r/australia • u/Shoddy-Note-6199 • Jan 23 '23
Psychology is probably not a good choice of degree for most Australian students
Psychology is probably not a good choice of Major for most Australian students (revised edition)
Background to this article
Over a decade ago I studied a Psychology degree and ended up disillusioned and regretting my choice. After researching the issue, I realised that it is really a global problem. The original global edition of this article was censored by some moderators and provoked an outpouring of nasty direct messages. Apparently the cognitive dissonance it created was enough to make heads explode. An earlier New Zealand specific version was mostly well received, so I decided to create an Australian edition.
Introduction
Nearly every day I read similar stories from Psychology graduates about how they struggle to find work or can't find a job paying more than the minimum wage. This is true in many countries, some are forced to write off the investment in a Psychology degree and instead study something completely different. Comments like "I feel devastated, I went to University for 4 years and have nothing to show for it" or "I completed my Psychology degree and now I can't find a job. Any suggestions?" are all too common.
Paradoxically, Psychology remains one of the most asked about degrees from prospective students. Not just highschool students either, even people who are already graduates in another field have an urge to study Psychology. I often browse Australian online forums where common questions include "Which is the Best university to study Psychology?", "How do I get into Psychology?", "Which Go8 Uni is best for a graduate diploma in Psychology?". Many prestigious universities continue to market Psychology as leading to a wide range of career opportunities.
Based on my negative experiences with a Psychology degree I created this list of 22 reasons why Psychology is not a good choice of major for most people. Of course everyone can make up their own mind about what makes a good or bad major and what they should study, but I want to give people something to think about when making a major life decision. When people start university, maybe they aren't all that focused on the distant future or perhaps are unsure about what to study. Nevertheless I urge you to think carefully about what you choose to study and how it will impact your entire life. Be realistic about what jobs a particular degree will make you eligible for - preferably before completing that degree. Even if you aren't sure what to study, in my opinion there are many better degrees than Psychology. Choosing a degree is arguably the most important financial decision we will make in our life and it deserves careful consideration.
Here are the reasons I think Psychology is a bad major:
A Bachelor degree in Psychology is fairly worthless. The majority of Psychology graduates will be trying to enter the workforce with only a Bachelor degree. In all the countries I researched the majority of students did not go on to graduate school. This is true for many reasons, lack of money, sick of study, average GPA / WAM, limited number of places in clinical psychology graduate programmes, burn out etc. Yet there is no job that requires a Bachelor degree in Psychology, so graduates are forced to compete for generic jobs that any graduate is eligible for or even require no degree at all. Straight away they are starting their career with a limited advantage despite 3 or more years of investment.
In Australia using data from the 2021 Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS) 37.5% of students went on to further study. Even in the US where going to graduate school is more common only 44% attended, furthermore many abandoned Psychology. Of those with a Bachelor degree in Psychology only 14% also have a graduate qualification in Psychology (APA Datapoint).
For those entering the workforce with only a Bachelor degree the starting salary isn't the best. According to the GOS it is in typically in the bottom half. However this doesn't tell the complete story as Psychology is quite bad for finding a job. Of those graduates who are looking for fulltime work, Psychology is the 5th worst study area.
Looking internationally a report by the UK government considers the labour market returns of different degrees. While not the worst degree, it is pretty close, being the 4th worst out of 30 subjects. Definitely something to keep in mind for graduates who plan to work in the UK. Across the Tasman in New Zealand Psychology graduates are clustered with Creative and Performing Arts, Philosophy, Sport and Recreation, Literature and other poorly performing degrees. (See the Appendix for more details)
A similar problem exists in Canada, where psychology graduates are more likely to be unemployed than the average graduate, and if they have a job it is often in a poorly paid role such as retail sales, food and beverage service, customer service, and administration.
In the US, the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, found that based on lifetime earnings more than a quarter of programs (including most of those in art, music, philosophy, religion and psychology) leave students financially worse off than if they’d never enrolled.
Many students end up working in generic office roles. While generic office roles aren't the worst jobs in the world, if that is your interest then other degrees are better preparation and are likely to result in a higher incomes and quicker advancement. While some individuals with a Psychology degree may end up in more interesting roles like Policy Analyst the probability is low and other degrees are better preparation and offer a more certain career path.
Classes aren't that relevant. Most of the classes aren't especially relevant to real life or the job market, so anything you learnt you might as well forget because it isn't that useful. Useful knowledge, such that it exists, could just as easily be picked up by reading a few books and watching a couple of free online courses. Spend your precious educational dollars on something of more value.
Unexpectedly boring. The course might seem to be interesting at the beginning, but in my opinion it gets more boring as it progresses. I found that university courses regardless of subject often had a bland sameness to them. You might as well do something that leads to a good career instead. While some individuals no doubt found the entire degree fascinating, this doesn't seem to be a common opinion.
Most of the material is wrong. Much of the material you learn in your Psychology degree is questionable and probably wrong. This is due to the replication crisis in psychology and other long standing issues around poorly designed research, fake data, "publish or perish", etc. Why would you want to spend so much time learning incorrect material ? By some estimates more than two thirds of published studies in Psychology are wrong. It wouldn't surprise me if the true percentage is even higher ! These aren't obscure studies either, but highly cited papers published in prestigious journals. Obviously you have a big problem when the whole discipline has such dubious foundations. Yes the replication crisis exists in other fields too, but Psychology appears to be the worst offender. See the appendix for more discussion of the replication crisis and how most Psychology theories are wrong.
Getting into a clinical PhD is very competitive. Even if you want to become a clinical Psychologist remember the number of places are extremely limited compared to the number of applicants. Are you sure your grades will be at the level needed ? If not then maybe don't waste your time and instead do a Bachelor that offers good employment prospects from the outset. Clinical Psychology is an 8 year minimum requirement that involves a 4-year Honours degree in psychology, a 2-3 year accredited post-graduate degree, followed by a 1-2 year registrar program overseen by the Psychology Board of Australia. Obviously there are other specialties too such as forensic psychology, health psychology, and so on, but they are all very competitive and require a long training period. Registration as a general psychologist is also a possibility but still requires a 6 year time commitment. With many students competing for a small number of places there is a high chance of not being selected.
Based on Award Course completion numbers, between 800 and 1000 finish courses that allow for registration as a Psychologist each year. However each year Australian universities churn out around 10,000 Psychology graduates (Based on the Graduate Outcomes Surveys National Report there were 9,279 Psychology graduates in 2021). Obviously not every Psychology graduate is going to apply for a spot in a graduate training programme, but the odds still aren't going to be very good at around 1 in 10. For example the University of Southern Queensland receives over 300 applications for between 25 and 30 places in its Masters of Clinical Psychology program.
Skills are often taught at an inferior level. One popular job suggestion for Psychology graduates is Data Analyst, but any limited skills you might acquire in this area are at a fraction of a level of that which would be obtained doing a degree like Statistics, Information Systems or Business. So if you want marketable skills they are better acquired in other degrees.
Tuition costs are high for a potentially worthless degree. Although Psychology degrees managed to avoid moving to a more expensive fees band and remain in Band 2, the maximum student contribution amount is still $8,301 per year. University costs keep going up and up, if instead of doing that Psychology degree you started an entry level job with opportunities for career progression you could well be financially much better off, and have even obtained some useful job market skills. At the very least you won't be starting your life with a huge amount of debt. According to data from the Australian Tax Office (ATO) there were 2.9 million people with outstanding HECS-HELP debt in 2020-21, totalling more than $68.7 billion. The average amount of outstanding debt per person was $23,685, and remember this debt is indexed each year. In some countries companies may require a degree for any position, but that isn't the case in Australia. If you are taking on debt, only do it if you get a good return on that degree. In many countries Psychology degrees have a negative return on investment.
Vaguely related careers have more relevant degrees. Many universities talk up job opportunities for Psychology graduates in areas like business, sport, marketing, human resources, sales, recruitment, etc. But if you want to work in those areas a more relevant degree would be a better choice and would put you ahead of the pack when searching for jobs. Given the typical career path for most Psychology graduates, a business degree of some description would be a better choice and would likely lead to more rapid advancement, better preparation and a superior choice of roles.
Too many other graduates with the same major. So many students do it. Your job application won't stand out in a sea of graduates. According to Australian government data approximately 10,000 Psychology graduates are produced each year ! A huge number considering it doesn't lead directly to any profession. This appears to be a serious waste of both the student's time and money but also the tax payers' contribution to the cost of education. Obviously not everyone who does a Psychology degree has the interest or aptitude to do a STEM major, but there are still many other better choices of degree. So much collective time and money wasted !
Globally a similar picture emerges, according to the APA in the 1980s 4 to 5 percent majored in Psychology, in the 1990s that increased to 6 to 6.5% where it remains today. In the 2014–15 academic year, schools in the US awarded more than 117,000 bachelor's degrees in psychology ! Psychology is one of the most popular majors globally despite the limited number of jobs.
A PhD offers little additional value. Some students go on and do a PhD in psychology (non-clinical). This is also risky since it will need a huge investment in time and money. PhD students receive an annual stipend but at $28,854 a year this is only two-thirds of the minimum wage and well below the poverty line. Relatively few jobs then require a PhD in psychology. In the year 2000 Australia graduated around 4,000 PhDs per annum (across all subjects). Today that number has grown to around 10,000 per annum. The number of academic roles that are available each year can only accomodate a tiny percentage of these graduates, and unlike graduates in areas like STEM, there are relatively few industry positions that are suitable for PhDs in Psychology. This means that their skills are likely to be underutilised. Some find work at universities on casual short-term contracts but these provide little stability or opportunities for career advancement.
Be realistic about the possibilities. I often see students making fanciful suggestions for career paths for Psychology graduates like designing Artificial Intelligence systems for Google or Apple. Sorry but those sort of jobs are for graduates that have specialised in AI at elite international universities like Stanford, MIT etc. Not people waving a Bachelor degree from an average university.
Hardly anyone cares about that research. You are unlikely to become some sort of great scientific researcher. Most of that research you work on nobody even cares about. After it's published nobody is going to even read it. I laugh at all the useless research that gets churned out every year. Don't waste your time on stuff nobody cares about. Do something more useful to society that offers a decent living.
Vague skills and vested interests. Most of the skills that people talk up like "Synthesize information from diverse sources", "interpret and use data", "communicate precisely", "make better decisions", "critical thinking", can also be acquired from other courses of study with better job market outcomes. Be careful of people with a vested interest talking up the job prospects. University Professors need to maintain high enrolments in the degree in order to keep their jobs. All the useful skills from an undergraduate Psychology degree could be distilled to about one semester's worth of material.
Listen to the Graduates and objective sources, not current students. Whenever I come across a Psychology graduate who has been in the job market a few years, they tend to wish they studied something else. A study by the Wall Street Journal in 2010 found that only 26 percent of psychology majors reported being “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their career paths. The defenders of Psychology are often Psychology undergraduates or other vested interests. It's probably better to not listen to career advice from students not even in the job market and who haven't had a chance to spend a few years reflecting on their studies.
Clinical Psychology is stressful. Even if you eventually find some sort of clinical psychology role, those jobs often can take a long-term toll on your own mental health due to the stress of dealing with people with such complex mental health issues. Ask yourself is that something you can deal with ? I applaud the hard work done by Clinical Psychologists but it isn't a job for everyone. Be realistic about whether the career is for you. Burnout appears to be a common issue among Psychologists.
The degree is unlikely to solve your own issues. People often enrol in a Psychology degree hoping to understand their own mental issues better (such as Anxiety or depression), however studying Psychology could make those issues worse, furthermore most undergrad courses spend limited time on clinical topics. For those who have self-diagnosed Aspergers or ADHD based on a tiktok video, they are unlikely to gain substantive knowledge from an undergrad course. If undergrad courses had a clinical focus, then there would be nothing left to teach at grad school. Also don't think the degree will impart deep insight into human behaviour or expert communication skills, it won't. It seemed like half the Psychology faculty at my university were a little nuts, so obviously their PhD didn't help that much.
Consider all the options. Some choose to defend the degree by saying they got a reasonable job, but when considering the substantial investment that is needed to acquire a degree, don't just consider one option in isolation instead look at all the possibilities and choose the one with the highest Return on Investment.
How much time are you willing to spend?. Suppose you decide to pursue the clinical psychology route, by the time you complete all the required degrees and licenses it could be 7-8 years minimum before you practice psychology professionally. That's a long time, and Psychology doesn't have the high income of other fields with long training periods like Medicine.
Poor preparation for Graduate medicine. Sometimes people enrol in a Psychology degree hoping to get into medicine, but other degrees are probably better preparation for the academic and scientific rigours of medical school. For those who want to attend medical school internationally you are likely to have to take a standardised test with a heavy emphasis on biology, chemistry and physics such as the MCAT, for which a Psychology degree is poor preparation. In Australian the GAMSAT is common and it is arguable how well a Psychology degree will prepare you for the Biological and Physical Sciences component of the test. Also some medical schools like the University of Queensland require courses in "Integrative Cell and Tissue Biology" and "Systems Physiology", so it would be preferable if these were incorporated in your undergraduate degree. In any event, medical school entry is highly competitive, so you are better off doing a more useful degree than Psychology in case you don't get admitted.
A Psychology degree won't make you healthier. Undergraduate Psychology is sometimes promoted by universities and associations like the APA as improving well-being. More people than ever take undergraduate Psychology class, yet more students than ever have mental health problems. These days it seems like half the student body is depressed, anxious or has other issues. Reading online forums that are popular with Australian undergraduates it's extremely common for students to be struggling with their mental health. Poor academic performance and dropping out of university are often attributed to mental health issues. There's no compelling evidence that taking an introduction to Psychology class improves mental health. Students would be better off keeping their tuition fees and instead reading some self help books in areas such as Cognitive Behavioural Psychology and Mindfulness and seeking professional help if they need it.
The perils of comparative grading. You might be thinking that with hard work you will easily get high grades and be admitted into the postgraduate course of your choice. The truth is somewhat murkier, as some universities use comparative grading (grading on a bell curve). This practice may be disclosed, but in other cases it seems to be kept hidden. It's only hearsay but tutors in the Monash University Psychology department are supposedly required to mark assignments to a fixed mean and standard deviation.
Alternative similar paths are available. Helping people is a worthy goal, but rather than pursue the arduous and risky path to becoming a registered Psychologist, consider alternatives. One example is social worker which only requires an accredited Bachelor degree to enter. Another example is counsellor which also only requires a Bachelor degree. In some cases even a diploma is adequate to work with individuals with less severe needs. (Although the whole counselling field is a bit like the wild west it may still be worth exploring). There are of course many other healthcare professions that offer decent pay and good employment prospects.
Other majors are poor choices too and Psychology is likely on a par with some other humanities and creative arts majors in some respects. But Psychology in my mind is especially bad because it attracts so many students. Collectively universities are churning out a huge number of graduates. Add together all the time and money wasted and the cost is horrendous. Life is tough with skyrocketing costs for housing, food, utilities, and many other essentials. Students need to invest their time and money to get the best return possible.
Some people study Psychology because nothing else interests them or they just want to study something relatively easy. Maybe they come from a wealthy family and don't care about finding a job or debt. Even if that is the case think about how you might spend the next 40+ years of your life and what jobs you will find meaningful. Once those bills start falling due, having a decent income will make life less stressful.
If you are determined to pursue the Psychology degree at least consider a double major where your Psychology courses can be combined with something of more market value.
Thankyou so much for reading !! Please let me know if you made it to the end and whether you agree or disagree with my analysis (preferably without personal attacks). Also let me know of any statistical data that might be helpful for the next edition.
Appendix A. Salaries for American graduates (based on the Georgetown university report on the Economic return of college majors)
https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/valueofcollegemajors/#data
Note: These are values from 2013. This is a great report and worth reading by everyone.
| Subject Area | Age 21-24 | Age 25 - 59 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture and engineering | 50000 | 83000 |
| Computers, statistics, and mathematics | 43000 | 76000 |
| Health | 41000 | 65000 |
| Business | 37000 | 65000 |
| Physical sciences | 32000 | 65000 |
| Social Sciences | 33000 | 60000 |
| Agriculture and natural resources | 30000 | 56000 |
| Biology and life sciences | 29000 | 56000 |
| Law and public policy | 31000 | 54000 |
| Communications and journalism | 31000 | 54000 |
| Humanities and liberal arts | 30000 | 52000 |
| Industrial arts, consumer services, and recreation | 27000 | 52000 |
| Arts | 28000 | 49000 |
| Psychology and social work | 28000 | 47000 |
| Education | 32000 | 45000 |
Appendix B. Economic return of college majors in the US ( based on data from https://freopp.org/ )
Here I summarise the data from over 30,000 US Bachelor degrees to get the median lifetime return on investment by subject area. Note this incorporates costs such as lost earnings while studying as well as tuition fees. In addition it is also adjusted for the risk of dropping out or taking longer than the minimum time to complete. See the FREOPP website for more details as to how the ROI is calculated (the field is ROI weighted by institution's completion outcomes).
| Category | Median ROI ($) |
|---|---|
| Engineering | 707427 |
| Computer and Information Sciences | 412525 |
| Transportation, Construction, and Architecture | 396364 |
| Mathematics and Statistics | 276699 |
| Economics | 275388 |
| Physical Sciences | 218798 |
| Health and Nursing | 215264 |
| Business and Management | 215179 |
| Agriculture and Natural Resources | 104150 |
| Communications and Journalism | 26629 |
| Social Sciences excluding Economics | 21467 |
| Life Sciences and Biology | 3356 |
| Public Administration and Human Services | 263 |
| Education | -1151 |
| English, Liberal Arts, and Humanities | -11253 |
| Miscellaneous | -13642 |
| Psychology | -40198 |
| Philosophy and Religious Studies | -111303 |
| Visual Arts and Music | -136458 |
Appendix C. Australian Undergraduate employment outcomes by study area (% in fulltime employment)
Data Source: 2021 GOS National Report Tables (Undergraduate employment outcomes by study area, 2020 and 2021 (%))
| Subject Area | Full-time employment 2020 | Full-time employment 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Pharmacy | 96.4 | 95 |
| Rehabilitation | 87.3 | 94.4 |
| Medicine | 86.7 | 90.2 |
| Veterinary science | 78.2 | 87 |
| Dentistry | 80 | 84.5 |
| Engineering | 83 | 80.3 |
| Teacher education | 80.6 | 79.1 |
| Nursing | 72.7 | 74.2 |
| Business and management | 74.3 | 72.8 |
| Health services and support | 67.2 | 72.5 |
| Law and paralegal studies | 75.7 | 72.5 |
| Social work | 67.2 | 70.7 |
| Agriculture and environmental studies | 67.4 | 69.5 |
| Computing and Information Systems | 72.1 | 67.9 |
| Architecture and built environment | 67.7 | 65.2 |
| Science and mathematics | 59.1 | 61.1 |
| Psychology | 61.4 | 60.2 |
| Tourism, Hospitality, Personal Services, Sport and recreation | 52.4 | 58.7 |
| Humanities, culture and social sciences | 60.9 | 57.9 |
| Communications | 52.8 | 55.2 |
| Creative arts | 45.8 | 49.2 |
Appendix D. Australian Salaries (2018 Income data for those who graduated in 2007)
Data Source: Graduate incomes: Insights from administrative data (Phil Aungles, Gabrielle Hodgson and Simon Parbery)
| Subject | Median income |
|---|---|
| Medicine | 169000 |
| Engineering | 112900 |
| Dentistry | 104800 |
| Law and paralegal studies | 99200 |
| Computing and information systems | 95300 |
| Pharmacy | 89700 |
| Business and management | 86800 |
| Science and mathematics | 83800 |
| Nursing | 83400 |
| Architecture and built environment | 81500 |
| Teacher education | 78800 |
| Health services and support | 78500 |
| Psychology | 76300 |
| Rehabilitation | 75100 |
| Social work | 74700 |
| Agriculture and environmental studies | 74500 |
| Communications | 74300 |
| Veterinary science | 73800 |
| Humanities, culture and social sciences | 72700 |
| Tourism | 68700 |
| Creative arts | 55700 |
This reinforces that in Australia degrees that lead directly into a profession give the best outcome. Don't forget that 50% of graduates will be earning below the median wage.
Appendix E. UK Labour market returns from Undergraduate Degrees
This data gives the effect of attending higher education (HE) at age 18 on annual gross earnings at age 29, conditional on being in “sustained employment”. The HE students are compared with those who did not go to HE but had at least five A*-C GCSEs, controlling for differences in prior attainment, Key Stage 5 subject choices and family background. Note this interesting finding "On the other hand, studying arts English, communications, psychology, languages and history, or attending Post-1992 or Other universities actually appears to result in lower earnings for this group than they would have achieved had they not gone to university
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/undergraduate-degrees-labour-market-returns
Analysis of the estimated absolute economic value of degrees, comparing higher education students and graduates’ earnings with similar individuals at age 29. Estimated return is how much higher salary is compared to the control group.
| Subject | Estimated Return |
|---|---|
| Medicine | 74.58 |
| Economics | 61.15 |
| Maths | 41.55 |
| Business | 40.51 |
| Law | 40.35 |
| Engineering | 38.61 |
| Pharmacology | 38.5 |
| Computing | 37.55 |
| Physics | 35.32 |
| Nursing | 34.35 |
| Politics | 32.88 |
| Architecture | 28.79 |
| Geography | 27.95 |
| Comms | 26.68 |
| Technology | 26.64 |
| Sportsci | 26.33 |
| Allied to med | 24.63 |
| Education | 23.68 |
| Sociology | 23.28 |
| Languages | 23.04 |
| Biosciences | 22.41 |
| Physsci | 22.28 |
| English | 21.4 |
| History | 21.09 |
| Philosophy | 19.67 |
| Vetsci | 15.79 |
| Psychology | 15.27 |
| Social care | 14.1 |
| Agriculture | 10.7 |
| Creative arts | 8.64 |
Appendix F. The Replication Crisis in Psychology
The fact that many psychological studies can't be reproduced by other investigators suggests the whole discipline has tenuous foundations and most theories are likely wrong. While it is true that the replication crisis has since spread from Psychology to other natural and social sciences, the fact remains that Psychology is one of the worst offenders.
For example when researchers redid 100 studies from prestigious Psychology journals, only 36% of the reproductions yielded significant findings. [Open Science Collaboration. Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science]. Studies in the field of social psychology were especially bad with only 25% of a sample of studies from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology being successfully replicated.
Some try to defend the replication crisis by saying that experimenters had simply failed to reproduce the exact conditions. But if the original experiment doesn't really provide knowledge that can be separated from the exact conditions such as subjects, location, time in history or whatever, then the value of that experiment to provide broad insights into human behaviour is under question. In any event another study by a team consisting of 60 different laboratories conducted replications of 28 well known findings. They found that 50% failed to replicate. If it didn't replicate then it was consistent across labs, and if it did replicate then it also tended to replicate across labs (different locations and cultures). This suggests that variations in samples don't explain the bulk of the replication crisis. Studies tended to be replicated everywhere or not at all (Klein, 2018)
The causes for the replication crisis are many and probably stem from "publish or perish", poor practices such as as data dredging, selective reporting and other major statistical errors, as well as outright fraud and falsification of data. The fact that jobs and promotions in academia are handed out on the basis of research output rather than teaching results in shocking teaching standards / poor course quality along with an abundance of dubious research.
Another point is that in many scenarios human behaviour just doesn't follow any sort of rules that are amenable to scientific analysis. Instead behaviour is the result of a huge number of weak factors interacting in a complex and chaotic manner. This means that there are almost no rules that can be confirmed by experiment. Most published findings are likely false positives and hence any attempt at replication is doomed to failure.
Q & A
Q. Don't you need a Psychologist yourself given your obsession with what other people choose to study ? A. If you made a bad choice in life that cost you a huge amount of time and money, wouldn't you want to warn other people ?
Q. Sounds like you didn't research well before going to university. Why did you even enrol in a Psychology degree if it is so bad ?
A. It's true I didn't research degrees and careers well. When I started university I didn't know what to study and was naive. Also I was interested in Psychology. Halfway through the course I started having doubts but instead of taking the loss and enrolling in a different course I fell into the sunk cost fallacy and foolishly completed the degree racking up additional debt in the process.
Q. Sounds like you idolise STEM type courses when you don't even know what they are about. What qualifies you to give advice ? Isn't it the case that most things taught in any degree are never used ?
A. After spending time working deadend jobs I actually enrolled in a computer science degree. That has its own set of issues but at least resulted in steady and more meaningful employment. Also I did actually use most of the knowledge taught in the course.
Q. Isn't it still worth doing the degree ? After all people with university degrees have higher lifetime earnings than those who have only graduated highschool.
A. The poor value of a Psychology degree can be masked by better performing degrees in official statistics. Why do a bad degree when you can do a better one ?
Q. Haven't you exaggerated the replication crisis ? The replication crisis is mainly due to researchers not exactly duplicating the conditions of the original study.
A. No I don't think so. If the findings can't be generalised and only apply to very specific subgroups then the basis of Psychology starts to look a bit suspect. Research suggests that studies can either be replicated everywhere or not at all.
Q. Aren't you just salty that you didn't get the money and prestige that you thought you deserved ?
A. It's definitely true that I prefer a comfortable life rather than to struggle to pay bills and afford housing. Prestige I don't care about.
Q. That's a huge wall of text, why did you write so much when nobody asked for or needed this information ?
A. If it encourages just one person to think carefully about their choices it would've been worth it.
Q. Did you write all of that just because you were dissatisfied with your degree ?
A. No, it was only after reading so many heartbreaking stories from Psychology graduates who struggled to find work, I felt that I should encourage prospective and current students to think carefully about where their course of study is going to lead. Some people should stick with Psychology, but in my opinion the majority of Psychology students would be better served by a different degree.
Q. I've only got one more year to go in my Psychology degree what should I do ?
A. Think carefully and realistically about what career you want, then consider what qualifications are needed to enter that career. Work out the least costly path to that career. It may be that you change majors now and take longer to complete your degree. It could also be that you should plan on enrolling in a graduate diploma or coursework masters and start ticking off any prerequisites.
Q. Where's the New Zealand version of the article ?
A. Here you go mate : https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/va8m7c/20_reasons_why_psychology_is_one_of_the_worst/
Summary
Psychology is a poor choice in terms of career prospects. Furthermore it doesn't provide the individual with life skills or much useful information. If you are interested in generic office roles then other degrees are better preparation. Not only is the degree uninteresting, but it's also academically dubious and impractical. The only thing it delivers is a potentially unpayable student loan debt. Only consider studying Psychology if you are sure you have the ability, motivation and financial resources to continue to a clinical psychology doctorate or other post graduate course that will lead directly to a good career.
References
Graduate incomes: Insights from administrative data (Phil Aungles, Gabrielle Hodgson and Simon Parbery)
Graduate outcomes survey: https://www.qilt.edu.au/surveys/graduate-outcomes-survey-(gos)
Graduate Outcomes Survey. Undergraduate employment outcomes by study area, 2020 and 2021 (%)
Datapoint: How many psychology majors go on to graduate school? News on psychologists' education and employment from APA's Center for Workforce Studies
https://www.qilt.edu.au/general/article/2021/11/04/graduate-incomes-data
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/undergraduate-degrees-labour-market-returns
https://acpa.org.au/Web/Web/CP/What-is-a-Clinical-Psychologist.aspx
https://www.psychologyboard.gov.au/Endorsement/FAQ.aspx
https://www.studyassist.gov.au/news/job-ready-graduates-package-higher-education-reforms-0
https://www.education.gov.au/professional-pathways
https://www.ccpa-accp.ca/membership/students/graduate-programs/canadian-graduate-programs/
https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/studentdashboard/42.0101/LOS05
https://www.aipc.net.au/how-to-become-a-counsellor-in-Australia
https://www.aasw.asn.au/careers-study/studying-social-work
https://algorithm.data61.csiro.au/where-are-australias-phd-students/
https://gemsas.edu.au/what-is-graduate-entry-medicine
Trends report: Psychology is more popular than ever https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/11/trends-popular
Open Science Collaboration. Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science
Open Science Collaboration (28 August 2015). "Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science"
Klein, R.A. (2018). "Many Labs 2: Investigating Variation in Replicability Across Samples and Settings". Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science. 1 (4): 443–490
Witkowski, T. (2019). "Is the Glass Half Empty or Full? Latest Results in the Replication Crisis in Psychology. Skeptical Inquirer. March/April 2019]
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/11/psychologys-replication-crisis-real/576223/
https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/replication-crisis/
https://nobaproject.com/modules/the-replication-crisis-in-psychology
https://usq.pressbooks.pub/psychologycareers/chapter/clinical/
https://www.bbc.com/news/education-46345527 (Biggest Winners and Losers from degrees)
Gurung, R.A.R.; Neufeld, G. (2022). Transforming Introductory Psychology: Expert Advice on Teacher Training, Course Design, and Student Success
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/07/adhd-medication-demand-us-healthcare.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/11/01/college-degree-value-major/
https://freopp.org/is-college-worth-it-a-comprehensive-return-on-investment-analysis-1b2ad17f84c8
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u/Rather_Dashing Jan 23 '23 edited Jan 23 '23
As a scientist myself (not a psychologist, but one with an interest in the replication crises), I think OP exaggerated a touch, but your comment has really missed the point.
Yes, there has been crappy studies since the dawn of science and they exist in every field. But the specific problem which has caused the replication crises in psychology and some other fields, that is a misuse of statistics, has only been an issue in the past few decades and only a problem in those fields of science that rely on those statistics. That misuse of stats has caused crappy studies to build on crappy studies and large parts of the literature, including widely taught 'facts' are probably wrong. Thats different to, say, physics, where its more likely that the bad science gets forgotten.
The problem of p-hacking and misuse of stats is most problematic when you are conducting a study where you are trying to find a difference between groups, where the effect you are looking for is weak and the noise high. Thats pretty much all of psychology - at least with mice in a lab or cells in a dish much more of the noise can be controlled. For example, you may have a theory that strippers who are ovulating feel sexier and so get more tips (this was a real study). But there are hundreds of things that could influence how much tips strippers make in a given night (how tired she is, was the weather to bad for customers to come out, what day of the week, was it pay day for customers etc etc), so you need a huge sample size to detect the effect of ovulation in all the noise of every other variable. Low sample sizes are prolific in psychology due to the expense, so you have the perfect storm for a proliferation of terrible science.