News and Updates
Internship Spotlight: Grad Student Nathan Baker with Honeywell
Nathan Baker is a 4th year PhD student specializing in Organizational Psychology. Over the summer, Nathan began an internship with Honeywell to support the assessment team. Nathan recently shared about his interests, what he's learning through this internship, and how he sees Organizational Psychologists uniquely contributing to companies like Honeywell.
Interested in applying for our graduate program?
Come to our virtual information session on October 3rd at 7PM (ET) to find out more about our area of focus, how to apply, and to meet some of the faculty and students.
*Missed the session? Click here to watch a recording.
Internship Spotlight: Grad Student Connor Eichenauer with Ford Motor Company
Connor Eichenauer is a fifth-year PhD student specializing in Organizational Psychology. In 2023, Connor had the opportunity to intern at Ford Motor Company as a People Analytics intern. He recently shared about his experience and how it aligns with his research interests.
Dr. Neal Schmitt receives MSU College of Social Science Service Award
Congratulations to Dr. Neal Schmitt, University Distinguished Professor emeritus of Psychology and Management at MSU, and Dr. Kara Schmitt, who served as the Director of Testing for the State for 30 years, for receiving the 2023 College of Social Science Service Award. This award is presented to MSU College of Social Science supporters who have demonstrated service to the college or meritorious public service on a local, state, national, or international level.
Dr. Dorothy Carter receives Early Career Award from the Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research
Congratulations to Dr. Dorothy Carter, an associate professor of organizational psychology at Michigan State University, who received an Early Career Award from the Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research (INGRoup). This award goes to an early career researcher within 7 years of earning their PhD whose work to date has made distinguished contributions and demonstrated a clear commitment to advancing the interdisciplinary science of team behavior, dynamics, and outcomes.
Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Kuang on earning a Ph.D.! Dr. Kuang specialized in Organizational Psychology with a dissertation that explored how organizations can promote inclusion for new employees, particularly those with minoritized identities, during the socialization process.
Dr. Kuang is now working with Illumina as a Senior Business Data Analyst.
Congratulations to Dr. Jenna Van Fossen on earning her Ph.D.! Dr. Van Fossen specialized in Organizational Psychology with a dissertation titled "Implications of Need Satisfaction in Work and Home Roles for Work-Family Enrichment and Parenting Style Expression."
Dr. Van Fossen will begin as an assistant professor at Clemson this fall.
Congratulations to Dr. Daniel Griffin on earning his Ph.D.! Dr. Griffin specialized in Organizational Psychology with a dissertation that investigated the nature of task work coordination in teams.
Dr. Griffin received a tenure track position at the University of South Florida and will start this fall.
Two MSU Psychologists Elected as Fellows of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Michigan State Psychology is proud to announce that two of its esteemed faculty members in Organizational Psychology, Dr. Nathan Carter and Dr. Christopher Nye, have been elected as fellows of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP). This recognition is a testament to their outstanding contributions to Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
New study: MSU experiment explains mansplaining and its impact
Caitlin Briggs, an organizational psychology graduate student, and her colleagues sought to learn more about the true implications of mansplaining.
"What we found was that women largely had negative outcomes as a result of being mansplained to, whereas it didn’t affect men as much,” said Briggs, whose research was published in the Journal of Business and Psychology. “They [women volunteers] tended to register that their competence was being questioned more than men did, and to attribute this to a gender bias — so, maybe this person doesn’t think highly of me or doesn’t like me because of my gender.”
Congratulations to graduate students Jo Alanis and Connor Eichenauer on their recent awards from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Alanis received the James Outtz Grant for Student Research on Diversity for her research on immigrant employment experiences. Eichenauer received the Leslie W. Joyce and Paul W. Thayer Graduate Fellowship for his work as a scientist and practitioner.
Hey Siri, it's time to understand the stuttering community!
Voice-activated artificial intelligence (AI) has become prevalent in our daily lives—think Alexa, Siri, voice-to-text, and AI-scoring hiring tools. Its increasing use has left the stuttering community, a community of more than 70 million people worldwide, at a disadvantage. A multidisciplinary team from Michigan State University and Western Michigan University, including Dr. Ann Marie Ryan, has received a $750,000 grant through the National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator program to make voice-activated AI accessible and fair to people who stutter.
MSU Psychology helps Michigan State Police retain a more diverse workforce
In early October, a class of Organizational Psychology students pitched ideas to the Michigan State Police to better recruit and retain women and ethnic minorities as Michigan State Troopers. Their task was to persuade a panel within five minutes that their idea was the most useful and innovative.
Emily Gerkin, a fourth-year graduate student, took first place. Jo Alanis, a fourth-year graduate student, took second place.
P&G Business Challenge Invites Org Psych Ph.D. Student
For 18 years, Procter & Gamble (P&G) has invited organizational psychology graduate students to a weeklong challenge to address problems they face as a business. Michigan State University psychology graduate student, Nathan Baker, will be taking part this year.
Starting September 26th, Baker and nine other graduate students will meet at Procter & Gamble’s headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. They will be given a real business challenge on the first day, and as a team they will investigate the problem, apply their skills and education, and recommend a solution. Potential challenges could address employee selection, employee experience, diversity and inclusion, leadership development, change management, or any other area that Proctor & Gamble’s organizational psychologists face.
Read more about Nathan and this challenge here.
APA's Early Career Psychologist Achievement Award Names MSU Psychology Alumna
Danielle King has received the American Psychological Association (APA) Achievement Award for Early Career Psychologists. Dr. King, who earned a doctorate in organizational psychology at MSU, is an assistant professor at Rice University and studies resilience and identity.
“I'm excited to receive this award, especially as someone researching resilience and race. Historically in our field, those haven’t been the scholars who have been selected for these awards. So, I'm grateful and I think it's a positive step,” said Dr. King.
New Organizational Psychology Faculty: Dr. Dorothy Carter
The Michigan State University psychology department welcomes new faculty member Dorothy Carter, Ph.D. to their organizational psychology program. Dr. Carter, who earned her Ph.D. at Georgia Institute of Technology in 2016, specializes in leadership, teamwork, and the future of work.
“Whether it is collaborating with other people in virtual environments, interfacing with robots and other forms of artificial intelligence, or rapidly assembling into temporary and dynamic organizations to tackle huge challenges such as a global pandemic or a natural disaster, teaming effectively across space and time is a vital skill for succeeding in the workplaces of today and tomorrow,” said Dr. Carter.
Read more about Dr. Carter here.
New Organizational Psychology Faculty: Dr. Nathan Carter
The Michigan State University psychology department welcomes Nathan T. Carter, Ph.D. as a new professor in the organizational psychology program. Dr. Carter hails from the state of Kentucky and has spent the past 10 years of his career working at the University of Georgia. Dr. Carter’s research focuses on personality and behavior in the workplace.
“MSU’s organizational psychology program has always been an aspirational place for me,” said Dr. Carter. “I’m joining people who I’ve looked up to for a long time.”
Organizational Psychologist Kevin Hoff Joins Faculty
The Michigan State University psychology department welcomes new faculty member Kevin Hoff, Ph.D. to their organizational psychology program. Dr. Hoff, who earned his doctorate from the University of Illinois, comes most recently from the University of Houston. Dr. Hoff’s research specializes in careers, vocational interests, personality, and the future of work.
“The organizational psychology program at MSU has a rich history of doing great research, while also giving back and being a leader in the field,” said Dr. Hoff. “I’ve felt very welcomed already into the program and am excited to be here.”
Read more about Dr. Hoff here.
Quinetta Roberson has been appointed to MSU Federal Credit Union's Board of Directors. Congratulations, Dr. Roberson!
Read more about Dr. Roberson here.
Congratulations to Dr. Ann Marie Ryan, who received the 2022 Graduate School Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award!
The selection committee communicated the following in making their selection:
"Dr. Ryan has a sustained history of more than 25 years of excellence and leadership in improving graduate education and mentoring her own graduate students and those throughout the Michigan State University community. One of her students said that although Dr. Ryan is a world class scholar, she 'talks to her students as if she were learning from us.' Her past and current mentees feel 'a profound sense of kinship': when they meet, they 'often talk about being raised with her ideals of conducting rigorous scholarship, leading with integrity and ethics, and championing values of excellence and inclusion.'"