Career Path Of An Organizational Psychology Professor At William James College

I didn't expect to be in my current role or field when I was in college. I was fully focused on pursuing pre-med.

Initially, I majored in Psychology with a biology minor. When behavioral neuroscience degrees were introduced, they combined psychology with the science classes needed for medical school. I ended up majoring in behavioral neuroscience.

After taking the MCAT twice and applying to medical school, I wasn't accepted. In my senior year, I had to figure out my next steps, considering a gap year and my career path. At that time, I still wanted to go to medical school.

Around me, people were applying to Teach for America. I thought it was interesting because I could teach science, stay in the sciences, and do something new. I also wanted to serve underserved populations.

I applied and sped through parts of the interview process, and I got in. I also secured a teaching position in Las Vegas, my hometown, teaching high school science. Everything seemed to be falling into place.

I decided to be a science teacher and planned to reapply to medical school during my second year with Teach for America. However, I realized how overworked and burnt out teachers were, and how it impacted student education.

At that moment, I thought I needed to find a solution. I realized medicine might not be for me; I wanted to focus on keeping teachers happy and satisfied at work. This led me to organizational psychology.

I applied to various programs and chose Claremont Graduate University in Southern California for my master's and PhD in positive organizational psychology. My research focused on ensuring teachers felt thriving, satisfied, and happy at work.

During graduate school, I enjoyed teaching and was a teaching assistant. However, I didn't want to pursue academia and become a professor, as the research aspect felt daunting. Academia requires a lot of research.

Again, I was at a crossroads. A teaching job called to me, asking me to teach for them. One thing led to another, and I accepted a faculty position at William James College in their organizational and leadership psychology department.

This institution focuses more on teaching and practice than research, which is great. Although I do my own research, there's no pressure to do so, which is awesome. I truly love teaching graduate students to become practitioners in organizational psychology.

These practitioners work as consultants, both internally and externally, in areas like organizational development, talent development, talent management, talent acquisition, organizational effectiveness, and organizational design. Essentially, they cover the entire spectrum of organizational work.