“What can I do with a psychology degree?” (Norris, 2019). Educators, parents, counselors, and so many other influential people in the lives of students often emphasize the importance of choosing a major that will lead to a career (Vespia, 2020). Yet without a clear answer to “What can I do with a psychology degree?”, students might be discouraged from choosing psychology as a major. But this is not because career options don’t exist. It is merely because students and the influential people in their lives may not be aware of the numerous career options, many interdisciplinary in nature, that are available to them when studying psychological science.
The most recent Psychology Teacher Network newsletter focused on the important skills developed across the psychology major curriculum and the strong preparation provided for majors given all those skills learned (Denton, 2024). In this article, we advocate for why we as educators can and should provide clarity on how a psychology major can lead to a diverse set of career opportunities for students to apply those skills. Many of those opportunities are not commonly covered in the introductory course or even early on in the curriculum, so it is up to us to introduce students to the diverse career opportunities in psychology early in their educational journey.
When students choose to take a psychology course, most come into the classroom with an overly narrow understanding of the field of psychology. They may not understand the scientific basis of the field and are often only aware of careers related to mental health and therapeutic applications (Ferguson, 2015; Lilienfeld, 2012). As educators, we can help students overcome some of those misconceptions by providing content to illustrate the scientific basis of the discipline and the many career opportunities that are outside of mental health services. For example, if students are interested in both psychology as well as law, business, education, computer science, sports, or sustainability, they would benefit from learning how psychological science is applied in the legal system, workplace, classroom, technology, sports and fitness, and the natural environment (Appleby, 2015; Norris, 2019). By teaching them how psychological science is applied in these areas, we can help them see the interdisciplinary nature of psychology and the numerous career options available to them. This can encourage students to consider psychology as a major, even if they have other academic passions.
With content knowledge and application, as well as personal and professional development included as two of the five broad undergraduate educational goals, covering career opportunities connects well to the Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Majoropens in new window that were recently updated (APA, 2023). Given the greater focus on careers in the curriculum guidelines, it is not surprising that more and more post-secondary psychology departments include a course requirement that focuses on careers. However, if we wait until students declare the major to introduce them to these details, students who might have considered the major might choose an alternative major connected to their additional academic passions, rather than psychology.
APA and other organizations offer resources to use in the classroom when discussing career opportunities for those who want to obtain an undergraduate degree or go on to a graduate program.
- The Center for Workforce Studies tool, which illustrates examples of different occupations based on obtaining a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree in psychology.
- For information about career paths and options for students with psychology degrees, read Introduction To Career Development – The Australian Handbook for Careers in Psychological Science (pressbooks.pub)opens in new window
- For videos and updated coverage on careers in applied psychology, check out APA’s Office of Applied Psychology.
- Resources for educators can be found at APA’s Education and Career page, TOPSS, the Center for Psychology in Schools and Education, and the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP)opens in new window.
References
Appleby, D. C. (2015). An online career-exploration resource for psychology majors. Office of teaching resources in psychology online. Society for the Teaching of Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.roanoke.edu/Documents/Psychology Department/Career resources for Psychology Majors.pdfopens in new window
Appleby, D. C. (2015). An introduction to an online career-exploration resource for psychology majors. Office of teaching resources in psychology online. Society for the Teaching of Psychology. https://teachpsych.org/resources/Documents/otrp/resources/appleby/Poster%20Careers.pdfopens in new window
American Psychological Association (2023). APA guidelines for the undergraduate psychology major version 3.0. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/undergraduate-psychology-major.pdfopens in new window
Denton, A. W. (2024). The market-ready psychology major: Skills-focused resources for psychology instructors. Psychology Teacher Network, https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psychology-teacher-network/introductory-psychology/market-ready
Ferguson, C. J. (2015). “Everybody knows psychology is not a real science”: Public perceptions of psychology and how we can improve our relationship with policymakers, the scientific community, and the general public. American Psychologist, 70(6), 527–542. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039405
Lilienfeld, S. O. (2012). Public skepticism of psychology: Why many people perceive the study of human behavior as unscientific. American Psychologist, 67, 111–129.
Norris, M. E. (2019). The Canadian Handbook for Careers in Psychological Science. Kingston, ON: eCampus Ontario. Licensed under CC BY NC 4.0. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/psychologycareers/front-matter/foreword/opens in new window
Vespia, K. M. (2020). Psychology, careers, and workforce readiness: A curricular infusion approach. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 6(2), 163.
About the Authors
Dr. Beth M. Schwartz is the associate director in the Office of Applied Psychology at APA where her work focuses on applying psychological and behavioral science to promote human performance and wellbeing. Initiatives include workplace psychology, human-technology interaction, legal psychology, and climate change psychology. Working alongside experts across the field of psychology, Dr. Schwartz’s focus is to connect psychological science to real-world issues for real-world impact. Dr. Schwartz started her career in higher education as a psychology professor at Randolph College and then served as provost at Heidelberg University, and finally as provost at Endicott College, overseeing the division as chief academic officer. Beth received her BA from Colby College, and her PhD in cognitive psychology from SUNY at Buffalo. She is a long-standing member of APA and a fellow of APA’s Division 2, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. Her publications include articles and numerous books, including
Evidenced-Based Tools and Techniques for University Teaching
,
Optimizing Teaching and Learning
, and a series of books that serve as “EasyGuides” for students learning the intricacies of APA style, research design, statistics, and presentations. Outside of work, Dr. Schwartz lives on the coast of Massachusetts in Manchester-by-the-Sea and loves heading out with her husband Doc and springer spaniel Riley on their boat, appropriately named “Life of Riley.”
Dr. Nicole Barnes is the senior director of the Center for Psychology in the Schools and Education for APA. She has a PhD in educational psychology from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, with concentrations in cognition, learning, development, and educational measurement. Barnes started her career as a fifth grade teacher in Elizabeth, NJ, the city where she grew up. It was in her early career moments working with students that her passion for teaching and interest in teaching practices fostered. Barnes transitioned to higher education where she was a professor of educational psychology and a senior doctoral faculty member in the Teacher Education, Teacher Development Program at Montclair State University in New Jersey for 13 years. Please reach out to Dr. Barnes; she loves to connect with all those who are passionate about using psychological science to improve pre-K to 12 schools and education.
