Psychology (Extended Major)

Career Pathways

Psychology is relevant to almost any human endeavour, which means a psychology degree, or some complementary psychology studies, are relevant not only for traditional psychology careers, but for a wide range of careers. For example, there are psychologists designing cockpits for NASA, computer software interfaces, personnel selection systems, or age-appropriate toys; psychologists develop market research strategies, or train people in a variety of settings.

Traditional careers in psychology:

• Clinical Psychologist—assess, diagnose, and treat mental health conditions; design and assess treatment interventions; be involved in research, teaching and supervision; promote psychological health
• Clinical Neuropsychologist—assess and treat people with a wide range of brain injuries or disorders; design and assess treatment interventions; be involved in research, teaching and supervision; promote brain health
• Industrial and Organisational Psychologist—recruit and select personnel; design and evaluate behavioural training programs; develop leadership and management skills; optimise job design, performance, and workplace culture; foster employee wellbeing and work-life balance
• Educational and Developmental Psychologist, School Psychologist—assess developmental, learning, and behavioural difficulties; design and evaluate interventions; promote positive development
• Sport Psychologist—work with athletes and teams, addressing the wide range of psychological factors associated with sports performance (e.g., goal focus, team building, stress management, communication skills)
• Health Psychologist—assess community health issues; design, implement, and assess public-health and behaviour-change programs; promote health behaviours
• Forensic Psychologist—conduct forensic interviews; provide psychological assessments; give evidence in court proceedings,/li>

Please note these traditional career paths often require postgraduate studies and registration as a psychologist.

Non-traditional careers in psychology:

Public sector

• Government agencies
• CSIRO
• Australian Bureau of Statistics
• Federal and State Police Forces

Not-for-profit sector

• Mental health, addiction and disability support services
• Community and welfare services
• Children, youth and parenting services
• Charities

Private sector

• Corporate business
• Banks and financial service providers
• Professional service firms
• Market research, marketing, public relations, and advertising firms; consumer goods companies
• Employment services, and industrial relations

Education sector

• Schools and universities

Further Study

The Honours program in Psychology aims to develop your skills in addressing advanced conceptual issues in psychology and integrating a broad range of research findings within central theoretical concepts. You’ll also gain a deep understanding of current research within several areas of the discipline. You’ll learn to plan, implement, and interpret the findings of a major piece of empirical research and give brief oral presentations of research findings in a manner that is understandable to people not working in the same research area. The honours specialisation continues the research preparation from the earlier undergraduate years and prepares you for entry into a PhD and into discipline-accredited Master degrees that have a research component.

At present, postgraduate professional training is available in Industrial and Organisational Psychology, Business Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Clinical Neuropsychology. Psychology Honours has been awarded Conditional Accreditation by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) as a fourth-year of psychology study, and graduates are eligible for provisional registration with the Psychology Board of Australia.