Succeeding in Academic Careers in Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Academic careers in industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology typically involve tenure-track, full-time faculty positions in colleges and universities. Because tenured academics have considerable job autonomy that allows them to pursue their own interests, the specific accomplishments that constitute a “successful” career will naturally vary among academics who have different goals. Furthermore, the relative importance of certain accomplishments to a given person may change over the span of his or her career due to shifting interests and priorities. Thus, the nature of success in academia is in many ways self-determined.

Despite these complexities, most I-O academics and their employers conceptualize success as demonstrated excellence in several important performance domains: teaching, advising and mentoring, scholarship, professional service, community service, and collaboration or consulting with industry. The relative importance ...