PEARL

What is PEARL?

Our new DOP initiative, PEARL stands for Post-graduate- Early Career- Activity- Research & Learning.

The first PEARL event - Occupational Psychology Today: Demystifying the communication, publication, and dissemination of your work - was a webinar held in April, 2022.

This was followed by our PEARL2 webinar - Developing and promoting yourself, your career, your professional practice, and your research - in November. 

PEARL3 - Developing your practice: shaping your career path in occupational psychology MSc and beyond - will be held virtually on 20 April 2023.

Interested in presenting your work?

Submissions can be emailed  in pdf format to [email protected] up until 17 March 2023.

Please read the submission information to find out what to include.

Why 'early career'?

This is a term used across the different domains of applied psychology.

However, we fully recognise that people move into occupational psychology at different points in their career paths and that career trajectories in OP are likely to be non-linear.

So, you may be in the early stages of completing a formal qualification/ and or training in OP but already have many years of career experience.

PEARL is for everyone currently studying or researching as a post-graduate student in occupational/organisational psychology, or in training (QOP2), along with anyone who has in the last 2 years completed a degree or qualification in occupational psychology.

What happens in PEARL?

This is a chance to submit your work, have it reviewed and, if invited, present it to your peers in a safe and supportive environment. It's also an opportunity to attend as a delegate.

There will be practitioner and academic keynotes at PEARL events and each PEARL webinar will have a theme/focus and workshop discussions to support skill development.

Why take part in PEARL?

• Learn about the submission process for conferences and journal publication
• Gain experience of presenting (presenters receive a certificate from the DOP to add to their development profile and keep track of their achievements)
• Find out about the work your peers are doing
• Hear from two keynotes about their career paths and achievements in occupational/organisational psychology
• Networking
• Become part of the DOP PEARL community

Who can take part? 

• Students who are currently studying on or have recently completed a post-graduate course in Occupational/Organisational   Psychology
• Candidates enrolled on the BPS Stage 2 Qualification in occupational psychology
• PhD students whose research focuses on a topic falling within occupational/organisational psychology
• Anyone who has completed a degree or qualification in occupational psychology in the last 2 years

Can I register to attend if I haven't submitted this time?

• Yes.  If you wish you can simply register for the event as a delegate when registrations open.

How should I prepare my submission?

PEARL criteria  

Interest

Submissions should demonstrate that the proposed presentation will be of interest to delegates.  This could be reflected in a number of ways, including (but not limited to): focus on a novel (or relatively novel) topic, such as an emerging trend; in a different way of thinking about a subject; practical reflections on a project, or working with a particular client group, etc.  The emphasis should be on presentations that other delegates can learn from.  Please bear in mind that delegates will comprise postgraduate students (including research students) and trainee occupational psychologists.  Therefore we particularly welcome submissions that have something to offer for both practitioners and researchers.

Rigour

Submissions must demonstrate a suitable approach has been taken.  In research submissions this relates to appropriate research designs, good quality data collection techniques (whether quantitative, qualitative, or mixed), and appropriate management of potential limitations.  In practice-based projects, focus should be on why particular decisions were taken, practical considerations that were managed (e.g. constraints on practice), how quality was ensured, etc.

Ethics

In addition to demonstrating quality in the approaches taken, it will be essential for submissions to demonstrate consideration of ethical issues.  In some cases it may be appropriate for submissions to refer to legal considerations.  Any submission stating that there were no ethical issues or failing to address ethical issues will be automatically rejected.  Every project has potential risks, even if these appear minimal or unlikely.

Submissions relating to future projects are welcome (e.g. MSc or research students yet to collect data).  In these cases, rigour and ethics will relate to what is planned.

Submissions based on literature reviews or empirical research using secondary data are also welcome.  In these cases, rigour will relate to the method of the review (e.g. how journal articles were selected) or secondary data collection.  Ethics will also need to be addressed, e.g. any ethical issues associated with the data sources selected, accurate reporting, etc.

Are there any costs?

• To encourage participation PEARL events are free.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about the PEARL initiative, please send an email to Andrew Clements.

Organisers

PEARL is being organised for the Division of Occupational Psychology by: Phil McKee, Christeen George (Lead), Arianna Prudenzi, Varuni Wimalasiri and Andrew Clements.