• Question: Does the certain psychology that you choose in university affect the field of psychology you work in in the future?

    Asked by anon-180440 to Abby, Amy, Noel, Sam, Viren on 13 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Abby Hunter

      Abby Hunter answered on 13 Jun 2018:

      Hi Maria, good question. If you think you might want a career in Psychology then it is a good idea to check that the course is accredited by the British Psychological Society. most of them are I think. But some courses that are combined, e.g. psychology with philosophy; or psychology with criminolgy, might not offer enough modules in psychology to be accredited.

      Generally most psychology courses should cover all the main topics; cognition; developmental; health; neuro; forensic; methodology. Then after your degree you could specialise in a particular field if you wanted to. I chose to do a masters in health psychology because that’s what I enjoyed the most.

      I would suggest reading through the course content and the modules they do at any university you are interested in. If you have any questions about the course you can always email the course administrator.

      good luck!

    • Photo: Sam Burton

      Sam Burton answered on 13 Jun 2018:

      I think to an extent it does probably more so if you want to work specifically in psychology, so research or say clinical/forensic. But if you want to work in research, you do tend to go in to a more specific type of psychology, but you don’t have to decide that straight away. Some people will do a degree in psychology and go off to work in HR departments or go into teaching, so it doesn’t effect them as much.

    • Photo: Noel Brick

      Noel Brick answered on 13 Jun 2018:

      Hi Maria,
      If you are unsure, but you would like to work in some area of psychology, it can be good to choose a degree that covers all the basics in your first two years. As Abby mentioned, check that it is accredited by the British Psychological Society. In many psychology degrees, you can choose from optional modules in year three. So check that the degree you might study includes modules you might be interested to study further and that are related to your area of interest. I my experience, many people re not 100% sure what area of psychology they would like to work in in the future. But as they study their degree, the find things they really like and by final year have a much better idea. So sometimes choosing a mainstream psychology degree helps to keep your options open.

    • Photo: Amy Warnock

      Amy Warnock answered on 15 Jun 2018:

      As the others have said most courses often cover most of the basics so that you can learn a bit about everything before you specialise. But I don’t think your specialism really constrains you too much – lots of people I studied neuroscience with at uni have gone on to do completely different things, like medicine, beer brewing or even become computer programmers! I think psychology degrees are very useful for a lot of jobs, not just those involving psychology!

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