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2. Postgraduate
3. Taught Courses
4. Masters
5. Work and Organisational Psychology

Course Fact File

Code	MAWOP
Duration	1 Year Full-time; 2 Years Part-time
Teaching Mode	Full-time, Part-Time
Qualifications	MA
NFQ Level	Level 9
Closing Date	Rolling deadline. Open until all places have been filled. Early application is advised.
Non-EU Closing Date	Open until all places have been filled or no later than 15 June. Early application is advised.
Start Date	8 September 2025

Course Outline

Psychology applied to the domain of work is a fascinating area offering many employment opportunities. From improving recruitment decisions to understanding how technology affects our work performance and experience, from coaching individuals to developing organisational capacity, psychology can be applied to enhancing peoples’ well-being and performance at work and contributing to organisational effectiveness. This programme will be of interest to graduates wishing to pursue careers as work and organisational psychologists, human resource managers, trainers, managers, consultants, or researchers.

By engaging with the programme, you will develop a range of practical skills in conducting research, critical thinking and analysis, and a range of competencies relevant to professional work psychologists such as selection and assessment, negotiation, consulting, etc. The aim is to equip graduates of this programme with the building blocks to operate as effective and reflective professionals.

The MA in Work and Organisational Psychology can be taken on a full-time or part-time basis and is designed to advance your knowledge of the discipline of psychology applied in work settings. To achieve this the course content emphasises the application of high-quality psychological research to real-world concerns and issues in the workplace.

Full-Time Option

The 90-credit full-time MA in Work and Organisational Psychology runs over one calendar year (12 months):

Part I (60 credits total)

Core Modules (50 credits)

• AP6061 Qualitative Research Methods and Data Analysis (5 credits)
• AP6062 Quantitative Research Methods for Professionals (5 credits)
• AP6169 Learning, Well-Being and Participation at Work (10 credits)
• AP6166 Personnel Selection and Assessment (10 credits)
• AP6170 Professional Skills (5 credits)
• MG6020 Changing, Leading and Developing Organisations (5 credits)
• AP6168 Designing in Work and Workplaces (10 credits)

Elective Modules (choose 10 credits)

• AP6159 Positive Organisational Psychology (5 credits)
• AP6160 Private Practice (5 credits)
• AP6161 Coaching Skills (5 credits)
• AP6176 Cognitive Enhancement (5 credits)

Part II (30 credits)

• AP6171 Research Dissertation in Applied Psychology (Work and Organisational Psychology) (30 credits)

Part-Time Option

The 90-credit part-time MA in Work and Organisational Psychology runs over two calendar years (24 months):

• Part I comprises modules worth 60 credits running across Semesters 1 and 2 of Year 1, and Semester 1 of Year 2.
• Part II comprises a research dissertation worth 30 credits, which is submitted at the end of the summer in Year 2.

Course Practicalities

Entry Routes

There are two entry routes to the MA: one for psychology graduates and one for non-psychology graduates.

• Non-psychology graduates: See MA Work and Organisational Behaviour
• Psychology graduates: MA Work and Organisational Psychology

The MA in Work and Organisational Psychology for psychology graduates is delivered via a blended learning format. This format offers our students flexibility in directing and scheduling their learning. Our blended-learning approach includes a combination of self-guided online materials, some web-based lectures and seminars, occasional online discussion groups, and online assessments that supplement our on-campus face-to-face teachings.

As a guide, all Part I core classes* are scheduled for one day per week from 2pm-8pm on campus. Students can benefit from face-to-face contact with staff and peers during campus lectures while still enjoying the flexibility and widened access afforded by blended learning.

*Electives vary from this schedule and some require attendance on campus outside of the core hours of 2pm-8pm.

Assessment

There is a mix of assessments for this programme including online assessments, written reports and essays, examinations, and a research dissertation.

Why Choose This Course

Programme Flexibility

The blended nature of the MA in Work and Organisational Psychology programme (delivered partly online and partly on campus) offers students flexible access to pursue a Masters's qualification. In our experience, this combination supports all those students who are already in employment or are sponsored by their employer to attend this programme.

School Expertise

This programme is underpinned by three key themes that differentiate it from other programmes in Ireland. These themes are based on our school’s particular areas of expertise and address contemporary workplace concerns and challenges. Drawing on our digital futures research team we address themes around technology-mediated work and organisations; from our resilience and transition team we address themes of well-being, resilience and diversity at work; and finally, from our individual differences experts, we address themes of recognising and assessing individual abilities and potential in the workplace.

Knowledge Exchange - Your Experience Counts!

We welcome students from all walks of life. As a result, we tend to have a good mix of students with and without human resource/training/coaching/consulting experience in our cohorts. This combination usually supports knowledge exchange (e.g., research methods know-how in exchange for practical insights).

Practice-Oriented Dissertation

Dissertation supervision is managed by a number of faculty associated with this MA programme, but also other MA programmes in our Schools. This ensures that our students have access, via our faculty, to different areas of expertise and knowledge of different professional domains (e.g., mental health/healthcare, coaching, and guidance counselling).

Students are positively encouraged to select a dissertation topic that may pave the way for their envisioned future career goals. When students are already in employment, the option to study a topic close to their employers’ interest is supported as long as the dissertation requirements are met. Students are encouraged to seek out potential dissertation advisors within one month of starting the programme to facilitate a well-coordinated and timely delivery of the dissertation in the first (for part-time students' second) year. 

The benefits of linking research to practice are apparent in a number of success stories, for example:

My dissertation supervisor emphasised the importance of making sure that my research was directly applicable to the workplace. Having a large piece of work, with findings and recommendations relevant to organisations really makes you stand out during the interview process. The organisation I worked with as part of my research actually asked me to interview for a position that became available during the year.

Skills and Careers Information

Graduates of this programme can look forward to a wide range of career options across both the public and private sectors applying psychology at work. Graduates may enter careers as work and organisational psychologists, or may consider careers in human resource management, human resource development, consultancy, organizational research, or academic/research careers.

To date, a number of our alumni have been recruited nationally and internationally as an outcome of completing this MA in Work and Organisational Psychology. For alumni who were already in employment, a number of our former students were subsequently promoted to new roles. Examples of areas where alumni ended up working include Human Resources positions, organisers or facilitators of Organisational Development and Change/Community Development initiatives, occupational psychologists in training, and consultants (e.g., recruitment and selection).

Student Testimonials

The course emphasised the application of theory in the workplace and I found this to be very useful when going to interviews. Completing this course helps you to develop a diversity of thought that makes you stand out amongst other applicants at interview stage and has played a pivotal role in helping me secure my current job.

I am really delighted I decided to do this masters. From beginning to end the department and the staff supporting the course have been really helpful and supportive. I originally completed my undergrad in psychology in UCC and have found my experience in the department to be top-class on both occasions.

This MA gave me a whole new perspective and pushed me to develop my critical thinking.  In addition to self-directed learning, it challenged the class through engaging discussions, to look at everyday work-related issues, bringing a new open-minded perspective. 

Practice Opportunities - Supporting Employability

Where possible, we also support practical skills training. A number of our alumni have been introduced to practitioners in the field who offered internships and other training opportunities. We continue to support such initiatives to marry the academic with the practical aspects of this degree to support graduate employability. This is also confirmed by reports from our graduates:

The cross-over between theory and application has been fantastic and my experience of the masters has left me very confident in embarking on a career as an occupational psychologist. During the year we had many interesting guest speakers and I was lucky enough to be offered a paid internship in one of their companies. The experience of working alongside a fellow work and organizational psychologist was invaluable and my employer has since offered to be my supervisor as I begin the journey of becoming chartered.

For those students interested in research careers, our graduates may also consider progressing to doctoral studies in the area or engage in further specialisation in the area of work psychology. Our School offers both funded and self-funded PhD opportunities.

Requirements

1. Applicants must hold a Second Class Honours Grade 1 in a primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8) in Psychology.

2. Applicants must satisfy the eligibility requirements for graduate membership of either the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) or the British Psychological Society (BPS). This must be demonstrated by the applicant by providing evidence that your undergraduate degree/qualification(s) is accredited by the PSI or by the BPS. Applicants whose undergraduate degree/qualification(s) is not listed as an accredited qualification by either the PSI or the BPS are required to provide evidence from the PSI or the BPS that they (the PSI or the BPS) consider your undergraduate degree/qualification(s) to be equivalent to the PSI/BPS degree, in terms of granting you eligibility for graduate membership of the society. This evidence must be sought by the applicant by applying directly to either the PSI or BPS for graduate membership as appropriate.

3. Applicants must supply statements detailing:

• Relevant work experience whether professional or voluntary.

Motivation and readiness, which must be ~500 words and include information on:

• Reasons for applying to the programme and how your reasons fit with your experience, interests and career objectives within work and organisational psychology
• Experience of group work in an education setting or teamwork in a workplace setting
• Experience in managing time and workloads effectively
• Experience in effectively managing conflict in work or educational settings.

Statements will be evaluated based on your responses to the above bullet points.

Consideration under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) may also be given to applicants who do not meet the minimum academic entry requirements as stated above but who present with a Second Class Honours Grade 2 in a primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8) in Psychology and have significant and directly relevant work experience or has performed impressively in a relevant Master's degree acceptable to the School selection committee. In such cases, the applicant must clearly set out the grounds upon which they wish to be considered in the motivation and readiness statement. Such applicants may also be called for interview and will be selected based on the following:

• Academic performance
• Commitment to, or work experience in, the area of work psychology.

International Applicants

To be considered for an offer, you must provide all the required documents at the time of application. Follow these steps before applying:

1. Check the entry requirements: You must meet the required entry academic grade, equivalent to Irish requirements. For more information see our Qualification Comparison page.
2. Prepare supporting documents as outlined in the Requirements Section of this course page. Pay close attention to the guidance on the information that should be included in the motivation statement.
3. Accreditation: You must satisfy the eligibility requirements for graduate membership of either the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) or the British Psychological Society (BPS). Accreditation applications are reviewed every 6-8 weeks.
4. Only then start the application by clicking on the Apply Now button.

Fees and Costs

How To Apply

Deposit

Please note that successful EU applicants will be required to pay a non-refundable deposit of €500 on acceptance of their place.

Deferrals

Deferrals are not permitted on this programme.

 

The closing date for non-EU applications is Open until all places have been filled or no later than 15 June. Early application is advised.

Apply Now