to assess the aforementioned exit level outcomes.
12. The programme will not formally evaluate the extent to which it contributed to the student's competence in "developing entrepreneurial opportunities" via the attainment of the aforementioned outcomes. The programme will, however, develop competencies, which could be marketed entrepreneurially.

The Outcomes of the Programme on Exit-Level

1. The ability to analyse and multi-paradigmatically explain performance phenomena in terms of advanced personality theory.

Modules in the programme are specifically directed at achieving this outcome

• Personality in the Workplace.

1. The ability to analyse ethical choices/dilemmas typically confronting the industrial psychologist in his role as an applied scientist and as a scientific practitioner.

Modules in the programme are specifically directed at achieving this outcome

• Human Resource Management Consultation and Professional Ethics.

1. The ability to plan, design and execute/conduct descriptive, explanatory and evaluative research within one of the various meta-theoretical positions on scientific inquiry.

Modules in the programme are specifically directed at achieving this outcome

• Master's Thesis.

1. The ability to select/define an appropriate consultant-client relationship the ability to negotiate and define a consulting project and the ability to successfully conclude the project.

Modules in the programme are specifically directed at achieving this outcome

• Human Resource Management Consultation and Professional Ethics.

1. The ability to diagnose organisational/collective pathology in terms of leadership, culture and organisational design factors and propose appropriate remedial interventions. The ability to [proactively] create sustainable competitive advantage through strategic leadership development, organisational design, organisation diagnosis and organisational development and change.

Modules in the programme are specifically directed at achieving this outcome

• Organisational Diagnoses, Development, and Change.
• Strategic Organisational Design and Culture.

1. Competent in the use of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Lisrel in the basic and intermediate statistical analysis of data.

Modules in the programme are specifically directed at achieving this outcome

• Statistical Analysis and Computer Utilisation.

1. The ability to diagnose symptoms of individual performance pathology, offer advanced supportive counselling and psychotherapy and/or refer to an appropriate health care professional.

Modules in the programme are specifically directed at achieving this outcome

• Psychotherapy in the Workplace.

1. The ability to analyse and assess strategic and ethical leadership, to identify developmental areas and to propose appropriate leadership development interventions. The ability to analyse the impact of leadership on unit performance and diagnose unit performance deficiencies in terms of leadership competencies, competency potential and relevant intervening and/or moderating variables.

Modules in the programme are specifically directed at achieving this outcome

• Strategic and Ethical Leadership.

1. The ability to psychologically understand, analyse and explain employee wellness at work and to design, implement and evaluate primary, secondary and tertiary prevention interventions aimed at promoting well-being with specific reference to HIV/Aids.

Modules in the programme are specifically directed at achieving this outcome

• Occupational Health and Well-being.

Critical Cross-Field Outcomes

• "Identifying and solving problems in which responses display that responsible decisions using critical and creative thinking have been made".
• "Working with others as a member of a team, group, organisation, community".
• "Organising and managing oneself and one's activities responsibly and effectively".
• "Collecting, analysing, organising and critically evaluating information".
• "Communicating effectively using visual, mathematical and/or language skills in the modes of oral and/or written persuasion".
• "Using science and technology effectively and critically, showing responsibility towards the environment and health of others".
• "Demonstrating an understanding of the world as a set of related systems by recognising that problem-solving contexts do not exist in isolation".
• "Contributing to the full personal development of each learner and the social and economic development of society at large, by making it the underlying intention of any programme of learning to make an individual aware of the importance of reflecting on and exploring a variety of strategies to learn more effectively".
• "Participating as responsible citizens in the life of local, national and global communities".
• "Being culturally and aesthetically sensitive across a range of social contexts".
• "Exploring education and career opportunities".
• "Developing entrepreneurial opportunities".

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit-Level Outcomes 1

• Can construct advanced explanations in terms of personality from various psychological paradigms when presented with specific examples of outstanding or unsatisfactory work performance.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit-Level Outcomes 2

• Can ethically analyse and respond appropriately when confronted with potential ethical dilemmas in the context of behavioural research, assessment, counselling and human resource management.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit-Level Outcomes3

• Can compile a comprehensive masters research proposal when presented with a first or second-order research initiating question, containing a reasoned argument to justify the proposed research, a systematic reasoned theoretical argument culminating in a theoretical model, substantive research hypotheses, a description and evaluation of the research design, the statistical hypotheses, the statistical analysis techniques, a description and evaluation of the sampling procedure, a description and evaluation of the measuring instruments, expected statistical results and their interpretation. Can subsequently successfully execute the proposal and compile a comprehensive masters research thesis in accordance with American Psychological Association(APA) publication guidelines.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit-Level Outcomes 4

• Can successfully negotiate and define a consulting project when provided with a simulated brief from a client and compile a comprehensive project proposal.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit-Level Outcomes 5

• Can conduct simulated organization diagnosis when presented with a case study and propose development and change strategies and appropriate implementation plans to create sustainable competitive advantage and alleviate organisational/collective performance pathology.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit-Level Outcomes 6

• Can identify the appropriate statistical hypotheses and statistical analysis technique to examine a given substantive research hypothesis via a specific research design. Can perform the appropriate statistical analysis on Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) or Lisrel when provided with data and interpret the results.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit-Level Outcomes 7

• Can diagnose symptoms of individual performance pathology, offer advanced supportive counselling and psychotherapy and/or refer to an appropriate health care professional when presented with a specific case of pathological work performance.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit-Level Outcomes 8

• Can suggest appropriate leadership development interventions when provided with a leadership profile. Can propose diagnostic hypotheses in terms of leadership competencies, competency potential and relevant intervening and/or moderating variables, when presented with a case study on unit malfunction.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit-Level Outcomes 9

• Can design an employee wellness programme with a specific focus on HIV/Aids and suggest implementation and evaluation plans when given a company case study.

Integrated Assessment

A variety of evaluation modes [written tests, simulations, case studies, oral examinations, presentations, research and assessment reports] will be used. An independent Board examination will have to be passed at the end of the internship.