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Putting Psychology to Work

Dr. Patricia Grabarek

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

Dr. Patricia Grabarek received her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Pennsylvania State University. She has worked with over 50 different client organizations from a variety of industries, including government, healthcare, retail, property management, food services, and technology.

What drew you to teach in MAPP?

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What do you do in addition to MAPP?

After completing the program,

MAPP students can go out into the

business world and make a difference by applying the

science of psychology well!

What do you want students to walk away with

after your Organizational Psychology course?

Find out more: appliedpsychology.usc.edu | appliedpsychology@usc.edu

facebook.com/applied.psychology | Twitter: @appliedpsychusc

Currently, I work at Infor as a Senior Behavioral Scientist where I consult with over 30 clients in the implementation and analysis of human capital management and predictive analytics solutions. I advise clients on human capital strategies including talent acquisition, assessment, talent management, and data analytics. In addition to my work at Infor, I recently co-founded Workr Beeing, where we aim to influence employees, managers, HR, and leaders to build healthy and happy work environments.

Data is

increasingly

important and

organizations are

finally waking up

to that fact.

I believe in the importance of applying science to real world settings.

I’ve strived to do that throughout my career and think that’s an

important skill for our students to learn. I include a mix of research

articles and real world examples in my teaching to build those skills. I

hope students will leave my course with a solid understanding of the

different areas of Organizational Psychology and the ability to pull

research to inform their practices in the future.

One of my passions is bridging the gap between science and practice. MAPP

does a wonderful job at addressing that. I believe it’s important for students

to learn how to read, understand, and apply research. Organizations should

be leveraging all the amazing information out there but they are not. I

believe MAPP students can go out into the business world and make a

difference by applying the science well!

What do you see as current trends or future

directions of the field of I/O Psychology?

Data, data, data. I will say that again. Data. Data is increasingly important

and organizations are finally waking up to that fact. I think understanding how

to analyze, use, and communicate data will become required skills in the field,

and our students will be equipped with these skills after the MAPP program.