As I am entering my last semester at Columbia, I feel extremely excited about the knowledge I have gained over the last two years and the opportunity I will have to share it with my colleagues in Ukraine. I can't help feeling very fortunate that through Fulbright I had this opportunity for professional development and personal growth.
Being one of the oldest country's private universities with a heritage of over 250 years, today, Columbia University leads all U.S. universities in the number of international students. Recently U.S. News and World Report Magazine named Teacher's College the nation's top graduate school of education, leaving Stanford and Harvard as second and third respectively. Although my program is not in the field of education, the sprit of excellence is in the air, demanding that both professors and students meet the highest standard of graduate education.
Organizational Psychology is a fascinating field encompassing a wide range of concepts. It deals with all aspects of interpersonal, group, inter-group, and inter-organizational contexts in which human behavior takes place and thus can be applied to both business and non-profit environments. Some of the required core level classes in my area include: Understanding Behavior Research, Group and Organizational Dynamics, Psychological Aspects of Organizations, Human Resource Management, Managing Conflict in Organizational Contexts. As in other graduate programs all over the U.S., we do not have many hours in class per week, however, the amount of weekly assignments can be overwhelming - as many as 100-150 pages of readings, along with group projects, presentations and other activities.
Undeniably, New York City itself brings some great advantages to my education since most of the professors are practicing consultants, either employed by world famous companies or doing private practice. Guest speakers in the classroom are often prominent specialists in the field, and they come to share their latest developments as well as to ask students about their opinion of current famous organizational transformations in business. This makes our classroom extremely close-to-reality and our educational experience very practice-oriented.
It is also worth mentioning that a valuable source of knowledge and expertise in the American classroom are the students themselves. The wide range of ages and various backgrounds provide a diverse cultural and professional experience that engenders a strong learning environment.
In addition, graduate school in U.S. utilizes group work as much as possible. This is especially important and helpful since many modern organizations use group input to achieve significant results. Even despite America's individualistic culture, this phenomenon of group work is still omnipresent. During my entire program, there were group projects in almost every course. Now I feel much more confidant to be in a team environment at the workplace. The Group Relations Conference, originally developed by Tavistock Institute in London, is another outstanding experience afforded me here and which is, unfortunately, not available in Ukraine. It helped me better understand ubiquitous group dynamics issues as well as deeply rooted problems present in a multinational society.
This is a short story about my academic program. If you are interested and would like to know more, please feel free to contact me. I am glad to assist you if you are eager to explore whether Organizational Psychology is the right field for you.
