Psychology - Work & Organisational Psychology / Behaviour - Online

Course Outline
Psychology applied to the domain of work is a fascinating area offering many employment opportunities. From improving recruitment decisions to understanding how technology affects our work performance and experience, from coaching individuals to developing organisational capacity, psychology can be applied to enhancing peoples' well-being and performance at work and contributing to organisational effectiveness. This programme, delivered partly online, will be of interest to graduates wishing to pursue careers as work and organisational psychologists, human resource managers, trainers, managers, consultants, or researchers

By engaging with the programme, you will develop a range of practical skills in conducting research, critical thinking and analysis, and a range of competencies relevant to professional work psychologists such as selection and assessment, negotiation, consulting etc. The aim is to equip graduates of this programme with the building blocks to operate as effective and reflective professionals.

The MA in Work and Organisational Psychology/Behaviour is designed to advance your knowledge of the discipline of psychology applied in work settings. To achieve this the course content emphasises the application of high-quality psychological research to real-world concerns and issues in the workplace.

Why Choose This Course
PROGRAMME FLEXIBILITY
The blended nature of this programme (delivered partly online and partly on campus) offers students flexible access to pursue a Masters qualification. In our experience, this combination supports all those students who are already in employment or are sponsored by their employer to attend this programme.

SCHOOL EXPERTISE
This Masters is underpinned by three key themes that differentiate it from other programmes in Ireland. These themes are based on our school's particular areas of expertise and address contemporary workplace concerns and challenges. Drawing on our digital futures research team we address themes around technology mediated work and organisations; from our resilience and transition team we address themes of well-being, resilience and diversity at work; and finally from our individual differences experts we address themes of recognising and assessing individual abilities and potential in the workplace.

KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE: YOUR EXPERIENCE COUNTS!
We welcome students from all walks of life. As a result, we tend to have a good mix of students with and without human resource/training/coaching/consulting experience in our cohorts. This combination usually supports knowledge exchange (e.g., research methods know-how in exchange for practical insights).

PRACTICE-ORIENTED DISSERTATIONS TO GET A START ON YOUR FUTURE CAREER
Dissertation supervision is managed by a number of faculty associated with this MA programme, but also other MA programmes in our Schools. This ensures that our students have access, via our faculty, to different areas of expertise and knowledge of different professional domains (e.g., mental health/healthcare, coaching, and guidance counselling).

Students are positively encouraged to select a dissertation topic that may pave the way for their envisioned future career goal. When students are already in employment, the option to study a topic close to their employers' interest is supported as long as the dissertation requirements are met. Students are encouraged to seek out potential dissertation advisors within one month of starting the programme to facilitate a well-coordinated and timely delivery of the dissertation in the first (for part-timers second) year.

PART 1 (60 credits in total)
Core Modules (50 credits)
AP6016 Research Methods and Data Analysis (10 credits)
AP6169 Learning, Well-Being and Participation at Work (10 credits)
AP6166 Personnel Selection and Assessment (10 credits)
AP6170 Professional Skills (5 credits)
MG6020 Changing, Leading and Developing Organisations (5 credits)
AP6168 Designing in Work and Workplaces (10 credits)

Elective Modules (choice of modules below to the value of 10 credits)
AP6159 Positive Organisational Psychology (5 credits) - subject to approval
AP6160 Private Practice (5 credits)
AP6161 Coaching Skills (5 credits)
AP6176 Cognitive Enhancement (5 credits)

PART 2 (30 credits)
AP6171 Research Dissertation in Applied Psychology (Work and Organisational Psychology)

Part-time (90 credits in total)
The part-time MA in Work and Organisational Psychology/Behaviour runs over two calendar years (24 months). Students take taught modules to the value of 60 credits in Part One (running across Semesters One and Two of Year One and Semester One of Year Two). In Part Two students also undertake a research dissertation (30 credits), which is submitted at the end of the summer in Year Two.

Modules
Further details on the modules listed above can be found in our book of modules. Any modules listed above are indicative of the current set of modules for this course but are subject to change from year to year.

University Calendar
You can find the full academic content for the current year of any given course in our University Calendar.

Requirements
- A primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8) in Psychology.

- Satisfy the eligibility requirements for graduate membership of the Psychological Society of Ireland or the British Psychological Society. This can be demonstrated by:

Evidence that your undergraduate degree is accredited by the PSI or BPS (see bps.org.uk) or

Evidence from the BPS that they consider your undergraduate degree to be equivalent to a PSI/BPS accredited degree, in terms of granting you eligibility for graduate membership of the society.

- A second class honours grade one degree is required. Consideration under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) will be given to second class honours grade two (level 8 degree) candidates, where for example an applicant has relevant work experience or has performed impressively in another Master's degree acceptable to the School selection committee. In such cases, the applicant should set out the grounds upon which they wish to be considered in the supplementary statement and/or interview.

MA in Work and Organisational Behaviour
- An undergraduate degree that includes subjects related to the area (e.g. business, psychology, human resource management, organisational behaviour, sociology of work). Applicants with a Second Class Honours Grade I in a primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8)in any discipline and a minimum of three years' relevant work experience will also be considered.

- A Second Class Honours Grade I in a primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8) degree is required. Consideration will be given to Second Class Honours Grade II in a primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8) candidates, where for example an applicant has relevant work experience or has performed impressively in another Master's degree acceptable to the School selection committee. In such cases, the applicant should set out the grounds upon which they wish to be considered in the supplementary statement and/or interview.

Eligible candidates may be interviewed.

Entry criteria
The criteria for selection will include:
- Academic performance.

- Demonstrated interest in, or work experience relevant to, work psychology.

Application process
Application must be made online at the UCC application portal and includes a 500-word personal statement, giving reasons for applying to the course including a statement about career objectives.

Statements will be evaluated on the basis of:
- Demonstrating some awareness of work and organisational psychology.

- Showing evidence of how this master fits with careers interests and objectives.

Shortlisted candidates may also be interviewed.

English Language Requirements
Applicants that are non-native speakers of the English language must meet the university approved English language requirements.

For applicants with qualifications completed outside of Ireland
Applicants must meet the required entry academic grade, equivalent to Irish requirements, please find our grades comparison by country here.

International/non-EU applicants
For full details of the non-EU application procedure please visit our how to apply pages for international students. In UCC, we use the term programme and course interchangeably to describe what a person has registered to study in UCC and its constituent colleges, schools, and departments.

Not all courses are open to international/non-EU applicants, please check the fact file above.

For more information please contact the International Office.

How Do I Apply

1. Choose Course
Firstly choose your course. Applicants can apply for up to two courses under one application. Details of taught courses are available on our online prospectus.

2. Apply Online
Once you have chosen your course you can apply online at the online application portal. Applicants will need to apply before the course closing date. There is a non-refundable €50 application fee for all courses apart from the Education - Professional Master of Education - (Secondary School/Post-Primary Teacher Training) which has a €100 application fee.

Applicants for the Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health Nursing must apply on the PAC website when the programme opens for applications.

3. Gather Supporting Documents
Scanned copies of the following documents will need to be uploaded to the online application portal in support of your application. Applicants may need to produce the original documents if you are accepted onto a course and register at UCC.

- Original qualification documents listed on your application including transcripts of results from institutions other than UCC

- Any supplementary items requested for your course.

Please log into the online application portal for more details.

4. Application processing timeline
Our online application portal opens for applications for most courses in early November of each year. Check specific course details.

5. Rounds
For courses that are in the rounds system (Irish and EU applicants), please check the rounds closing dates below.

Questions on how to apply?
Please use our web enquiry form to contact us.

Additional Requirments (All Applicants)
Course Codes:

MA in Work and Organisational Psychology MAWOP
MA in Work and Organisational Behaviour MAWOB

Please note you will be required to provide additional information as part of the online application process for this programme. This will include the following questions:

- You may enter the details of professional or voluntary positions held. We strongly encourage you to complete this section with all relevant work experiences that will support your application.

- In addition to your previously declared qualifications, please outline any additional academic courses, self-learning and professional training relevant to this programme.

- Please describe your motivation and readiness for this programme. All Applicants will be asked to complete a statement as part of the online application process for this programme. This 500-word statement should outline

a) the applicant's reasons for applying to the course at UCC, and;

b) a statement about how this programme fits with the applicant's career objectives. Where appropriate applicants may also wish to specify how their previous degree course and work experience will contribute to their performance on this MA programme.

Applicants for the MA in Work and Organisational Psychology option will also be required to show evidence that their qualifications in Psychology satisfy the eligibility requirements for graduate membership of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) or the British Psychological Society (BPS).
Please note the following:

Eligible candidates may be interviewed at the selection stage.
Please note that if your application is successful, deferrals are not permitted on this programme
Deposit
Please note that successful EU applicants will be required to pay a non-refundable deposit of €500 on acceptance of their place.

Deferrals
Deferrals are not permitted on this programme

The closing date for non-EU applications is 15 June.

Assessment
There are a mix of assessments for this programme including on-line assessments, written reports and essays, examinations and a research dissertation.

1 year full-time, 2 years part-time.

Additional Teaching Mode Information
Two entry routes: i) For psychology graduates - Masters in Work and Organisational Psychology ii) For non-psychology graduates - Masters in Work and Organisational Behaviour.

Blended learning (delivered partly online and partly on campus).

Start Date: 4 September 2020

Skills and Careers Information
CAREER SUCCESS OF ALUMNI
Graduates of this programme can look forward to a wide range of career options across both the public and private sectors applying psychology at work. Graduates may enter careers as work and organisational psychologists, or may consider careers in human resource management, human resource development, consultancy, organizational research or academic/research careers.

To date, a number of our alumni have been recruited nationally and internationally as an outcome of completing this MA in Work and Organisational Psychology/Behaviour. For alumni who were already in employment, a number of our former students were subsequently promoted to new roles. Examples of areas where alumni ended up working include: Human Resources positions, organisers/facilitators of Organisational Development and Change / Community Development initiatives, occupational psychologists in training, consultants (e.g., recruitment and selection).