Psychology vs. Human Development

[oeren]

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Hello. This may or may not be the right place to be asking this, but here goes.

I'm currently a student at a community college in California and am trying to decide whether to transfer for Psychology or Human Development. I've tried looking around the internet for the differences: course work, related occupations, average salary, etc. But I always came up with information that didn't really differentiate the two in depth. I'm actually going to talk to my Research in Psychology professor about careers in both, but I figured I'd try to get some help through the internet also.

What I know, from articles, friends, and websites that I've visited, I can't "do much" with only a Bachelors in Psychology, that I'd need to obtain higher education to really start my career. I'm not sure what my chances are of being able to afford that, so my issue can be summarized into a few questions.

What can I do with a Bachelors in Psychology?
What can i do with a Bachelors in Human Development?
What kinds of jobs can I do with a Bachelors in Psychology?
What kinds of jobs can I do with a Bachelors in Human Development?

I'm very interested the research field, but also in Clinical Psychology. A link to articles or sites that have information on average salary of both would be very helpful as well.

Thank you so much.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

If you search the forums for some key terms from the questions you've asked, you should actually be able to find a decent amount of information here (particularly re: salaries). The American Psychological Association's website also should have salary information available, as well as (I believe) a FAQ as to what types of career opportunities are available with a bachelors, masters, and doctorate in psychology.

Short answers: Average annual pay for clinical psychologists (i.e., with a doctorate) is, I believe, around $70k, give or take. For masters-level professionals, I honestly have no idea, but my best guess would be mid- to high-$40's. For bachelors, my best guess would be high-$20's to low-$30's.

As for what you can do with a bachelors in psych: unfortunately, related to mental health care, not a whole lot. You could work in a research lab, and would qualify for many entry-level jobs through your state's department of family and child services (e.g., basic case worker). However, given the competition for some of these spots in the current economy, many such positions are being filled with masters-level folks.

Other posters might be able to give you a better idea as to the job market for bachelors psych folks. I worked full-time for a year post-graduation, but other than case worker-type jobs with family and child services, I couldn't find much that directly related to psych. Thus, I just started looking into jobs that required a bachelors (in any field).

 

[Goobernut]

I just discovered that my university has a "Careers in Psych" class. I had no idea it was offered and only discovered it because my professor is having me TA it ha! It is an amazing class. Everything you wanted to know about psych careers -- 80% of what I had discovered on my own being handed to these peeps in an easy to read layout!

Take a look and see if your university has something like that. Most will also have a web page that talks about what you can do at the different education levels. If the search at your own uni comes up empty, PM me and I'll direct you to the open website at my school and the one I found at the grad school I'm considering attending.

My research on salary info agrees with AA's 😛 Though different licenses, at the master's level, seem to cause salary to vary quite a bit. I think Wigflip put it very well -- check to see what masters level license/education is most respected in the area you want to live.