Tallinn, Estonia – May 2011 – After 20 years, master-level students in work and organizational psychology can once again receive instruction in Estonia. As of this summer students can enrol in the “Master in Work and Organizational Psychology” programme of the Department of Industrial Psychology at Tallinn University of Technology (TUT). TUT’s newest two-year master’s curriculum is unique in Europe and the second complete master’s programme that is in accordance with EuroPsy academic standards. Bachelors in psychology from Estonia and from abroad are welcome to enrol. The curriculum is in English and has an international perspective, and completion of the programme is recognised by the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA http://www.efpa.eu/) and the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP http://www.eawop.org/).
The master’s programme at TUT started as a European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP) initiative. Notable European professors from the European Network of Work and Organizational Psychologists (ENOP) will participate in instruction as guest lecturers – members of the network include the University of Vienna (Austria), University of Cambridge (United Kingdom), University of Grenoble (France), University of Sheffield (Great Britain), Mälardalen University (Sweden), Aalto University (Finland), Moscow University (Russia), University of Seville (Spain), ETH Zürich (Switzerland), and others. The cost of tuition is 2400 euros per year, and it is also possible to apply for various stipends.
Those who complete the Master in Work and Organizational Psychology programme will gain an internationally competitive education that meets the academic standards of EuroPsy and acquire a social sciences master’s degree in work and organizational psychology. Graduates of the Master of Work and Organizational Psychology curriculum will find future opportunities to be practicing psychologists or to continue their studies on the doctoral level.
The director of the programme, director of TUT’s Department of Industrial Psychology Professor Mare Teichmann, confirms that work and organizational psychologists find employment in both the public and private sectors or can work as independent consultants. “Graduates can utilise their knowledge and skills in the areas of work psychology, organizational psychology, and personnel psychology. The main problems that work and organizational psychologists must address are increasing and assessing workers’ productivity, supplementary training and re-training, personnel choices, work motivation, work-related responsibility, work environment, the quality of work life, etc. Another area of work and organizational psychology is addressing the issues of engineering psychology – human-machine interaction the role of the human factor in management systems, including human errors and reducing them, machine and product design, user-friendliness, and other similar issues,” emphasises Prof. Teichmann.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
* Main specialties of European psychologists: 60% clinical psychology, 15% school psychology, and 15% work and organizational psychology. In addition, 10% of psychologists work in other psychological fields (European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations study, 2005).
* Work and organizational psychology is an applied science that studies workers’ work and behaviour in the workplace in order to make their work more effective and to improve the mental health, psychological well-being, and quality of work life of workers. Work and organizational psychology has developed rapidly in the last decade.
* According to § 19 of the Estonian Act on Occupational Health and Safety, the goal of a work psychologist’s work is to “help create a safe working environment for workers, prevent illnesses related to work, and preserve and promote workers’ health and ability to work” and his or her responsibility is “to provide psychological consulting to employer and employees”.
* In 2011 there were three work psychologists registered with the Estonian Health Board, which suggests that there are few qualified work psychologists in Estonia. The last time it was possible for psychologists to specialise in work and organizational psychology in Estonia was in the last century during the 1990s.
Additional information
Director of TUT Department of Industrial Psychology Professor Mare Teichmann
Tel: +372 5087510
E-mail:
Tallinn University of Technology: http://www.ttu.ee/studying/mas...
Department of Industrial Psychology: http://www.tpi.ee/indexE.php
