by Eric D. Lehman, Associate Professor, Communications Specialist
University of Bridgeport’s growing Psychology program has added a minor in Industrial Organizational Psychology to its impressive list of options for students.
The Behavioral Science Division within the College of Science and Society prepares students for careers as helping professionals, as well as other jobs that require energetic relational skills. Options include a B.S. in Psychology online, an on-campus option, as well as an accelerated format via evening, weekend, and online courses. There is also an interdisciplinary double major option with Human Services. Students who pursue their psychology degree at UB learn how humans think and behave, and how to describe, explain, predict, and influence human behavior and mental processes.
The program also includes a Psychology Minor that students in other disciplines can pursue in addition to their major. However, the newly announced minor in Industrial Organizational Psychology enables students within and without the major to better prepare and specialize at the undergraduate level for a career that blends psychology theory and business application. It combines courses in Psychology such as Research Methods and Industrial Organizational, with Business classes in Management and Marketing.
“This minor will help students bridge psychology with applications in the business world and professional settings, as well as graduate programs throughout Connecticut and beyond,” says Dr. David Oberleitner, Associate Professor and Director of the Division of Behavioral Sciences. “It will help prepare them for one of the fastest growing career paths today in organizational psychology.” Dr. Elizabeth Fles, Assistant Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department adds, “This minor provides yet another opportunity for our students to pursue psychology training in a growing career path with demonstrated return on investment for students entering the workforce.”
Forbes listed Organizational Psychology as one of the biggest growth areas in the next decade and UB’s students now have more resources to enter this important field.
Find out more about the University of Bridgeport’s Psychology program here.
Eric D. Lehman is the director of publications and associate professor of English at University of Bridgeport. He is the author or editor of 22 books, including “New England Nature, A History of Connecticut Food,” and “Bridgeport: Tales from the Park City.” His biography of Charles Stratton, “Becoming Tom Thumb,” won the Henry Russell Hitchcock Award from the Victorian Society of America and was chosen as one of the American Library Association’s outstanding university press books of the year. His novella “Shadows of Paris” and novel “9 Lupine Road” were finalists for the Connecticut Book Award. He has been consulted on diverse subjects and quoted by The Atlantic Monthly, USA Today, the BBC, the History Channel, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, and The Wall Street Journal.