Colleges and Schools
Expand your career options in one of psychology’s emerging fields. In this specialization, you’ll learn the psychological principles and theories of leadership development and better understand your own capacity for leadership. You’ll also build the high-level skills to manage organizational leadership issues and create your own models of leadership coaching as you broaden your opportunities in such areas as industrial-organizational psychology and human resource management.
Career Opportunities
- Between now and 2016, employment in psychology will experience faster-than-average growth compared to all other occupations. Employment in the field of industrial-organizational psychology is predicted to increase by 21%.
- Employment for human resource managers is expected to grow by 11% by 2016, and management analyst positions are expected to increase by 22%.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition.
Learning Outcomes
Based on completion of required coursework, you should:
- Understand and apply psychological concepts and principles to contemporary/ global issues
- Understand the psychology of leadership and apply it to leadership development
- Apply principles of statistics and research design to the conceptualization, analysis, and evaluation of psychological research
- Apply ethics and multicultural understanding and competence to the process and practice of coaching and leadership development
- Use interviewing and observation skills in the development of leaders
- Apply coaching and leadership development concepts, principles, and strategies
- Understand the dynamics of contemporary, international, and virtual organizations
Completion Requirements
- 56–63 total quarter credit hours
- Foundation course (1 cr.)
- Core courses (35 cr.)
- Specialization courses (15 cr.)
- Capstone (5 cr.) or thesis course (12 cr.)
- Program of Study
Estimated time to completion: Approximately 1.5 years, depending on individual progress and credits transferred. For a personalized estimate of your time to completion, call your enrollment advisor at 1-866-492-5336.
Walden offers frequent start dates so that you can begin when it’s convenient for you. Next Start Date: December 1. Admission policies vary by program. Call 1-866-492-5336 or apply now.
CurriculumThe courses are delivered in a prescribed sequence. Each quarter includes two concurrent 12-week courses.
| Course Code | Course Title | Credits |
| Quarter 1 | ||
| PSYC 6001 | Foundations for Graduate Study in Psychology | 1 |
| PSYC 6211 | Contemporary Issues in Psychology | 5 |
| Quarter 2 | ||
| PSYC 6205 | History and Systems of Psychology | 5 |
| PSYC 6005 | Business Concepts for the Organizational Development Professional | 5 |
| Quarter 3 | ||
| PSYC 6305 | Statistics 1 | 5 |
| PSYC 6750 | Leadership Development | 5 |
| Quarter 4 | ||
| PSYC 6310 | Research Design | 5 |
| PSYC 6331 | Interviewing and Observational Strategies | 5 |
| Quarter 5 | ||
| PSYC 6216 | Dynamics of Contemporary, International, and Virtual Organizations | 5 |
| PSYC 6751 | Leadership Coaching: Process and Practice | 5 |
| Quarter 6 | ||
| PSYC 6752 | Leadership Coaching: Application | 5 |
| PSYC 6393 | M.S. Psychology Capstone | 5 |
Thesis Option
This program does not require a thesis. However, upon consultation with an advisor, you may choose to take two 6-credit-hour thesis courses (PSYC 6390 Thesis) instead of PSYC 6393 M.S. Psychology Capstone. The thesis option extends the program by at least one quarter.
For more information about the thesis option and a personalized estimate of your time to completion, call your enrollment advisor at 1-866-492-5336.
