Psychology
What to expect
Psychology is the study of the mind, as well as of human behaviour and interaction. Many who choose this field are just interested in exploring human nature. But psychology is also a profession with its own strict rules for admission and practice.
Psychology is listed separately from the other social and behavioural sciences because it can lead to this professional status. For example, contrary to what many people might think, the work of psychologists involves much more than straight counselling.
Getting a degree in psychology
Visit the University Ratings section for psychology course ratings.
Courses and specialisations
Courses in psychology, or with major studies in psychology, are widely available at numerous institutions and campuses throughout the country.
The pathway to becoming a practising psychologist, however, is not as simple as just successfully completing a relevant bachelor degree at university. In order to gain accreditation it is necessary to first complete a degree majoring in psychology (with honours), or a four-year Bachelor of Psychology. The next step is either an accredited two-year postgraduate qualification (which tend to be extremely competitive to get into) or two years supervised experience with a registered psychologist. The bachelor degree and postgraduate courses must be accredited by the Australian Psychological Society.
Getting in
Getting into courses in psychology has become more challenging in recent years as the popularity of the field has increased, but most remain reasonably accessible. Some courses and institutions will obviously be more popular and thus harder to get into than others.
Careers for psychology degree graduates
Psychology is certainly a highly rewarding and stimulating career path. The downside of this field of study is that many psychology graduates struggle to gain employment. According to the national Course Experience Questionnaire, unemployment rates are just below average, with 31 per cent of recent graduates looking for work in 2009.
Most psychology graduates rated their university experience very highly, especially their generic skills and overall satisfaction. Because of the nature of the field, a large percentage (41 per cent) go on to further study. Starting salaries are below the average for all fields of
study, sitting at $45,832.
While the common focus of psychologists used to be on helping individuals to overcome problems, many graduates today work with organisations (organisational psychology, industrial psychology) or deal with needs that could hardly be called ‘problems’ at all (like sports psychology). Others help clients with wide ranging issues as diverse as addictions (smoking, gambling, etc.), depression, eating disorders, fears and phobias, career planning, child behavioural problems, sexual problems, sleep disorders, and relationship issues, just to name a few.
Accredited psychologists can choose to specialise, usually by undertaking further study, in a variety of areas, the commonest being clinical psychology, counselling psychology and organisational psychology.
For those for whom the six-year pathway towards professional accreditation is too much, there is a vast range of alternative careers: everything from market research, advertising, management or business consultancy, to human resource management, teaching, and social welfare work.
For more information
To find out more about careers in psychology check out the Australian Psychological Society website or the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council .
Other fields of study that may interest you include health services and support , humanities and social sciences , medicine , nursing , rehabilitation , and social work .
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