Women in management: Still waiting to be full members of the club

The purpose of this study was first to explore the dimensionality of the ratings made for a successful middle manager using the Schein Descriptive Index (SDI) (Schein, 1973), and then to compare the ratings made for a successful middle manager, a women, and a man on the identified dimensions. Students (N=806) enrolled in psychology courses in a university in Ankara, Turkey rated the SDI adjectives to describe a woman, a man, or a successful middle manager. Three factors were identified that underlie the SDI adjectives for a successful middle manager: relationship-orientation, task-orientation, and emotional stability. Compared to men and middle managers in general, women were perceived by all participants to be relatively high in relationship-orientation, relatively low in task-orientation, and relatively low in emotional stability. Implications of the findings are discussed using role congruity theory as a general framework

The journey of psychology education in Turkey: challenges and opportunities

Psychology in Turkey follows the scientific trajectory of its Western counterparts with a sharp increase in the number of departments and accepted students over the last two decades. The US model of curriculum is still predominant with a large variation in the number of required or core courses across departments. Although education rather than research is still prioritized in many departments, large-scale studies, indigenous theories, and across-the-board research collaborations, especially after the 1990s, have made psychology in Turkey more international. Especially due to rapid social changes and urbanization, psychology currently is by far the most in-demand discipline in social sciences in Turkey. However, underrepresentation of emerging areas of psychology in many departments’ curricula, lack of effective quality assurance standards, particularly in graduate education, and absence of overarching legislation regulating the practice of psychology are among the major challenges facing psychology in Turkey. Establishment of an independent Undergraduate Accreditation Board initiated by the Turkish Psychological Association is a critical step in the right direction. This chapter reflects upon the-state-of-the art in psychology education in Turkey and discusses critical challenges

Reorganization efforts in the public sector: A position norm analysis study

Recently, a call has been made to develop a more systematic approach to human resources management in the public sector. A low-equivalent decision of the Cabinet required all government organizations to do organizational and job analyses and to conduct position norm analyses. To comply with this decision, in many public sector organizations studies that necessitated active participation of industrial and organizational psychologists have been started. The purpose of this study is to describe a position norm analysis study conducted in a public sector organization, which provides technical supervision and guidance to local governments in the establishment of their infrastructure. The techniques used, problems encountered, and solutions developed are discussed along with some critical suggestions for future studies

Predicting applicant withdrawal: An expectancy theory perspective

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictors of withdrawal from the job application process. To this end, this study used expectancy theory as its theoretical framework. Using data from 5,346 applicants to an entry-level military position in a large European military organization, results indicated that a positive change in job attraction, applicant emotional stability, and conscientiousness, and the amount of information and self-efficacy regarding selection procedures all had negative relationships with applicant withdrawal. The variables, which had a positive relationship with applicant withdrawal, included time interval after the application and perceptions of alternative employment opportunities. In addition, self-reported reasons for withdrawal were also examined, which included scheduling conflicts, problems with completing the application documents, and losing interest in the job. Both theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed

A proposed model of safety climate: Contributing factors and consequences

The aim of the present study was to propose a model on safety climate by investigating the relationship between safety climate perceptions of employees and their safety-related behaviors in the workplace. Additionally, effects of fatalism views and risk taking/sensation seeking tendencies on safe behaviors were analyzed. The possible moderating effects of these variables on safety climate-safe behavior relationship were also investigated. A total of 185 blue-collar employees working in a manufacturing firm participated in the study. Participants filled out the questionnaires including scales of safety climate, cultural values (fatalism, individualism, hierarchy, and egaliterianism) and dimensions (collectivism, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance), and risk taking/sensation seeking. The outcome variables included self-reported compliance with safety rules and self-reported percentage of safety equipment use. Safety climate perceptions predicted compliance with the safety rules. Also, sensation seeking tendencies were found to predict use of protective equipments. The hypothesized relationships concerning fatalism views and moderations were not confirmed in the present study. In addition to the hypotheses, safety climate perceptions tended to be more positive as collectivism, power distance increased, and uncertainty avoidance of the employees increased. Sensation seeking tendencies were higher for employees who reported less equipment use. Employees who reported to have had an accident had higher risk taking scores than employees who reported not to have had an accident involvement. The results are discussed with the implications and contributions of the study. Limitations of the study are presented along with some suggestions for future research

Use of nontraditional rating sources in performance appraisals

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a multi-source feedback system in a public sector organization and, more specifically, to examine performance appraisals provided by nontraditional rating sources (i.e., subordinates, peers, and sell) both psychometrically and on the basis of user-reactions. Intraclass correlations (i.e., inter-rater reliabilities) for subordinate evaluations were found to be relatively high (49). The pattern of correlations between ratings provided by different source pairs were similar to those reported in the literature (e.g., supervisor-peer = .31, self-peer = .30, subordinate-supervisor = .26, self- supervisor = .17). Results of a series of ANOVAs indicated that while self and peer ratings were most prone to leniency, supervisory ratings were relatively less prone to this bias. Self ratings were less open to halo than the ratings provided by the other sources. Along with an evaluation of the obtained user reactions, applicability of a multi-source performance appraisal system within the Turkish context is discussed