Psy 301-CSULB

Common Career Paths of BA psychology majors

Psychology is the second most popular undergraduate major behind business administration. In 1996, about 65,000 college seniors graduated with a degree in psychology, but many were not necessarily interested in a career as a psychologist. In fact, the National Center for Education Statistics (1993) reports that

• 20 percent of psychology baccalaureate recipients work in social services or public affairs,
• 21 percent in administrative support,
• 14 percent in education,
• 10 percent in business,
• 10 percent in sales,
• 9 percent in service personnel, and
• 5 percent in health professions.

An additional 3 percent find themselves working in computer science and an equal percentage in biological sciences.

A Plethora of Job Opportunities

Students often think only of mental hospitals as employment sites for those interested in work related to psychology. Listed below are many types of agencies and settings. In all of these, persons with bachelor's degrees have found interesting and challenging positions which utilize their knowledge of psychology.

• Community Relations Officer: works either for business or government in promoting good relations with the local community.
• Affirmative Action Officer: works for recruitment and equal opportunities for minorities; employed by business, industries, schools and government.
• Management Trainee: plans and supervises operations of a business concern.
• Urban Planning Officer: deals with city planning, renewal.
• Personnel Administrator: works with employee relations, selection, promotions, etc.
• Advertising Copywriter: researches audience and media, writes text of advertisements.
• Media Buyer: researches products and audiences to select most effective media for advertising.
• Health Educator: gives public information about health and disease.
• Psychological Technician: administers routine tests, helps with patients under supervision of a psychologist.
• Director of Volunteer Service: recruits, supervises, trains and evaluates volunteers.
• Public Statistician: collects and interprets data on health and disease and community relations.
• Customs Inspector: serves at international borders and airports in investigations and inquiries.
• Probation/Parole Officer: persons with psychology backgrounds are often preferred for such positions, especially with adolescent parolees.
• Technical Writer: researches and writes material dealing with social science for magazines, newspapers, and journals.
• Sales Representative: major publishers of psychological books often seek out undergraduates with psychology majors for these positions on college campuses.
• Opinion Survey Researcher: does opinion polls and interprets results.
• Daycare Center Supervisor: supervises and coordinates activities of preschool children with working parents.
• Research Assistant: assists in the collection and analysis of data for major investigations. Positions usually available only in large hospitals, businesses, and government.
• Laboratory Assistant: psychology background preferred for students working with animal behavior research, especially primate laboratories.
• Scientific Instrument Salesperson: opportunities in sales and development for companies specializing in psychology apparatus.

We have not listed the numerous kinds of "counselor" roles that are available to many students with a bachelor's degree in a variety of social service and mental health agencies. Many of these programs provide interesting live­in possibilities with adequate pay; while they often do not have much of a future as a career, for a beginning post-bachelor's position they can be quite challenging.

Sources:

Fretz, B.R. (1976). Finding careers with a bachelor's degree in psychology. Psi Chi Newsletter, 2 (2), 5­9. Goodstein, L.D. (1987). What are 40,000 psychology majors going to do next year? Psi Chi Newsletter, 13, 1­5.