Psychology, the study of mind and behaviour, is one of today's most exciting and rapidly advancing-scientific frontiers. Students develop an understanding of human action from individual and social perspectives. A broad range of topics are covered including brain-behaviour relationships; problem-solving and decision-making abilities; acquisition of linguistic, cognitive, and social abilities in infants and children; interpersonal and intergroup relations; communication and persuasion; depression, self-esteem, and anxiety disorders; and employee stress, leadership, and motivation in work organizations, to name a few.
A liberal arts education provides students with opportunities to develop a wide variety of skills including interpersonal, oral and written communication, organizational, time management, and problem solving. In addition, Psychology majors develop distinctive observation, analytic, numeracy, computer, and oral and written communication skills. The degree to which these specific skills are developed will depend on the specific Psychology academic plan in which the student is enrolled. The skills and knowledge acquired by Psychology majors are helpful in everyday life as well as attractive to employers who expect employees to be able to offer insight into human behaviour, clarify problems that arise at work, and to collect and analyze data in order to draw conclusions and to make recommendations.
For those who pursue graduate level training (e.g., Masters or Doctor of Philosophy level) in psychology, career options include: teachers/researchers at universities; research scientists in government or industrial research and development labs; product/market researchers in the private sector; clinicians who provide assessment and treatment services for individuals, groups, or families; psychometrists who design and administer psychological tests; health psychologists who conduct research and are involved in health promotion and illness prevention programs; industrial/organizational psychologist who are employed as researchers, consultants, and/or human resources managers; senior administrators, etc. Students are advised that a General Bachelor of Arts in Psychology will not be sufficient for admission to graduate studies in Psychology. An Honours degree in Psychology that includes an honours thesis is typically required.
Many students build on their undergraduate degree in psychology by furthering their education in applied areas other than psychology before entering the work force. These areas include disciplines such as teaching, social work, marriage and family therapy, child studies, speech language pathology and audiology, medicine, occupational therapy, law, business, human resources management, industrial relations, and criminology.
Please refer to the Psychology undergraduate website for further details.