go back to index A requirement) for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in psychology is the completion of a minor (click here to see a list of the minors available at Southeast Missouri State University). A minor usually involves the completion of 18-24 credit hours in an academic area other than your major. It is called a minor because it requires fewer credit hours than a major. The choice of a minor is an important one. The minor you select may play a substantial role in your marketability for employment upon graduation. Theoretically, you can minor in any discipline that offers one, but there are some minors that are more popular among psychology majors. A short discussion of each follows:
Business: Quite a number of psychology majors intend to pursue careers in various areas of the business community or, they intend to pursue graduate study in business, marketing, management, etc. These persons greatly benefit from their exposure to the basics of business administration.
Family Studies: Quite a few psychology majors anticipate future employment in settings where a background in Family or Youth education is useful. Also, it is not uncommon for a psychology major to attend seminary. A minor in one of these areas would be quite appropriate for these pursuits.
While these are the most popular minors among psychology
majors, there have been individuals who have minored in other academic disciplines offered
at Southeast Missouri State University. In the past, psychology majors have minored in the
following fields: English, Journalism, Public Relations, Social Studies, Biology,
Chemistry, Physical Education, History, Computer Science, and Music. Consultation with
your advisor can help you clarify which minor might be appropriate for you.
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On several previous occasions in this handbook the term
advisor has been used. Who is this elusive person and what does he/she do? Academic
advisors are typically faculty persons in your major area. Some departments will assign an
advisor to you; others will allow you to choose the person with whom you want to work.
Your advisor is the person who helps guide you, academically, through your four years at
Southeast Missouri State University. Advisors help with course selection, career
development, graduate school preparation, and a variety of other activities. They can also
be helpful to you in resolving problems you might encounter on campus. Some students seem
to visit their advisor on only two occasions per year: when it is time to register for
next semester's courses. Do not fall into that trap! Your advisor is an important person
in your planning for the future, and you should form a close relationship with him/her.
Remember, the advisor is usually one of the persons who writes letters of recommendation
for you. Advisors write more effective letters if they are familiar with you!
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There are a number of academic requirements you must complete and deadlines you must meet in order to proceed smoothly toward graduation. These can be found in the college catalog, but it is sometimes easy to overlook them. So, we will mention a few here for your convenience.
You must have a total of 124 credit hours to complete your bachelor's degree.
Thirty of your credit hours must be junior-senior level.
Courses with zero as their first number (e.g., GS012 or GS014) do not count toward total hours.
Minimum overall GPA must be 2.0.
GPA in minor must be 2.0.
GPA in psychology must be 2.25.
All competencies must be met (writing, computer, etc.).
You must take a comprehensive achievement test in Psychology in PY497.
There are many activities available to you on the Southeast Missouri State University campus. Your college experience will be enhanced if you participate in one or more of these extracurricular activities. There are also some specialized activities available to you as a psychology major. Short descriptions of those activities follow:
Psychology Club. The Psychology Club is a student-oriented group of psychology majors and minors. The goals of the psychology club are 1) to promote psychology as a career, 2) to inform members of career opportunities, 3) to provide members information about graduate school, and 4) to promote the integration of Christianity and psychology. The club meets once a month and presents a variety of programs. A file of graduate school information and licensing requirements is maintained by the psychology club in Scully room 320.
Psi Chi (click here). Psi Chi is the National Honor Society in Psychology. Psychology majors who have at least 12 credit hours in psychology, are in the upper 35% of their class, and maintain a 3.0 grade point average in psychology are eligible for membership. Membership in Psi Chi entitles students to vote in local and national Psi Chi elections and attend various regional and national meetings. Psi Chi will join the Psychology Club in sponsoring some events.
APA Student Affiliate Program. As an undergraduate student you cannot be a full member of the American Psychological Association. However, there is a program by which you can be a Student Affiliate of APA. Membership in this program costs $25 per year. For that $20, you receive the APA Monitor and American Psychologist. These publications are useful in keeping up to date on what is going on in psychology. As a student affiliate you are able to purchase any APA publication at members' rates. You are strongly encouraged to consider this program.
Obviously, when you complete your bachelor's degree in
psychology you will want to consider immediate employment or further study in graduate
school; RIGHT? WRONG! If you wait until you complete your bachelor's degree to ponder your
future you may find yourself in a difficult position. The time to consider your future in
psychology is not during the final few weeks of your senior year. THE TIME IS NOW !! There
is no need to commit to a specific job right now, but you can begin reading about, or
talking to your advisor about the alternatives available to you. If you begin
investigating these issues now, you will find it much easier to make decisions and
transitions later. In this section we will discuss some of the most important issues
regarding employment of persons who possess degrees in psychology.
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Where do persons with degrees in psychology work?
That depends on what degree the person has completed. For the sake of organization let's first deal with those persons who have gone to graduate school and possess either a master's or doctoral degree in psychology. We will discuss the process of going to graduate school in the next major section of this handbook.
We said in an earlier section of this handbook that psychologists work in areas of teaching, research, human services, and business/industry. Two additional areas should be mentioned: administration and consultation. It is not uncommon for a person with a graduate degree in psychology to be the chief administrator of a community mental health center, hospital, or federal agency. Many hospitals are developing departments of behavioral medicine and putting psychologists in charge of those departments. One of the NTSB's (National Transportation and Safety Board) chief administrators in recent years was a psychologist (The NTSB is the organization that investigates accidents of aircraft, trains, etc.). Psychologists also act as consultants in many settings. By consultant we mean a person hired for his/her expertise in some specific area to solve a specific problem. For example, a psychologist may be hired to help a lawyer choose members of a jury. Or, a psychologist who is trained in research may be hired by an organization to develop, administer, and interpret a survey that may yield information vital to the operation of the organization.
Just as we've said before these categories are not mutually
exclusive. A psychology professor at a university may be hired as a consultant, for
example.
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What are the specialties in psychology?
Nearly everyone who goes to graduate school in psychology focuses on some specialty area. In this section you will be introduced to some of the major specialties in psychology. Keep in mind this is not an exhaustive list.
Clinical Psychology. Clinical psychologists assess and treat persons with psychological or behavioral problems. They serve as therapists for persons experiencing normal psychological crises or for individuals suffering from disorders such as depression. Some clinicians are generalists and work with a wide variety of populations. Others work with specific groups like children, the elderly, or with specific disorders. They are found in hospitals, community mental health centers, or private practice. Some clinical psychologists do research and/or teach in colleges or universities.
Counseling Psychology. Counseling psychologists do many of the same things that clinical psychologists do. However, counseling psychologists tend to focus more on persons with adjustment problems, rather than persons with severe psychological disorders. You will find counseling psychologists in academic settings, community mental health centers, and private practice. Recent research tends to indicate that counseling psychology training is very similar to clinical psychology training.
School Psychology. School psychologists are involved in the development (social, intellectual, etc.) of the child in the educational setting. School psychologists typically are involved in the assessment of children and recommending courses of action that facilitate the students' learning. They often act as consultants to parents and administration with respect the optimal organization of the students' learning environment.
Industrial/Organizational Psychology. I/O psychologists are primarily concerned with the relationship between people and their work environment. They may attempt to develop new ways to increase productivity. They may be involved in the selection of personnel. You find I/O psychologists in businesses, industries, government agencies, and colleges and universities. I/O psychologists are probably the most highly paid psychologists, in general.
All of the specialties listed to this point fall into the category of applied specialties. This means they are generally oriented toward work in practical settings, helping to solve problems. That does not mean they are exclusively applied. As we've said before, many of these persons are engaged in research or teaching. The next group of specialties to be discussed are generally research oriented. Many of the people in these specialties are also professors at colleges or universities. Some do research, teach, and provide services to persons and organizations. So, as we've stated before, you can't always describe what a particular psychologist does by placing one label on him/her!
Experimental Psychology. This term includes a rather diverse group of psychologists who do research in some of the most basic areas of psychology. It would include psychologists who study learning, memory, cognition, perception, sensation, language, etc. In some cases their research is conducted with animals rather than humans. Most of these psychologists are faculty members at colleges or universities.
Social Psychology. Social psychologists study how our thoughts, feelings, opinions, and behaviors are affected by other persons. Some of the topics of interest to social psychologists are attitudes, impression formation, aggression, interpersonal attraction and love, crowding, etc. Most social psychologists are on the faculty of a college or university, however, increasing numbers of them are being hired by business/industry, hospitals, and federal agencies to do applied research.
Neuroscience (Physiological Psychology). It was stated earlier in this handbook that the neurosciences are one of the hottest areas of psychology today. Interest in the physiological correlates of behavior has increased dramatically in recent years. This group of psychologists sometimes studies very basic processes, such as how brain cells operate. Sometimes they study more observable things like behavioral changes as a function of drug use or the biological roots of psychiatric disorders. Sometimes a psychologist who is trained in physiological psychology will also take training in clinical areas and work with persons who have neurological problems.
Developmental Psychology. Developmental psychologists study how we develop intellectually, socially, emotionally, morally, etc, throughout our life span. Some will focus on just one period of time (e.g., childhood or adolescence). Developmental psychologists usually do research and teach in academic settings, but many act as consultants to daycare centers, schools, or agencies.
Educational Psychology. People in this specialty study learning for the most part. They attempt to understand the basic processes behind our learning and then develop materials and strategies for enhancing the learning process. For example, an educational psychologist might study reading, and from that research develop a new technique for teaching reading.
These research oriented specialties are generally made up of doctoral level psychologists. The applied specialties discussed earlier are staffed by both master's and doctoral level persons. We have not enumerated all of the specialties in psychology. There are just too many to list and discuss. However, the nine specialties we discussed make up about 85% of all psychologists.
It should also be mentioned that there are always new specialties emerging from within the field of psychology. For example, a number of psychologists are pioneering a specialty called Forensic psychology. Forensic psychologists practice psychology within the legal system. They may evaluate the competence of a defendant to stand trial. They may be involved in the settlement of divorce and child custody cases. Sometimes they hold degrees in both psychology and law.
If you are interested in more details about specialties in
psychology, talk to your advisor. He/She would be happy to refer you to the appropriate
resources.
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What if I want to get a graduate degree in an area that is related to psychology?
Counseling psychology degrees are typically granted by a department of psychology. In addition to training in assessment and therapy, a student obtaining this degree will usually be required to complete course work in the substantive areas of psychology (e.g., experimental, social, learning, etc.). Degrees in counseling psychology are mostly M.A., M.S., Psy.D., or Ph.D. degrees.
Counseling degrees are typically granted by colleges of education (This is not always the case. Some seminaries have established departments of counseling.). To complete the requirements for the counseling degree students take many of the same courses taken by students in counseling psychology. Assessment and therapy techniques and courses in personality may be identical in the two programs. However, in counseling programs students are not usually required to take graduate courses in other traditional areas of psychology. Additionally, the counseling degrees are often oriented toward a particular work settings: schools, rehabilitation center, etc. Sometimes students in counseling programs must take courses in departments outside their counseling department. Some of them elect to take courses in psychology departments. In some cases their course work might not differ substantially from the students' in the counseling psychology program. Generally, counseling degrees are M.Ed. or Ed.D., although there are some exceptions to this rule. It is not uncommon for people with degrees in these two areas to be working in jobs with the same basic description.
A number of psychology majors obtain graduate degrees from programs that are not psychology programs, but are related to them. One of those is the M.S.W. degree. The Master's of Social Work (or Welfare) is a degree offered by departments of Social Welfare. The M.S.W. degree usually involves training that is similar to that obtained by master's-level clinical/counseling psychologists. However, the training is usually directed toward work in social institutions: welfare organizations, hospitals, schools, etc. People with M.S.W. degrees work in a wide variety of settings. Some even do therapy in private practice.
Another degree psychology majors often pursue is in counseling. You may be saying to yourself, You've already talked about counseling psychology. That's true. But there are sometimes subtle differences between programs that offer a graduate degree in counseling psychology and those that offer a degree in counseling. Let's see if we can clear this up with some additional information.
The thing to remember is that there are exceptions to almost all of the generalities just discussed.
That concludes our discussion of the careers available to
persons who pursue graduate degrees. Obviously, we only scratched the surface of that
topic, but you should have a fairly good idea of the opportunities available to you if
graduate school is in your future.
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What if I do not want to go to graduate
school?
Suppose I want to seek employment with my bachelor's degree?
Before we talk about specific employment opportunities for bachelor's level graduates let's talk about some of the factors that are important to prospective employers.
Milton, Pollio, and Eison (1986) report the results of a study in which 362 representatives of business and industry rated the importance of various factors in the hiring of entry-level college graduates. Partial results of that study are presented below. The factors are ranked according to importance.
Obviously, if you intend to seek employment immediately after graduation you should consider how you can optimize your evaluation on these factors. How? Always present yourself well in an interview situation. Work hard on your grades, especially in your major field. Try to get some experience working in the areas you intend to pursue after receiving your degree. One way to do this is through the Field Experience course we talked about earlier in this handbook. Another way to do this is to seek summer work that is relevant to your areas of interest.
Pilla (1984) reported that employers surveyed by the American Management Society listed the following traits as most important for job candidates:
The fact that enthusiasm/motivation was ranked first underscores the need for good self-presentation. So, now you know the kinds of characteristics employers seek. Try to organize your undergraduate experience accordingly.
In addition to the characteristics employers seek, you probably should have some idea of the kinds of things employers want you to be able to do. Edwards and Smith (1988) conducted a survey of 118 organizations to determine what skills are most important for psychology majors to possess in that first job. What follows is a list of those skills that were rated by at least 50% of the organizations as somewhat, or very important for entry level employees to possess.
In addition, these organizations were asked to identify specific knowledge areas that were important for entry-level employees with training in psychology. The following were rated most useful:
If we look at all of the information presented on the last
two pages we can get a reasonable picture of what employers want from their
bachelor's-level employees in psychology. They want people who are highly motivated,
enthusiastic, and can present themselves well. They want people with good communication
skills. Knowledge of the basic foundations of human behavior is highly prized. Basically,
this reinforces what we've been saying in this handbook; broad-based knowledge and skills
developed in a liberal arts, psychology curriculum are very marketable.
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But, what are some of the specific jobs for those who have a bachelor's degree in psychology?
Michael Zeller (1988) has compiled a list of 300 job titles whose descriptions and qualifications were compatible with formal training at the bachelor's level in psychology. This list of titles came from many different sources and was compiled over the course of one year. So, obviously it is not exhaustive. Here are a few of those titles. If you would like to see the entire list ask your advisor to show it to you.
As you can see, there is great diversity in the potential
employment settings of psychology majors!
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Where have psychology graduates from this department obtained employment?
A number of them keep the faculty informed as to their current job status. Below are some of the positions held by graduates.
These are just few of the places our graduates have gone!
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Earlier in this handbook we said that, in general, to be a
professional psychologist you must earn a graduate degree in psychology. If you believe
this is your calling, this section may help you to plan for your future academic training.
On the other hand, you may determine that graduate school is not what you envisioned and
you may decide on another course of action. What follows is a discussion of the factors
that might conceivably help you to determine whether or not you would like to attend
graduate school. Keep in mind there are going to be exceptions to most of the rules
outlined below. Click here for
more information about graduate school.
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Sure! If you are thinking of attending graduate school you should consider several things. Do you want to spend 2-6 years working on additional education in psychology? It takes a minimum of two years to obtain a graduate degree in psychology and its not easy work. So, if you are tired of studying now, just think what you have to look forward to if you go to graduate school. Do you enjoy working independently? Graduate education typically places greater responsibility for learning on you, the student. If you must have a faculty person on your case all the time to make you complete your work, then you may want to reconsider this alternative. Do you like to write papers and give oral reports? Graduate training involves quite a bit of both of these. If you detest either of these, graduate school is not for you. Are you highly motivated to become a psychologist, or are you considering graduate school because you have nothing better to do? Graduate school is no place for someone who lacks the proper motivation to succeed as a psychologist.
If you have answered all or most of these questions in the negative, we suggest you consider whether graduate school is where you should go. If your answers were mostly positive, continue reading for more specific information.