Unemployment in clinical psychology

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Are they only looking at undergraduate degrees?

Originally Posted by FadedC

Are they only looking at undergraduate degrees?

Yep. This has been around for a couple of months, and APA even issued an official statement about how misleading it was, due to it only focusing on bachelor's degrees while including the rare undergrad major of "clinical psychology."

Yep, posts above me addressed the major issues. Even at the undergrad level, I seem to remember that if you check out the original data, when looking only at a "standard" psychology major (rather than including the odd specialties that are included), the unemployment rate for psych majors was pretty much in line with many other areas, such as engineering and CS.

Originally Posted by futureapppsy2

Yep. This has been around for a couple of months, and APA even issued an official statement about how misleading it was, due to it only focusing on bachelor's degrees while including the rare undergrad major of "clinical psychology."

Sheesh. An undergraduate major in clinical psychology? Never heard of this until now.

I'm actually guessing it comes from a sketchy school that is capitalizing on people not knowing that they can't practice with it, which would also account for the higher unemployment rate.

I wouldn't be surprised if schools offered BA-level "concentrations" but I've also never heard of a degree in it. Could well be out there though - the above is just a guess.

Originally Posted by Ollie123

I'm actually guessing it comes from a sketchy school that is capitalizing on people not knowing that they can't practice with it, which would also account for the higher unemployment rate.

I wouldn't be surprised if schools offered BA-level "concentrations" but I've also never heard of a degree in it. Could well be out there though - the above is just a guess.

Actually, my friend is majoring in Clinical Psychology at the Bachelor's level at Tufts University. Just an anecdote, but wanted to through it out there that all clinical psych BA / BS programs aren't at sketchy schools

Originally Posted by mcvcm92

Actually, my friend is majoring in Clinical Psychology at the Bachelor's level at Tufts University. Just an anecdote, but wanted to through it out there that all clinical psych BA / BS programs aren't at sketchy schools

Even though it's through Tufts, it still strikes me as somewhat gimmicky (although that's just me). I can definitely appreciate working in a formal pathway to secure clinical volunteer experience, although to create an entirely new degree track around that, particularly one named "clinical psychology," seems a bit much. Particularly when the requirements make it more difficult to complete an honors thesis, which would likely be much more beneficial for applicants to many programs than would a year-long "clinical internship."

But again, that's just me.

Although to their credit, they do mention multiple times in the FAQ that securing research experience is necessary if you're planning to pursue a Psy.D. I just wonder how many of the undergraduates majoring in it actually read that page?

The university that I do my doctorate work at has quite a few undergrad degrees in psychology (I think it's like 5, but I havent really paid attention to be honest). It's a well established state university.

I think the idea isnt to take advantage of naivity and lead people on to think they can practice as much as it's intended to help steer undergrads that are attracted to a certain area of psychology into coursework and interaction with professors that will suit their needs. IMO, probably of very little help but very good intent.

Originally Posted by bmedclinic

The university that I do my doctorate work at has quite a few undergrad degrees in psychology (I think it's like 5, but I havent really paid attention to be honest). It's a well established state university.

I think the idea isnt to take advantage of naivity and lead people on to think they can practice as much as it's intended to help steer undergrads that are attracted to a certain area of psychology into coursework and interaction with professors that will suit their needs. IMO, probably of very little help but very good intent.

Yeah, I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt that it isn't to mislead, but to distinguish it from more research-track psych careers. Or in the case that your university has 5 different psych degrees, it may simply be one direction of many--not necessarily a distinction or gimmick.