Goracke Builds Master’s Program Around Inclusive Culture “Diversity ensures all perspectives are incorporated in the discussion of solutions and approaches, and it ultimately produces the best end product, whatever that might be.”
JoDee Goracke is passionate about the field of industrial and organizational psychology, and believes that extending the field to a wide variety of individuals can only make it better. As an Assistant Professor and Program Director of the Bellevue University Master of Science in Industrial and Organizational Psychology since its beginnings in 2015, inclusion and diversity are at the center of her efforts to build a one-of-kind degree program. “In my experience, higher education, and graduate school in particular, can be incredibly exclusive,” said Goracke, who holds a bachelor’s degree in cognitive psychology and a master’s degree in industrial/organizational psychology, otherwise known as I/O. “I felt that Bellevue University had a genuine mission to extend rigorous academic programs in an inclusive way. I am passionate about opening the field of I/O to individuals to participate and grow this area of knowledge and practice.”
Unique Program Applies to Countless Roles, Cultures Because I/O studies employee behavior in the workplace, its graduates serve in a wide variety of roles and industries. ”The career path is really varied, as the way I/O prepares you is incredibly applicable in any department, but some common careers we see are jobs in human resources, leadership development, training, external consulting, and data analysis.” Goracke herself worked in data science and analysis at a Fortune 500 company and various academic research centers prior to joining the university. “We cover all required content for master’s programs in I/O as outlined by The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, like selection, leadership, motivation, and psychometrics, but where I think the program is unique is that we facilitate two major applied projects, which the students are able to design individual topics and methods around,” Goracke said. Goracke’s dynamic career experience has given her crucial insight into what her students will need to succeed after graduating. “I understand how the applied and academic
8 | The View Winter 2021
knowledge needs to be coupled to be successful right out of graduate school,” she said. “I was also a non-traditional graduate student.” “Knowing that they (students) are taking time away from family, hobbies and work, etc., pushed me to be incredibly passionate about creating a curriculum and learning experience that sets our students up to be competitive I/O graduates.”
Diversity’s Role in I/O Goracke said diversity is critical to any field or study, but in the past I/O programs at the graduate level have not proven to be very diverse. “While I/O curriculum touches on diversity as a topic, I felt that generally the field of I/O and graduate school access has not been inclusive, which is part of why I joined Bellevue University; I wanted to be part of the change.” The Bellevue University I/O program incorporates diverse and inclusive practices throughout the student’s progress, starting with items like admissions, orientation and access to faculty, etc. “We acknowledge that our students have a variety of academic backgrounds and we invest a lot of time upfront with students to make them feel prepared and supported to tackle graduatelevel coursework,” Goracke said. Renea Gernant, Assistant Dean of the Bellevue University College of Arts and Sciences, said “Our program is deliberately and unapologetically committed to diversity. Our program not only teaches about diversity issues, but JoDee and her faculty support and encourage a very diverse student population.” Goracke also continues to grow her own experiences and perspectives. Goracke has been working with Opportunity Education, an innovative high school based on the Bellevue University campus, and also created a design thinking course that has been offered both at Bellevue University and in Tanzania for more than five years. Goracke was recently named the chair of a subcommittee of The Women’s Inclusion Network for Mentoring, which operates under the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology. She has been working with the committee for almost three years, recently launching an online seminar series of expert sessions and mentor pairings.
