As you may have learned in your undergraduate psychology program, the field of psychology is increasing in popularity worldwide (Shealy et al., 2023). Approximately 10 years ago, there were around 4,000 psychology education programs globally (Bullock, 2014)—a number that almost certainly has increased. This number includes undergraduate psychology programs, leading us to ask: Is psychology just one thing globally? Or is it many things? In this article, we’ll talk about international shifts in psychology, describe a new project that developed international competences (i.e., learning outcomes) for undergraduate psychology, and offer tips on how to use these competences to guide your learning and promote your psychology major.
Psychology researchers often collaborate internationally, including on global issues, such as the covid-19 pandemic and climate change, that affect us all; yet our field is too often grounded in a weird (western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) perspective. More recently, there have been efforts made toward more inclusive approaches, particularly to address pressing societal issues (e.g., Prather, 2021; Thalmayer et al., 2021). Psychology really is becoming more global. How is that reflected in undergraduate psychology programs?
Knowledge, skills, and values
Through your undergraduate psychology studies, you gain knowledge, but perhaps more importantly, you gain skills. You develop analytical and critical thinking skills through research opportunities and the evaluation of claims about human behavior; quantitative skills through data collection and statistical analysis; communication skills through research papers and presentations; and collaborative, interpersonal, and teamwork skills through group projects and internships. As you engage with many different people, including classmates and instructors, as well as with diverse ideas, you also develop cultural responsiveness or cultural competence. These skills provide versatility that prepares you for careers within and outside the field of psychology, as well as for navigating your personal life and contributing to your community.
National and international models for understanding what you are learning
If you are studying psychology in the U.S., you most likely learned about APA’s Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major, Version 3.0 (APA, 2023). This most recent version of the guidelines, which outlines the knowledge, skills, and values you are expected to learn, has an expanded focus on international learning outcomes. Indeed, this growing emphasis on internationalization encourages psychology programs in the U.S. to incorporate more global content, themes, and values (like cultural responsiveness) into curricula.
Now, in addition to national models like Guidelines 3.0, a new global model is expanding the conversation about what you are learning. The International Competences for Undergraduate Psychologyopens in new window (ICUP; Nolan et al., 2024) was developed by a team of more than 100 psychology educators from over 40 countries (Nolan et al., 2024). It consists of 24 competence statements grouped under two core competence categories: psychological knowledge and psychological research methodologies and methods, and five psychology-relevant competence categories: values and ethics, cultural responsiveness and diversity, critical thinking and problem solving, communication and interpersonal skills, and personal and professional development. These guidelines do not specify content because that will differ across countries and cultures. But they do outline the skills—and values, like the importance of ethical decision-making and psychological science—found in psychology undergraduate programs globally. The goal was to create competences that can be used internationally rather than in a single country, in order to help psychology students and educators around the world engage in conversations about what they are teaching and learning across diverse countries and contexts.
ICUP and you
ICUP is a valuable tool for educators, as well as for students. You can use these competences to figure out what you have learned and what skills and values you have gained. Read the latest version of ICUP for more information. The five categories and 24 competence statements run from pages 5–9. Which ones have you acquired? Which ones do you want to acquire? How would you communicate these skills in a graduate school application or job interview? How would you use these skills in your personal life or in roles you have in your community?
One of the most important skills and values is reflexivity, defined as:
“finding strategies to question (on an ongoing basis) our own attitudes, thought processes, values, assumptions, prejudices and habitual actions, to strive to understand our complex roles in relation to others. To be reflexive is to recognize we are active in shaping our surroundings, and begin critically to take circumstances and relationships into consideration rather than merely reacting to them, and help review and revise ethical ways of being and relating to our ever-changing worldopens in new window” (Nolan et al., 2024).
You are developing reflexivity when you use ICUP to actively analyze your learning experiences and identify how you have developed skills and values, especially in relation to other people and your environment. Reflexivity not only incorporates our understanding of ourselves (and the effects of our social-cultural contexts) and our impact on our social world but also embraces an understanding and appreciation of the perspectives of others (Dawson et al., 2022; Lazard & McAvoy, 2017). The framework of the ICUP in general, and the reflexive approach in particular, can be a valuable tool for understanding and guiding your ongoing personal and professional development.
ICUP and employment
The ICUP model can also be used to market your psychology education to future employers or graduate schools, something frequently covered in the Psychology Student Network (e.g., Waggoner Denton, 2024). You can use the model to evaluate whether your experiences, skills, and values are the right fit for advanced studies or employment. Or, perhaps more importantly, to help you demonstrate that your experiences, skills, and values are the right fit for your goals. Specifically, you can showcase the skills that you have learned to employers and graduate programs that may care more about what you can do than about the title of your degree.
Additionally, in our increasingly global world, the international nature of the ICUP model can help you compete, contribute, and be a global citizen in all aspects of your life—including your personal life and your roles in the community. ICUP can work alongside APA’s Guidelines 3.0 to help you maximize the value of your psychology education.
References
American Psychological Association. (2023). APA Guidelines for the undergraduate psychology major. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/undergraduate-psychology-major.pdf (PDF, 1.04MB)opens in new window
Bullock, M. (2014). International frameworks for psychology education and training: Overarching issues and principles. In R. K. Silbereisen, P. L.-J. Ritchie, & J. Pandey (Eds.), Psychology education and training: A global perspective (pp. 63–73). Psychology Press.
Dawson, J., Laccos-Barrett, K., Hammond, C., & Rumbold, A. (2022). Reflexive practice as an approach to improve healthcare delivery for Indigenous Peoples: A systematic critical synthesis and exploration of the cultural safety education literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(11), 6691. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116691opens in new window
Lazard, L., & McAvoy, J. (2017). Reflexivity in psychological research: What’s the point? What’s the practice? Qualitative Research in Psychology, 17(2) pp. 159–177. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2017.1400144opens in new window
Nolan, S. A., Cranney, J., de Sousa, L. K., Goedeke, S., Gullifer, J., Hulme, J., Jia, F., Job, R., Machin, T., Narciss, S., Foster, L., Illescu, D., Ju, X., Kojima, H., Kumar, A., Tchombe, T. Waitoki, M., & IRGUPO Consortium. (2024 preprint 18 September). Gamma.R2 version: International Competences for Undergraduate Psychology. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/6Y38Xopens in new window
Prather, R. (2021, July 5). Reconstructing the study of human cognition. Preprint. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/45a2qopens in new window
Shealy, C., Bullock, M., & Kapadia, S. (2023). Introduction to going global: Why psychologists should meet a world of need. In C. Shealy, M. Bullock, & S. Kapadia (Eds.), Going global: How psychologists can meet a world of need (pp. 3–13). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000311-001opens in new window
Thalmayer, A. G., Toscanelli, C., & Arnett, J. J. (2021). The neglected 95% revisited: Is American psychology becoming less American? American Psychologist, 76(1), 116–129. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0000622opens in new window
Waggoner Denton, A. (September 2024). How to market the skills you have and develop the ones you need. Psychology Student Network. https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psn/2024/09/marketing-skills
About the authors
Susan Nolan, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Seton Hall University (USA). As a Fulbright Scholar, Susan conducted projects on psychology higher education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Australia. She cofounded the International Collaboration on Undergraduate Psychology Outcomesopens in new window and was a member of the APA Task Force that developed the Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major, Version 3.0. Susan is a former representative from APA to the United Nations and is a fellow of APA and the Association for Psychological Science.
Ritika Patel earned her undergraduate degree from the Department of Psychology at Seton Hall University (USA) in December 2024. Since January, she is enrolled in a master’s in professional counseling program in the College of Human Development, Culture, and Media at Seton Hall University (USA). She serves as a research assistant for Nolan, working alongside her on the development and dissemination of the International Competences on Undergraduate Psychologyopens in new window. As an undergraduate, Ritika was a member of the Community and Inclusion Committee in the Department of Psychology and helped plan diversity, equity, and inclusion events on campus with faculty and students.
