Never before have the stakes been so high in presenting a clear picture of the value of a major in psychology. In times of challenging economics and limited job growth, legislators, taxpayers and parents justifiably want to be assured that the choice of a major can lead to a viable position in the workforce... Since the word "psychology" is unlikely to appear in advertisements for jobs that can be obtained following the completion of a baccalaureate degree, the burden falls to educational practitioners to make a compelling case about the value of the major (Guidelines 2.0, p. 41).
Purpose of Guidelines 2.0
The APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major, Version 2.0, known as Guidelines 2.0, is a 68-page publication of the American Psychological Association. It articulates expectations — targets to achieve — for psychology departments and faculty to design and implement a curriculum that enables students to enter the workforce professionally prepared, whether or not the students plan to stop at the baccalaureate level or continue in a graduate or professional school program. Of the approximate 109,000 students who graduate with a psychology major annually (NCES, 2013), only 20 to 24 percent “continue into graduate study in psychology” after obtaining a bachelor’s degree (APA Center for Workforce Studies, 2014). Others enter other graduate or professional programs immediately after graduation or later. Presumably, the majority of baccalaureate graduates search for employment that directly or indirectly uses their psychology major. In a highly competitive workplace in which the connections between employer needs and a liberal arts education are often vague, graduates need resources that help them link their psychology education to workplace demands. Guidelines 2.0 is such a resource.
Guidelines 2.0 (a revision of the original 2006 guidelines) also articulates “expectations that should be broadly achieved by students in psychology as a liberal arts program at critical points in the undergraduate major rather than serving as a profile of those who are headed to graduate or professional school” (Guidelines 2.0, 2013, p. 10). I call Guidelines 2.0 your "covert career counselor" because it operates relatively unseen as a blueprint for your psychology coursework, learning experiences and learning outcomes. Guidelines 2.0 might not be discussed by your teachers, but it structures your psychology education, covertly, and articulates a set of expectations you should meet to prepare for career, work and life. These expectations are likely to be implemented in different ways by colleges and universities as a function of their overall mission, program structure and resources.
How Guidelines 2.0 is structured
Guidelines 2.0 consists of five goals:
- Knowledge base in psychology.
- Scientific inquiry and critical thinking.
- Ethical and social responsibility in a diverse world.
- Communication.
- Professional development.
Guidelines 2.0 describes the scope of each goal, several explicit learning outcomes (called "indicators") stated as action verbs and possible measures of achievement. To acknowledge a student’s developmental progress toward attaining the goals, the indicators are classified as "foundation" (goals attained after completion of several lower level courses, e.g., in a psychology minor or associate’s degree program that emphasizes psychology) and "baccalaureate" (goals, performance expectations or progress indicators attained at the completion of a psychology major). The baccalaureate indicators are intended to “fully develop psychology as a liberal arts degree that effectively prepares students for the workforce” (Guidelines 2.0, 2013, p. 4). The five goals direct the broad learning outcomes of your efforts from your first through your last course, in addition to relevant non-classroom experiences (e.g., internships, additional research or extra-curricular activities).
Applying the five goals
Space does not permit me to summarize all the foundation and baccalaureate indicators for each of the numerous outcomes of the five goals, nor will I address measurement of the goals, but I provide one example of an indicator for each goal at the foundation and baccalaureate levels. I strongly encourage you to use Guidelines 2.0 as a guide, map or checklist of your progress through your psychology coursework. As you approach graduation and obtain job search skills, you should estimate the extent to which you attained each goal and developed specific attributes and skills inferred from successful demonstration of the indicators. That is, Guidelines 2.0 enables you to organize your psychology learning experiences as the achievement of:
- Five major goals.
- Their outcomes.
- Developmental or progress indicators.
- Personal attributes that can be inferred from successfully demonstrating the indicators.
This organizational structure also helps you connect your specific academic experiences to your overall personal and professional goals (to the extent you know your goals). It also helps you articulate your skills and knowledge, where appropriate, in a job search. Finally, Appendix E lists 75 potential careers for a psychology baccalaureate degree and a list nearly as long of careers that require a degree beyond the bachelor’s.
Goal statements
For each of the five goals I will describe the outcomes (i.e., Students will…), provide one example of a foundation indicator and baccalaureate indicator and identify in parentheses the number of pairs of indicators (foundation and baccalaureate).
Goal 1: knowledge base in psychology
“Students should demonstrate fundamental knowledge and comprehension of the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, historical trends, and empirical findings to discuss how psychological principles apply to behavioral problems” (Guidelines 2.0, 2013, p 17).
- Outcome 1.1. Students will describe key concepts, principles and overarching themes in psychology (five indicators for each level of progress).
- Outcome 1.2. Students will develop a working knowledge of psychology’s content domains (five indicators).
- Outcome 1.3. Students will describe applications of psychology (four indicators).
- Foundation indicator 1.3a. Students will describe examples of relevant and practical applications of psychological principles to everyday life.
- Baccalaureate indicator 1.3A. Students will articulate how psychological principles can be used to explain social issues, address pressing societal needs and inform public policy (Guidelines 2.0, 2013).
Attributes inferred from successful demonstration of these outcomes.
To the extent you clearly achieve the foundation and baccalaureate indicators for the three outcomes of Goal 1, certain attributes may be inferred. They include: capable of coping with complexity and ambiguity, conversant about psychological phenomena, curious, flexible in thinking, knowledgeable about psychology, motivated, open minded, prepared and psychologically literate (Guidelines 2.0, 2013). Notice that the attributes may be inferred and are not necessarily well established in your behavioral repertoire as a result of completing Goal 1 outcomes. Your psychology course grades and GPA may reflect the extent to which you possess these attributes, although other learning experiences (e.g., other coursework, internships, jobs and extra-curricular activities) may also contribute. In general, these attributes represent specific transferable skills that employers may seek, i.e., skills you could identify in a job search to the extent you can clearly demonstrate them. Remember, at the baccalaureate level, most employers are far more interested in the skills or attributes you transfer from college than in your specific knowledge of a liberal arts major.
Goal 2: scientific inquiry and critical thinking
“The skills in this domain involve the development of scientific reasoning and problem solving, including effective research methods” (Guidelines 2.0, 2013, p. 20).
- Outcome 2.1. Students will use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological phenomena (five indicators at the foundation and baccalaureate levels).
- Outcome 2.2. Students will demonstrate psychology information literacy (five indicators).
- Outcome 2.3. Students will engage in innovative and integrative thinking and problem solving (three indicators).
- Outcome 2.4. Students will interpret, design and conduct basic psychological research (seven indicators).
- Foundation indicator 2.4b. Students will discuss the value of experimental design (i.e., controlled comparisons) in justifying cause–effect relationships.
- Baccalaureate indicator 2.4B. Students will limit cause–effect claims to research strategies that appropriately rule out alternative explanations.
- Outcome 2.5 Students will incorporate sociocultural factors into scientific inquiry (four indicators).
Attributes inferred from successful demonstration of these outcomes.
Amiably skeptical, careful, collaborative, constructively critical, creative, curious, intentional, inventive, logical, open minded, persistent, precise, self-directed, self-starting, systematic and tolerant of ambiguity (Guidelines 2.0, 2013).
Goal 3: ethical and social responsibility in a diverse world
“The skills in this domain involve the development of ethically and socially responsible behaviors for professional and personal settings in a landscape that involves increasing diversity” (Guidelines 2.0, 2013, p. 26).
- Outcome 3.1. Students will apply ethical standards to evaluate psychological science and practice (four foundation and baccalaureate indicators).
- Outcome 3.2. Students will build and enhance interpersonal relationships (four indicators).
- Outcome 3.3. Students will adopt values that build community at local, national and global levels (six indicators).
- Foundation indicator 3.3c. Students will explain how psychology can promote civic, social and global outcomes that benefit others.
- Baccalaureate indicator 3.3C. Students will pursue personal opportunities to promote civic, social and global outcomes that benefit the community.
Attributes inferred from successful demonstration of these outcomes.
Beneficent, civically engaged, community involved, conventional, courageous, ethical, fair minded, generous, moral, reliable, respectful, rigorous, sensitive, tolerant and trustworthy (Guidelines 2.0, 2013).
Goal 4: communication
“Students should demonstrate competence in writing and in oral and interpersonal communication skills” (Guidelines 2.0, 2013, p. 30).
- Outcome 4.1. Students will demonstrate effective writing for different purposes (seven foundation and baccalaureate indicators).
- Outcome 4.2. Students will exhibit effective presentation skills for different purposes (five indicators).
- Outcome 4.3. Students will interact effectively with others (five indicators).
- Foundation indicator 4.3b. Students will recognize that culture, values and biases may produce misunderstandings in communication.
- Baccalaureate indicator 4.3B. Students will deploy psychological concepts to facilitate effective interactions with people of diverse backgrounds.
Attributes inferred from successful demonstration of these outcomes.
Attentive, comprehensible, flexible, investigative, precise, prepared and respectful (Guidelines 2.0, 2013).
Goal 5: professional development
“The emphasis in this goal is on application of psychology-specific content and skills, effective self-reflection, project management skills, teamwork skills and career preparation” (Guidelines 2.0, 2013, p. 33).
- Outcome 5.1. Students will apply psychological content and skills to career goals (six foundation and baccalaureate indicators).
- Outcome 5.2. Students will exhibit self-efficacy and self-regulation (four indicators).
- Outcome 5.3. Students will refine project management skills (four indicators).
- Outcome 5.4. Students will enhance teamwork capacity (six indicators).
- Outcome 5.5. Students will develop meaningful professional direction for life after graduation (six indicators).
- Foundation indicator 5.5b. Students will articulate the skill sets desired by employers who will hire or select people with psychology backgrounds.
- Baccalaureate indicator 5.5B. Students will develop evidence of attaining skill sets desired by psychology-related employers.
Attributes inferred from successful demonstration of these outcomes.
Adaptable, collaborative, confident, conscientious, dependable, directed, efficient, industrious, intuitive, prepared, reflective, resilient, resourceful, responsible and sensitive (Guidelines 2.0, 2013).
Cautions and confidence
Guidelines 2.0 represents challenging targets for psychology departments and programs to achieve, depending on their mission, structure and resources, as well as targets students should achieve. It does not specify how many of the 95 sets of progress indicators students should achieve, nor at what level, although measures of assessment are provided for each goal; such decisions, if appropriate, would be made by faculty in your psychology program. In short, do not expect a letter grade to indicate how well you achieved the five goals.
Your use of Guidelines 2.0 is not a substitute for meeting regularly with your teachers, academic advisor and your career counselor. Nor is your achievement of the indicators and goal outcomes the only path to developing the inferred attributes. Similarly, recognize that your self-attribution of the inferred skills is a subjective judgment, one that can readily be tested by an astute interviewer during a job search.
Many new liberal arts graduates are uncertain about what they learned in college and how they can use it in the workplace. However, if you apply Guidelines 2.0 thoughtfully, you should be able to articulate five comprehensive learning goals that encompass your psychology major, their outcomes, several progress indicators and several attributes inferred from your successful demonstration of these outcomes. In short, you should be able to claim: “Here’s what I learned from my psychology major, and here are skills I developed as a result.” Certainly, you learned much more than what is summarized in the guidelines. Certainly you will encounter tasks and challenges in your preparation for a career that are outside the realm of these expectations. Yet, Guidelines 2.0 will have enabled you to view your psychology education as the achievement of four very important (and marketable) skills-based goals (scientific inquiry and critical thinking, ethical and social responsibility in a diverse world, communication and professional development) and a knowledge base in psychology (Guidelines 2.0, 2013). How can you do better than that?
References
American Psychological Association. (2013). APA guidelines for the undergraduate psychology major: Version 2.0. Washington, D.C.: Author.
American Psychological Association Center for Workforce Studies. (2014). Frequently asked questions. Washington: American Psychological Association.
National Center for Educational Statistics. (2013). Digest of educational statistics 2013. Washington: Department of Education.
About the author
Paul I. Hettich, PhD, professor emeritus at DePaul University (Illinois), was an Army personnel psychologist, program evaluator in an education research and development lab, and a corporate applied scientist — positions that created a “real world” foundation for his career in college teaching and administration at Barat College (Lake Forest, Illinois). He was inspired to write about college-to-workplace transition issues of graduates and employers who revealed a major disconnect between university and workplace expectations, cultures and practices.