Navigating School

Undergraduate Teachers January 13, 2020

One course, two courses, three courses, more? Providing career support throughout the undergraduate curriculum

Scenario One

When Shannon asked for a letter of recommendation from the department chair to support her applications for graduate school, the chair asked why she was applying to clinical programs. Shannon said she did not know what else she could do with her bachelor’s degree.

Scenario Two

Rafael took a required psychology careers course in the fall of his sophomore year. He knew he wanted to be a sport psychologist, so he did not consider other careers at that time. With each new psychology course, Rafael’s interests evolved. By the time he entered his senior year, Rafael knew he wanted to pursue a career that aligned with his new interests but did not know what the options were.

Undergraduate Teachers February 18, 2019

Faculty’s role in preparing undergraduate psychology majors for the world of work

For many students graduation is a few months away. Unfortunately, chances are many of them haven’t taken the necessary steps to prepare for life after college. Of course, some of them will be on their way to graduate school. But what about the roughly 72 percent of students (National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2018) who will be directly entering the workforce?

Undergraduate Teachers September 24, 2018

Academic Advising Posters: A New Method to Deliver Academic Advising

The National Academic Advising Association’s guiding principle is “Advising is teaching” (Appleby, 2006, p. 85).  Academic advising enables students to identify, clarify, investigate, prepare for, and accomplish educational, career, and personal goals by providing them with opportunities to identify resources, understand options, and enhance self-awareness.  Academic advice can be delivered in many ways (Gordon, Habley, Grites, & Associates 2008), including in-person (one-on-one or in groups and classes), online (websites, podcasts, or instructional platforms), or in print (books, handouts, or brochures).  The purpose of this article is to describe a recent addition to this set of advising delivery methods—the Academic Advising Poster (AAP)—and to offer readers a set of online AAPs from the authors. 

Graduate and Postgraduate Students, Undergraduate Students December 25, 2017

The Problem with Jogging

On a whim and while struggling with the challenge of finishing my doctoral dissertation, I purchased a flask with the following quote engraved on its leather sleeve: “The problem with jogging is that the ice falls out of your glass.” I thought that was quite a hoot given my current state of mind and long-held belief that running could never be something I would enjoy. The notion of running for fun also contradicted my memories of eighth grade and running suicides in the Moore Junior High School gym.

pencil with a mortar hat and text Is Graduate School in Your Future?

Undergraduate Students, Undergraduate Teachers September 11, 2017

Master’s careers in psychology

For most careers, providing professional services using psychological knowledge requires a doctoral degree in psychology, and these careers are often called professional or health service psychology. However, psychology careers for individuals holding master’s degrees are available in multiple occupational settings and in fields across the discipline. The demand for jobs at this level of training is reflected in the growth of master’s psychology degrees — from slightly below 18,000 in 2003 to nearly 28,000 in 2013. Similarly, the National Science Foundation reports growth during the past decade in research-focused psychology master’s degrees: approximately 15,000 in 2003 and 22,000 in 2011.

Undergraduate Students, Undergraduate Teachers June 19, 2017

What students should know about forensic psychology from a specialist in the field

With a surge of awareness from many mainstream media outlets and a newfound push to teach the importance of mental health, psychology has never been more popular and readily accessible to the public. Although there has been an increase in awareness, there are still many fields and subjects of psychology that are not as commonly popular or are simply unknown. 

Undergraduate Students, Undergraduate Teachers June 12, 2017

Research careers with a bachelor’s degree in psychology

When I was earning my bachelor’s degree in psychology, classmates, professors, family members and guidance counselors would tell me that I needed a graduate degree if I wanted to get a job using my degree. At first, I believed them and planned for graduate school at some point in the future. But, before going to graduate school, I worked for four years in academic research. Below, I’ll describe some different research careers that someone with a bachelor’s degree in psychology could pursue and, most importantly given the difficulty some college graduates encounter finding jobs, what you need to do to prepare for each career.

Undergraduate Students, Undergraduate Teachers April 17, 2017

Lighting the Way for Workplace-Bound Psychology Baccalaureates

As commencement approaches, our baccalaureate psychology graduates will likely hear the familiar admonition “But you can’t get a decent job with a bachelor’s degree in psychology!”  There is some truth to that warning (Carnevale, et al., 2015; Rajecki & Borden, 2011) and to employers’ complaints that graduates are unprepared for work. However, if we vigorously shared other data with our students we could instill optimism in the 55% of those graduates who enter the job market.

How can teachers and advisors help?

Graduate and Postgraduate Students, Undergraduate Students March 6, 2017

I-O Psychology: From Early Origins to Current Trends

What is I-O psychology?

Industrial-organizational psychologists research and apply principles of psychology to the world of work. Their mission is to identify and apply techniques that benefit not only employers, but also employees. In general, the more efficient an organization is (be it a for-profit corporation, non-profit agency, or government entity) the more all stakeholders benefit. For more about what I-O psychologists do click here.