Four people sit at a table with laptops and documents, while one person—possibly a Ph.D.—stands and speaks to them in a modern office setting under a staircase.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Industrial + Organizational Psychology

Online

The Adler University Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial and Organizational Psychology deepens students’ expertise in research and leadership, positioning them to drive transformational change in academia, consulting, and organizational systems.

  • 66 credits
  • 3-4 year program
  • SIOP-aligned curriculum
  • Part-time opportunities
  • Fully online format
  • Named top program by Forbes Advisor
APPLY NOW (opens in a new tab) REQUEST INFORMATION All Programs

Admission Deadlines

Term Priority Final
Summer II 2026 N/A 5/29/2026
Fall 2026 N/A 8/1/2026

Program overview

Workplaces are evolving faster than ever, shaped by shifting cultures, emerging technologies, and growing organizational complexity. Adler’s fully online I/O doctorate takes a systems view, recognizing that people and performance are inseparable and that meaningful change requires addressing both. Through advanced research training and applied learning, students move from understanding these dynamics to generating insights that fuel innovation, strengthen leadership, and deliver measurable impact.

More than a credential, the program positions students at the forefront of the future of work, connecting psychological science to strategy, shaping healthier organizations, and opening doors to influential roles in academia, consulting, and business.

Why chose the industrial and organizational psychology Ph.D. at Adler?

  • Nationally recognized: Recognized by Intelligent.com and Forbes Advisor as one of the nation’s best programs in organizational and psychology doctoral study.
  • SIOP-aligned curriculum: Structured to reflect the standards of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology’s Ph.D. programs.
  • Scholar-practitioner faculty: Learn alongside faculty who bring expertise from research, consulting, and organizational leadership.
  • Flexibility for professionals: A fully online format designed to support career advancement while pursuing doctoral study.

Careers at the Intersection of people + performance

A boardroom at the Chicago campus of Adler University.

Chief Human Resources Officer

Leads the overall people strategy of an organization, aligning talent management, employee engagement, and organizational design with business goals. With a Ph.D., CHROs bring research-driven insight to workforce planning and policy, guiding complex organizations through growth and change.

Three people in business attire sit at a table, while a woman with a Ph.D. stands in front of a whiteboard with charts and notes, leading a meeting in a bright office.

Organizational Development Consultant

Advises organizations on culture, change management, and performance improvement. This role leverages deep knowledge of psychological theory and research to design interventions that enhance collaboration, innovation, and leadership effectiveness across industries.

Two women sit across from each other at a table in an office setting, engaged in conversation about Art Therapy.

Executive Coach

Works with senior leaders to refine decision-making, strengthen communication, and improve leadership style. A Ph.D. adds credibility and methodological rigor, allowing coaches to integrate evidence-based assessments and strategies into their practice.

Two people sit facing each other in conversation; one woman with a Ph.D. in Art Therapy smiles while holding a microphone and sitting on a light-colored chair.

Academics: Professor | Researcher

Teach at the graduate level while conducting original research in areas such as workplace behavior, leadership, and organizational systems. A Ph.D. is essential for contributing new knowledge to the field and mentoring the next generation of organizational psychologists.

A man and a woman review documents together at a desk; the man gestures toward a page while the woman, possibly discussing Art Therapy, holds the papers.

People Analytics Director

Use data science and psychological principles to analyze workforce trends and inform strategy. With advanced expertise in research methods and statistical analysis, this role drives evidence-based decisions that impact hiring, retention, and organizational performance.

Admission requirements

Apply Now (opens in a new tab)

Eligibility

Applicants to the Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology program must meet the following requirements:

  • A master’s degree, by the date of matriculation, in industrial and organizational psychology, psychology, business, or a related discipline.

    Applicants who did not graduate from Adler University’s Master of Arts in Industrial and Organizational Psychology or an equivalent program may be required to complete the equivalency requirements in addition to the doctoral curriculum.
  • A cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better (on a 4.0 scale) in their master’s degree. Successful applicants typically have a grade point average of 3.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale for graduate-level coursework.

Application Requirements
  • Application Fee.
  • Completed application submitted via the online portal.
  • Resume or CV.
  • Statement of Intent.
  • Degree granting transcripts for those above a 3.0. Below 3.0, all transcripts.
  • A writing sample (e.g., a publication, report, essay, or paper previously submitted as an assignment).
  • Two (2) letters of recommendation (optional).
  • Master’s degree required. 

Program Requisites

Applicants are expected to have adequate coursework in the areas listed below. Applicants who did not graduate from Adler University’s Master of Arts in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, or an equivalent program, will be assessed to determine whether they have adequate coursework in the following master’s-level course areas, with a letter grade of B or better.

Course areas and equivalent courses at Adler

  • One graduate-level research methods course: Research Methods.

How to Apply + Submit Transcripts
  1. Complete your application in Adler University’s online portal. The application, fee (for the starts up to Fall 2026), Statement of Intent, resume/CV, and recommender details are submitted in the portal.
  2. Official transcripts must be sent directly to either institution location or approved service to the Office of Admissions prior to the application deadline. Do not upload official copies to the portal.

    Official electronic transcripts should be sent to admissions@adler.edu.

    Physical transcripts should be sent to:
    Adler University – Online Campus: Office of Admissions
    17 N. Dearborn Street
    Chicago, IL 60602
    or
    Adler University – Office of Admissions
    520 Seymour Street
    Vancouver, BC V6B 3J5

Curriculum | Internships | practicums

Adler University’s fully online Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology is a 66-credit-hour, post-bachelor’s program.

Completion of the program includes the courses below, along with additional requirements outlined in the Adler University Course Catalog.

Adler University Course Catalog

CORE COURSES

History and Systems of Psychology in Industrial and Organizational Psychology

This course provides an overview of the history of psychology as a whole and details the evolution of the field over time. Students will explore major ideologies, theories, theorists, and schools of psychology that have contributed to industrial and organizational psychology.

Ethical, Legal, and Professional Issues

This course will examine current and historically relevant ethical, legal, and professional issues in the field of I/O psychology. The course will examine both how I/O professionals can identify and react to ethical, legal, and professional concerns in organizations as well as how I/O professionals are to behave and interact with organizations themselves.

Advanced Organizational Development and Change

This advanced course leverages change management theories and processes to consider the impact of change on organizations at large and groups within organizations.

Advanced Statistics in IO Psychology

This course focuses on how to use statistics to solve for complex human capital business issues. Multiple new analyses will be explored with a large focus of the course being prediction of outcomes from datasets.

Job and Task Analysis

This course details the process for conducting job and task analyses in organizations. This process is used across the I/O psychology field to get foundational information used for writing job descriptions, determining organizational career paths, and having a robust understanding of the knowledge, skills, abilities, and responsibilities of each role in an organization.

Advanced Research Methods and Design I: Qualitative Methods

This course focuses on qualitative research methods and provides students with practical experience to prepare them for the initial stages of the research process. The course provides in-depth analysis and discussion on various qualitative research methods and design approaches in terms of their pros and potential cons when exploring a variety of research questions.

Advanced Human Factors

This course explores the interaction of humans and various forms of technology within differing environments. Topics include technology and machine displays (for example, visual, auditory), motor skills, information processing, decision making, and biomechanics.

Leadership and Management

This course will explore the roles of leaders and managers in organizations and discuss viewpoints regarding the similarities and differences between each role. Students will learn about various leadership styles individuals possess and how those styles impact organizational culture and team dynamics.

Advanced Recruitment, Selection, and Placement

This course will cover key talent management practices related to the Recruitment and selection of individuals for employment in various roles and organizations.

Advanced Group Dynamics

This course explores differentiated concepts of interpersonal behavior in small groups. Students will learn about research in the field of group dynamics as well as the applicability of that research to modern organizations.

ELECTIVES

Students will need a total of 9 elective credits. See all available options in the course catalog.

Consumer and Employee Attitudes

This course prepares students to conduct survey research in organizations to measure employee or consumer attitudes. Students will learn how to design a survey, evaluate the reliability and validity of a survey, utilize statistics to analyze the survey data, and interpret and present survey results to clients.

Coaching and Consulting

This course presents students with diverse strategies with relevance to the fields of coaching and consulting. Evidence-based coaching methods will be applied in a variety of contexts.

Advanced Consulting Skills

This course focuses on effective consulting by presenting students with common and unique business challenges and exploring possible solutions. Students will be presented with multiple data points on organizational challenges and be asked to find solutions for these challenges with a mock client.

Attitude Theory, Measurement, and Change

This course presents students with information on major attitude theories in the field of I/O psychology. Students will explore the inputs to job satisfaction and employee engagement as well as other work attitudes and examine the impact of these constructs in the workplace.

Advanced Talent Management and Motivation

This course covers the impacts of talent management on individuals and within organizations as well as its impact on organizational culture and metrics. Topics will focus on how to create integrated human capital programs and processes and measure the effectiveness of those integrated designs.

Followership

The purpose of this course is to move away from leader-centered theory to more integrated theory that includes the leader’s relationship with and influence on followers.

Advanced Leadership Communication Strategies

This course presents effective communication as an integral component of leadership strategy. A leader’s competence in this area will aid in developing a foundation for designing effective messages, both written and oral, from concept to delivery.

Leading Innovation

This course will explore how innovation involves developing a consensus in multi-stakeholder groups, managing organizational change or leading the development of an innovative product or service. Innovation requires leadership that has vision, the ability to inspire and empower others, and courageously make strategic decisions.

Human Resources Management

This course examines everyday issues facing organizations such as attracting, selecting, and maintaining a productive workforce in today’s competitive operating environment. Further, other nuances such as training and development, compensation, and employee performance evaluation will be discussed.

Building Agility and Resilience

This course will examine the impact of resilient leadership on organizational sustainability. In particular, resilience will be explored on the individual, team and organizational level. Students will learn how to ensure their own health and productivity, as well as increase their accountability and adaptability.

Advocacy Strategy and Tactics for Social Change

This course explores theories of change and impactful social movements as a means of preparing students to lead change processes. It examines the activities, contexts, challenges and ethics of community-based social change as they relate to organizations and institutional systems, work/task groups and individuals and the role of the community leaders in these processes.

Leadership and Management Philosophies

This course explores fundamental leadership and management concepts at the individual, team, and organizational levels. This course will give students the opportunity to explore leadership and followership dynamics, as well as the role it plays in enhancing leadership capabilities and experiences.

Organizational Culture and Design

This course explores organizational culture at the interface of theory and practice to bring clarity, context, relevance and understanding to the topic. Future leaders will be prepared to use their knowledge as a powerful tool in creating a sustainable high performance organization.

Leading High Impact Teams

In this course, students will learn how to lead high performing teams that are collaborative, consistently learning, and able to achieve bottom line results. Specifically, students will learn best practices for composing a team and aligning individual and team goals.

Innovation Process

Understanding how innovation occurs within and outside of individual organizations is essential for entrepreneurs, policymakers and researchers. Innovation the creation and implementation of a new product, process or service – occurs within complex systems and system characteristics can help or hinder innovation.

Leadership Assessment and Feedback Coaching

This course introduces students to the principles of individual assessment and their role in leadership development. Frameworks for conceptualizing the assessment process, specific strategies for assessing individual personality, cognitive ability, and workplace relevant behaviors will be considered.

Entrepreneurship

This course introduces students to entrepreneurship and the development of the entrepreneurial mindset. Students will learn about the entrepreneurial process, skills required and the necessary resilience to meet their business goals.

Systems Thinking

Complex challenges and issues involve the interplay of a multitude of stakeholders, organizations and institutions. Students will be introduced to systems design, theory and methods to identify and design systemic interventions for social, policy, and business change.

Business and Government Policy

This course examines the relationship between business and government, the influence one has over the other; how governmental policies influence the decisions of corporations, businesses and industries and vice-versa, and the economic and development issues arising in an increasingly integrated global economy.

Public Management and Leadership

This course introduces the knowledge and skills related to strategic management and leadership in government and public services including the articulation and aligning of organizational goals in accordance with the mission.

ADLER SOCIAL INTEREST PRACTICUM

Your opportunity to create lasting change on local and global systems, almost from day 1.

The Adler Social Interest Practicum (ASIP) at Adler University is a first-year, non-clinical, community-based experience that reflects Alfred Adler’s concept of social interest. The practicum places students with mission-driven organizations where they complete a minimum of 200 approved hours across two semesters, typically 8–10 hours per week. Alongside their placements, students participate in required workshops. Each practicum is evaluated through midterm and final supervisor reviews, student self-assessments, and feedback on the site and project, with grades of High Pass, Pass, Remediation, or Fail. The experience culminates in a campus-wide presentation of outcomes, assessed by multiple evaluators, offering students both applied training and the opportunity to contribute to meaningful community change.

COMPREHENSIVE EXAM

Students will take a doctoral qualifying exam course, designed to assess students’ mastery of I/O psychology content delivered throughout the program and to gauge students’ readiness for future doctoral study.

DISSERTATION

Students are required to take at least 12 credit hours of the dissertation course, designed to provide support and structure throughout the research and writing process. Students will prepare and complete a prospectus, outlining their dissertation plan. Students will collect and analyze data under the supervision of their dissertation chair and also be guided through the development, presentation and defense of a formal dissertation proposal.

The courses may be repeated multiple times for credit.

Photo of Dr. Donna DiMatteo-Gibson headshot

“Our program trains students to be systemic, analytic, and strategic organizational experts who utilize theory and research to engage employees to solve organizational challenges.”

– Donna DiMatteo-Gibson, Ph.D.
Program Director
Two women sit side by side near a window, smiling and looking at a laptop. An urban building is visible in the background through the glass. The scene appears relaxed and cheerful.

Financing your degree

Use our tuition calculator to help you start to plan your budget. Financial aid from the government, scholarships, or part-time employment can help you more easily afford your degree.

Financial Aid + Scholarships

Please make a selection using the filters above.

The latest from our
students, faculty, and alumni

ADLER NEWS
A man in a blue suit and tie stands in front of a brown curtain and a flag with a white star and stripes, smiling while wearing a round pin on his lapel—embodying transformational change within Liberia’s Civil Service.

Graduate speaker exemplifies Adlerian leadership in Liberia’s Civil Service

Josiah F. Joekai Jr., Ph.D., is among 300 graduates celebrating during the University’s Nov. 2 commencement ceremony at the Chicago Theatre

Read More
A person sits in an orange chair by a large window, working on a laptop in a modern, well-lit room.

To help online students navigate their doctoral journey, Adler University launches the Ph.D. Student Center

Launched on Jan. 27, the Center offers a space for online Ph.D. students to connect with peers, learn about the dissertation process, and find resources to help them with their research.

Read More
AI DEI book cover

Adler University recognized in national rankings for psychology degree programs

Two respected organizations in higher education rankings recognized Adler University and its programs among the best in the country.

Read More

Still wondering?

Do you want to know more about Adler University before applying? Learn more about the University, explore programs, view admissions requirements, and review available scholarships.

Academic Programs
How to Apply
Financial Aid + Scholarships
Student Life at Adler
Adler University History