2 ms·

all the psych degree people I know work in HR I would figure that the whole point of getting a psychology degree (as opposed to taking some psychology courses

by dagw 4y ago

all the psych degree people I know work in HR I would figure that the whole point of getting a psychology degree (as opposed to taking some psychology courses as part of your main degree) is to work as a psychologist? Why are all these people failing to get their psychologist qualifications? Where I live, I've never met or heard of anyone who went for a psychology degree without the intention of becoming a psychologist. Sure, not everybody makes it to the end, and few end up doing research instead, but the whole goal of the degree is to produce qualified psychologists.

christkv 4y ago
Because in some countries there are different branches of psychology studies. Clinical psychology that will earn you a license to practice and psychology which is really just I’m interested in psychology.
wheelinsupial 4y ago
Where I live, there just aren't enough spots in psychologist training programs. There are 8 spots for clinical psychology grad programs where I graduated from with 1200-1300 psych undergrads. Psych enrollment increased by 20% in the last 5 years and the clinical psych program's training capacity stayed flat. Of those 8 spots, between 1 and 6 spots are filled by people from outside of the province including international students. (I'm oversimplifying a little. There are 6 accredited programs, but there are 10 undergrad universities that produce psych majors, so the numbers probably look worse overall.) You're right that the goal is to become a qualified psychologist, but the training pipeline doesn't match that goal. Crudely, there are training spots for less than 1% of psych undergrads (maybe 2% if you include research psychologists). There are alternative programs for counseling, but it's not the same license. The cost of these counseling programs is also astronomical for Canada. I know people who went that route and have $150k loans to pay back. If you're competitive enough to get into one of the clinical programs, they are funded (with students given stipends ranging from $30-$40k/year), but even if they aren't tuition is under $7k/year.

by dagw 4y ago

christkv 4y ago

Because in some countries there are different branches of psychology studies. Clinical psychology that will earn you a license to practice and psychology which is really just I’m interested in psychology.

wheelinsupial 4y ago

Where I live, there just aren't enough spots in psychologist training programs. There are 8 spots for clinical psychology grad programs where I graduated from with 1200-1300 psych undergrads. Psych enrollment increased by 20% in the last 5 years and the clinical psych program's training capacity stayed flat. Of those 8 spots, between 1 and 6 spots are filled by people from outside of the province including international students. (I'm oversimplifying a little. There are 6 accredited programs, but there are 10 undergrad universities that produce psych majors, so the numbers probably look worse overall.) You're right that the goal is to become a qualified psychologist, but the training pipeline doesn't match that goal. Crudely, there are training spots for less than 1% of psych undergrads (maybe 2% if you include research psychologists). There are alternative programs for counseling, but it's not the same license. The cost of these counseling programs is also astronomical for Canada. I know people who went that route and have $150k loans to pay back. If you're competitive enough to get into one of the clinical programs, they are funded (with students given stipends ranging from $30-$40k/year), but even if they aren't tuition is under $7k/year.