Safety
The HR Science Safety Team is working on a multi-year data analytics project with the cooperation of Marathon Petroleum Corporation. An Analytics Readiness Audit is being performed within Marathon to evaluate the company's safety and health metrics to determine if they are ready for data analytics. This audit will help guide the Safety team in developing an analysis plan to examine if Marathons behavior-based safety practices reduce workplace injuries.
This semester, the team is establishing contact and building relationships with safety professionals at Marathon and will begin collecting, organizing, and evaluating the company's safety data. This project provides students with invaluable experiences and opportunities to engage with stakeholders, develop their analytic skills, and communicate impactful results.
This project is under the direction of Dr. Shawn Bergman, Dr. Timothy Ludwig, and project lead Jacob Leslie.
Evidence-Based Practices
Evidence-based practices (EBP) are the use of scientific literature, organizational data, professional expertise, and stakeholders’ perspectives to improve management decisions and increase the likelihood of desired outcomes. In short, EBP is the application of science, psychology, data, and technology to improve individual and organizational decision-making.
Building on existing team research and background focused on identifying the disconnect between the KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics) undergraduate psychology students learn in their courses and why they are underemployed once they graduate. One main project involves beta testing and rolling out a website next semester where undergraduate psychology students can type in a course they are interested in taking and it will populate KSAOs and potential jobs.
Another project we are working on is building a graduate advisor position into the psychology office to assist psych undergraduate students with their career readiness endeavors. We have submitted a SIOP proposal based on finding the matches and mismatches between psychology undergraduate’s KSAOs and those required by business and technology fields. We are continuing this research throughout the rest of the year and next semester. Lastly, we are continuing to build upon and teach the “Preparing Psych Majors for the Workforce” course.
This project is under the direction of Dr. Shawn Bergman, and project leads Alex Mecklenburg, Morgan McElhaney, and Logan Briggs.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team is only in its first year of operation, but they have already begun working on two research projects and an applied project in partnership with the Department of Physics and Astronomy. The team is conducting research on job application intentions and how they might be affected by website media signaling that they value a diverse and inclusive organization. They will examine these effects through a vignette study where job seekers will report their perceived person-organization fit and intent to apply based on a varying set of media that they are exposed to. In addition to this, the team is conducting research on Black students and graduates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly White Institutions and how they feel they are perceived by employer organizations in terms of professionalism. They will analyze these effects through the lens of how different environments impact the development of professional identity.
The team is also partnering with the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Appalachian State. They are working with student body data to identify gaps in the department's student body compared to the university as a whole, other universities, and other physics departments. With this insight, they will help the Physics and Astronomy Department develop a plan to help address those gaps in misrepresentation through providing access and awareness to underrepresented students regarding opportunities in Physics and Astronomy.
These projects is under the direction of Dr. Tim Huelsman, Dr. Kristl Davison, Dr. Jessica Doll and project leads Kwani Taylor and Tanner Landolt.
Sustainability
Unfortunately, the sustainability team is on hiatus until further notice. However, team members Kaitlyn Miller and Mariana Solanilla were proud representatives at this years RCIO conference in Chattanooga, TN where they presented their teams research findings during a student research poster session.
Formerly, this teams project revolved around understanding the nuances of why people apply for, join, and stay in jobs that are considered stigmatized sustainability work. This project was under the direction of Dr. Jack Carson, Dr. Jim Westerman, and project lead Amanda Lillie. Visit the Sustainability Website here to read more about their projects and follow along with their weekly blog. These blog posts were an avenue for members to write about interesting topics in the field of human resources and sustainability.