1.1 OVERVIEW
The Master of Industrial Psychology programme aims to provide students with a well-rounded education with advanced and practical knowledge in Industrial Psychology. The qualification is designed to equip students with the necessary professional skills required by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) to register as an Industrial Psychologist. Graduating with a Master of Industrial Psychology provides graduates with a further opportunity to enter into an internship programme and, after that , write the board examination to register as Industrial Psychologists with the HPCSA.
1.2 ADMISSION
To qualify for consideration of admission to the selection process for this Master’s programme, a prospective student should adhere to the following prerequisites:
- A student must have obtained a relevant honours degree in Industrial Psychology with an average of at least 65%
- A mark of 65% for the honours research report or mini-dissertation.
Please note that this alone does not guarantee selection into the programme.
On honours level you need to have successfully completed modules/subjects that have adequately addressed the following Industrial Psychology subfields:
- Organisational Psychology
- Human Resource Management
- Career Psychology
- Psychological Evaluation and Measurement
- Research Methodology for Industrial Psychology
- Research Methodology (Statistics) for Industrial Psychology
- Labour Relations
Please note, if your honours qualification does not comply with the above requirements, your application will not be considered.
Candidates may be subject to any other selection processes or tools as ascribed by the department. Applicants may be required to submit a research proposal if requested to do so.
Admission to this Master’s programme is subject to approval by the departmental selection panel.
Applicants whose previous degrees were obtained from a foreign university or from universities outside of South Africa must have their qualifications evaluated by South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) prior to submitting an application to the University.
1.3 APPLICATION DUE DATE
Applications open on 1 April and closes 30 September each year
Application open on 1 April and closes 31 August each year (International Students)
Applicants are encouraged to apply well in advance. NO LATE APPLICATIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED.
1.4 WHERE DO I APPLY?
In order for your application to be considered complete, you need to complete Step 1 below with all the required supporting documents.
STEP 1
Applicants need to apply online via the University of Free State online application system for an official application. Click on this link: https://apply.ufs.ac.za/Application/Start for the online application.
1. Certified ID/Passport Copy
2. Certified Degree Certificate/s
3. Full academic record/s
1.5 PROGRAMME OUTCOMES
After completing this programme graduates will be able to:
- Appraise the career counselling process, content and skills to facilitate career decision making in the workplace
- Develop the competence needed by change agents to enhance the performance of individuals, groups and organisations
- Appraise and develop various strategies and models relating to Strategic Human Resource Management, Talent Management, Employee Employment and retention within the domain of personnel psychology
- Design a competency-based assessment process for development and/or selections purposes in the workplace
- Evaluate and manage well-being in the workplace on individual and organizational levels
- Evaluate and manage the ethics of professional behaviour within the work context
- Justify an appropriate research design, including data collection and analysis techniques, to solve a research problem
- Execute the research process and produce a comprehensive mini-dissertation/scientific publishable articles
After completing the Masters of Industrial Psychology course work, a twelve-month internship should be completed. This internship programme consists of various Industrial Psychological activities to be carried out within a suitable organisation. These activities have to be set out in an accredited internship programme. It is your responsibility to arrange for an organisation that offers internships and for a registered Industrial Psychologist to act as your supervisor. After that, the student will complete a written Board exam with the HPCSA, and the student will be able to register as an Industrial Psychologist with the HPCSA. Please note it is the student's responsibility to inquire and submit applications to the HPCSA.
1.6 MODE OF DELIVERY
The programme will be delivered through a contact mode of provision, primarily through at least six-block contact sessions for the year consisting of one week for each block (+- 30 workdays). The above programme is only offered at the Bloemfontein campus.
1.7 MODE OF STUDY
Full-time students will have one year to complete their studies.
Part-time students who intend to complete their programme over two years should note that it is compulsory to register for Advanced Research Methodology, and the Mini-Dissertation in Industrial Psychology during their first year of study.
1.8 TIMEFRAME
The Masters of Industrial Psychology programme entails course work in the first year, and in the second year of study, students need to complete their mini-dissertation and internship.
Programme starts: Orientation session (February); Contact sessions (March)
1.9 CONTACT DETAILS
For queries on the Masters of Industrial Psychology programme contact the Masters Coordinator on the following:
Chené Ward
E: MastersIP@ufs.ac.za
T: +27 51 401 9204
1.10 PROFESSIONAL BODIES
Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA)
The Master of Industrial Psychology at the University of Free State is recognised by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) as contributing to registration as an Industrial Psychologist. Registration with the HPCSA as an Industrial Psychologist (Independent Practice) is possible after the completion of the following:
Masters of Industrial Psychology12-month board-approved internshipSuccessful board examination
Please note it is the student's responsibility to inquire and submit applications to the HPCSA. For more information regarding industrial psychology, internships, go to the HPCSA official website: https://www.hpcsa.co.za/
Society for Industrial & Organisational Psychology (SIOPSA)
SIOPSA is a member-based, non-profit organisation established to enhance the Industrial and Organisational Psychology profession in South Africa. As human behaviour specialists in a workplace, SIOPSA translates the scientific body of industrial and organisational (IO) psychology knowledge into fit-for-purpose practices to promote business objectives, and help employees flourish. To this end, SIOPSA exists to serve its members and strives to create conditions in which IO psychologists will be able to deliver efficient and effective services to the benefit of all in South Africa.
Membership is available to industrial psychology students and interns. Please note it is the responsibility of the student to enquire and submit applications to SIOPSA. For more information regarding this go to the SIOPSA website: https://www.siopsa.org.za/
South African Board for People Practices (SABPP)
This is the body for HR professionals and practitioners in South Africa. The SABPP’s role is to professionalise the HR function to ensure that HR becomes an increasingly recognised and respected profession. The Board is an accredited ETQA (Education and Training Quality Assurance body) under the NQF Act and Skills Development Act. Therefore, it is a quality assurance body for HR learning provision. In addition, the SABPP accredits the HR academic programs of universities. For more information regarding this go to the SABPP website: https://www.sabpp.co.za/
South African Career Development Association (SACDA)
Career development practitioners and all those involved in the field of career development, are taking a stand to ensure ethics, access, quality and growth in the field of career development. Membership is available to industrial psychology students and interns. Please note it is the responsibility of the student to enquire and submit applications to SACDA. For more information on SACDA go to their website: https://www.sacda.org.za/
1.11 CURRICULUM OF THE PROGRAMME
Students will have a minimum of one year to complete the modules if they study full-time. However, those students studying part-time will have two years to complete the degree. It is important to note that students must start with all the course work during their first year of study.
The following modules will help to develop your knowledge and enable you to apply your knowledge in practical ways in the workplace:
First academic yearAdvanced Career Psychology (Semester 1)The module will focus on theoretical aspects to be considered during a career counselling process and the practical application of the theory to the career counselling process in terms of conducting interviews, applying and interpreting career tests and giving feedback in the form of oral and written reports to the client.
Advanced Assessment (Semester 1)This module will expose students to both the legal and practical aspects of assessment. Students will develop competency profiles for selection and development. This will serve as input to decide on the most appropriate method of assessment that is linked to the inherent requirements of the job. Lastly, students should be able to write an integrated report based on the findings of the competency assessments.
Employee Well-being (Semester 1)Specific skills enhance the optimal well-being of employees in the organisation, which will have an impact on organisational productivity and efficiency. This includes the identification of psychopathology, general counselling, facilitation and trauma counselling. Lastly, students should be able to develop, sell and execute a well-being model and intervention plan to manage and improve well-being on an individual, group and organisational levels.
Advanced Research Methodology (Semester 1)
This module focuses on quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research designs in order to enable the student to write a research proposal as well as a comprehensive mini-dissertation. Specific focus will be placed on questionnaire development, psychometric properties of measuring instruments as well as model development
Advanced Organisational Psychology (Semester 2)The focus of this module is to assist students in demonstrating their competencies as effective change agents by designing an integrated change process at a systems level in an organisation. For this purpose, students will be exposed to a process to discover and develop their own competencies as effective change agents within organisations from a systems perspective.
Advanced Personnel Psychology (Semester 2)Firstly, this module is intended to provide a broad perspective of personnel psychology as a subfield of Industrial and Organisational Psychology. Secondly, strategic human resource management will be presented as it is viewed by HR practitioners/HR managers in practice and applied in organisations. Thirdly, different models and approaches to talent management will be discussed. Finally, various issues relating to personnel employment as well as the critical factors that influence employee retention will be addressed.
Professional Ethics in the Workplace (Semester 2)This module focuses on developing an understanding of the Code of Professional Ethics of the HPCSA and the Professional Board for Psychology, as well as relevant legislative frameworks. On said codes of conduct, students should be able to apply interventions to improve ethical conduct within the work context.
Year 1 and Year 2
Mini-dissertation in Industrial Psychology (Semester 1 and 2)This module focuses on the acquisition of scientific knowledge through a systematic, objective, a logical, organised and critical investigation into specific problems which occur within the work context, with the emphasis on seeking solutions to such problems. This will result in a comprehensive and systematic research output in the form of two (2) publishable articles or a mini-dissertation.