The importance of psychology in life cannot be taken for granted. Psychology is the science that deals with human behavior as well as that of the non human. Though the course is only 125 years old, it is needed in almost in all spheres of life. Its study has its roots in biology to sociology, trying to seek a relationship between the brain functions and the behavior or the relationship between the environment and the behavior. Since the subject is so vast, there is therefore a need for specialization. As mentioned earlier, psychology touches many aspects of life and so there are various fields of study. These fields are studied in detail at the masters level.
Since 1960, there has been an increase in the students who pursue a masters in psychology. There is competition for jobs which are psychology related and so more and more students are joining the courses. In fact, it has been observed that more than two thirds of the students graduating with a masters in psychology get jobs on field, which are outside psychology and only about one third are employed in jobs which are directly related to psychology. A large number of those employed after graduating with a masters in psychology work on data collection and analysis in various firms and institutions, both in the government circles and the private sector.
There are various subfields of psychology where one can specialize. For example, one can study masters to be a Clinical Psychologist. Here one can deal with emotional and behavioral disorders. There is also Cognitive and perceptual psychologists who study human perception, thinking, and memory and often work closely with behavioral neuroscientists to explain clearly the bases of perception or cognition from the biological perspective. One can also study to be Developmental psychologists to be able to solve issues dealing with the psychological development in people throughout their lives. Educational psychology is another field which is quite popular today. Here you learn how to enhance teaching and learning.
Other areas one can do a master include Engineering psychology, Evolutionary Psychology, Experimental psychology, Forensic psychology, which tries to solve legal issues by applying psychological principles and Health psychology which is a study of how biological, psychological, and social factors affect health and illness. There is also industrial & organizational psychology where one can learn how to improve productivity in areas of work by employing psychological principles and research methods. There are many other areas too.
There are many universities in the USA which offer masters in psychology and one can opt for the course within the preferred specialization. The course normally takes two years. One should be a graduate holding a bachelors degree with a related subject. Some universities may enroll any student from any faculty but it's always advisable to take a masters in psychology if you have a related bachelor's degree. |
