In three months (April 2020) we will hit the two-year anniversary of GIT-SIOP.  Therefore, now is a good time to ask ourselves “how are we doing?”

As constant readers of this blog will note, GIT has been involved with lots of different efforts.  So much has been accomplished!  But the main goal of GIT is to get I-O into Intro Psych textbooks.  After spending a lot of time creating and collating resources to help make this happen, a letter was sent to Intro Psych textbook authors last fall detailing the resources available to them – and to encourage them to add more I-O to their textbooks.  The response was exciting!

 

  • Many Are Excited: We received responses from authors of over a dozen Intro textbooks, and all the responses were positive.  Many of them agreed that I-O is an under-represented topic within Intro textbooks (one authors said it was a “shortcoming of the books that are out and around”).  Some of the responses were from authors who were really interested and excited about the resources we offered them (one author called it “enormously helpful” and an “impressive accomplishment”).  Of course, some of the email responses were a simple “thank you” but as I-O Psychologists we understand organizational and culture change is a long process that does not happen immediately, so we did not expect everyone to jump on board right away.  

 

  • Some Want to Use this Info for their Current Revision: A few of the authors who responded told us that they were currently revising their book and would check out the resources to see what they could do about adding more I-O content in for the next edition – which was very encouraging to hear.  For instance, one author forwarded our email to their publisher (one of the major textbook publishers) who immediately reached out to us to set up a meeting and start discussing their upcoming edition and how I-O can be brought in.  Another of these authors admitted that she thinks about what the students are getting out of the course and how more applied aspects of psychology could be helpful.  However, because this isn’t her particular area of expertise, she isn’t quite as sure how to bring it into the course, which is why she is appreciative of the resources GIT has to offer!

 

  • Others Want to Use This Info in the Future: Some of the authors who responded indicated that their book was not due to be revised soon but they would hold onto these resources for the next revision.  Others indicated that their book was out of print – but one of these authors still welcomed the material, saying, “I will avail myself of this information for my own teaching.”  From a change management perspective, all of these show different types of “wins” (smaller and larger) and we are happy to see each of them.

What Does this Mean, and What's Next?

Does this mean that one or more Intro Psyc textbooks will soon have a lot more I-O content than before in the near future?  It’s hard to say . . . but we feel optimistic.  As I said, change is slow, but change happens with enough dedication and effort.  One of the authors who responded to our email touched on this.  He said, “I use I/O as an example of how textbooks can change over time . . . sometimes by growing a whole new branch when a new area becomes so important.”  Here’s hoping that more Intro authors see the importance of this branch of Psychology and change their textbooks to follow suit!

 

So what's next for GIT?  We will continue to promote I-O in Intro classes in every way we can (and keep tuned into this blog for regular updates, of course!).  In particular, now that we have spread the word to textbook authors, it's now time to start spreading the word to Intro Psyc instructors about the resources available to them.  We want to get the word out and tackle the issue from every angle possible.  Keep an eye out for updates!

What exactly is GIT?  Check out our first blog post explaining who we are!

Do you have any other thoughts on how SIOP members can be involved with GIT’s efforts?  We would love to hear from you!  If you have any questions, ideas, thoughts, or suggestions, please feel free to contact anyone from the task force!  This blog is maintained by Nick Salter nicholas.p.salter@hofstra.edu

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