News

Susan Mohammed led the development of The Pennsylvania State University Team Science Toolbox (https://ctsi.psu.edu/research-support/team-science-toolbox/), which features evidence-based team interventions to support team leaders and members dealing with the complex challenges of forming, launching, and managing teams. The toolbox is specifically tailored to team science novices who desire ready access to practical, pertinent team knowledge addressing specific team needs. Toolbox content highlights team interventions supported by science to help identify and select the right members, aid teams in getting off to a good start, and help members foster effective team dynamics. As such, an array of tools are featured to support diverse teams throughout their life cycle from team formation (e.g., team assembly, team composition), to team launch (e.g., kick-off meetings, ice breakers, team ground rules, team goal setting, team charters) to team maturation (e.g., cohesion, psychological safety, conflict resolution, vertical leadership, shared leadership, team building, team meetings, team debriefs). Check out the toolbox at: https://ctsi.psu.edu/research-support/team-science-toolbox/.    

Dr. Alicia Grandey and coauthors (Dr. Allison Gabriel and Dr. Eden King) were honored with this award by the Human Resource Division of the Academy of Management, for their 2021 publication “Tackling taboo topics:  A review of the three Ms in working women’s lives” in Journal of Management.  Read a quick summary here: https://journalsblog.sagepub.com/blog/guest/management/tackling-taboo-topics

Dr. Alicia Grandey recently received funding from the Social Science Research Institude (SSRI) to support return-to-work in the pandemic era with more Healthy-Inclusive-Productive Workplaces.  This interdisciplinary team of scholars from across Penn State’s colleges and campuses will be connecting with industry partners to develop innovative and actionable research.

You can view her research on the HIP Workplace website.

For an up-to-date list of BRIDGE resources and events related to Covid-19, please visit this page

Worrying Isn’t the Best Response to the COVID-19 Crisis | Psychology Today

Consistent with the Penn State University prevention based advice to practice social distancing, the Department of Psychology is strongly encouraging telework. This will help to minimize the spread of the coronavirus and is consistent with other Penn State actions currently in place in response to the threat of the coronavirus (https://sites.psu.edu/virusinfo/?utm_campaign=banner).

Practical implications of social distancing for the Psychology Department:

1. Department Offices will be closed at least through March 20. All staff will be working remotely with office phones forwarded to home offices. In other words, staff will still be available, but only by phone at 814-865-9514 or email.
2. The Psychological Clinic will be closed from March 16-20, 2020.
3. The Psychology Financial Office will be working remotely at least through April 6. No in-person drop-offs will be allowed until after April 6. Please submit all forms to umg-up.cla.fola-moore@PennStateOffice365.onmicrosoft.com
4. Most faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and other research staff will be working at home at least until April 6.
5. All classes, per Penn State President Barron’s announcement (https://news.psu.edu/story/611757/2020/03/11/academics/all-penn-state-classes-take-place-remotely-beginning-march-16) will be taught via remote learning at least through Friday, April 3.

Dr. Susan Mohammed (Co-Principal investigator), along with architectural engineers (Robert Leicht, Principal Investigator, Alan Wagner, Co-Principal Investigator, Bryan Franz, Co-Principal Investigator) and I/O Psychologist Marissa Shuffler (Co-Principal Investigator), will investigate how to integrate robots into predominantly human-centric construction work teams. This research is funded by a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation over the next three years across three universities (Penn State, Florida State, and Clemson). In the article, she explains her role in the project:

“We will specifically investigate the degree to which human trade works are ‘on the same page’ regarding the capabilities, coordination patterns and perceptions of robots in team dynamics, which has major implications for construction crew safety, efficiency and effectiveness…”

Click here to read more about Dr. Mohammed’s research. Congrats!

The Department of Psychology is starting a Mentoring Award for excellence in graduate advising. It will be awarded in April 2020 at the annual department reception.

Dr. Susan Mohammed recently received an National Science Foundation (NSF) grant entitled “Longitudinal Exploration of Engineering Design Team Performance in Relation to Team Composition, Climate, and Communication Patterns” to study engineering design teams. She serves as a co-principal investigator on this 3-year interdisciplinary project along with Dr. Scarlett Miller (Penn State, Engineering Design and Industrial Engineering, Principal Investigator) and Dr. Kathryn Jablokow (Penn State, Engineering Design and Mechanical Engineering, Co-Principal Investigator). Click here to read more about their research. Congrats Susan!

Dr. Alicia Grandey will be the keynote speaker at the Work And Organizational Psychology (WAOP) conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in November 2019. Click here for more details. Congrats Alicia!