TRANSCRIPTS
that we had to use more than one data-collection method. In fact, we used three. We collected statistics from the database, devised a psychometric test and drew up an interview schedule, which is a series of structured questions that act as a framework for an interview.
Unit 3, Lesson 3.2, Exercise D≤1.13
Part 3 Now, going back to the project … how did we go about it? Our first step was to brainstorm key questions. For example: what percentage of female staff reached senior positions at the university; were their qualifications the same as those of males in similar positions; how long did it take for women to reach these positions; were there departments where women were better represented than others; how were they different; did university promotion policies obviously disadvantage women? Most of these questions could quite easily be answered by analyzing the statistics from the database: numbers of female employees, their occupations and backgrounds. We also had information about the formal structures that form the university organization, such as rules and regulations, and institutional policies.
However, as I mentioned before, a second aspect
we wanted to study was whether personality could account for particular types of women occupying specific organizational positions. I’d just like to be clear about what I mean by ‘personality’. According to Pervin, ‘Personality refers to those characteristics of the person that account for consistent patterns of feeling, thinking and behaving.’ Those characteristics are also known as traits, which are habitual patterns of individual behaviour. So, we used the psychometric test to give us a profile of the personality traits of women in different roles across the institution.
The third factor we wanted to study was the
institutional culture. Let me just explain briefly what I mean by ‘culture’ in this context. The culture of an organization isn’t written in the rules. It’s the result of daily human interaction; the unspoken expectations, if you like, which become institutionalized and accepted by everyone who belongs to the group. When we started our research, we didn’t really expect to find written rules or regulations discriminating against women. That would be illegal, of course. Mind you, we did think there may be a few regulations that unintentionally put women at a disadvantage.
But what we really wanted to find out was whether or not women were being promoted less often than men, as a result of unconscious attitudes, or as an effect of the institutional culture. And that’s the information we planned to gather from the interviews.
Unit 3, Lesson 3.2, Exercise E≤1.14
Part 4 DR TODD: So, to sum up, we discovered an institutional issue – the small number of women in senior positions at the university – and gathered data to help us find a solution to the problem. We collected statistical data from the university database. We designed a psychometric test to find out whether women with particular personality traits – that is, with certain patterns of behaviour – tended to reach senior posts. And we designed an interview schedule to discover whether the institutional culture – the generally accepted behaviour of everyone in the organization – discouraged women from taking up senior positions.
I have to stop now, as we’re running out of time.
But I hope this talk has given you an idea of how varied the work of an occupational psychologist can be. Thank you.
LECTURER: Thank you very much, Dr Todd, for such an interesting talk. Now, after a quick break, our lectures continue this afternoon with another visitor, Dr Ana Rogers, who will discuss the theoretical foundations of her work as a clinical psychologist. Your research into the influence of genetics, the unconscious and social interaction on behaviour should be useful during this lecture.
Unit 3, Lesson 3.2, Exercise F≤1.15
1 According to constructivists, each individual is born with a fixed personality.
2 Personality traits are the same for all women.
3 Culture is the institutionalized and accepted behaviour of a group of people.
4 Personality can be measured by psychotherapy.
5 Occupational psychologists are also known as industrial psychologists.
6 Statistics can give an accurate picture of individual attitudes.
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