(Donald E. Super, Charles Super,) Opportunities
(Donald E. Super, Charles Super,) Opportunities
(Donald E. Super, Charles Super,) Opportunities
OPPORTUNITIES IN
PSYCHOLOGY
CAREERS
Foreword by
Joanne E. Callan, Ph.D.
Former Executive Director—Education Directorate
American Psychological Association
Preface by
Dan Matthews, Ph.D.
Director, University of New Mexico Department of Psychology Clinic
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DOI: 10.1036/0071392068
CONTENTS
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1. Psychology Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The three psychologies. An overview of psychology specialties.
Questions in psychology. Psychology as science. Psychology as
profession. Psychology as academic pursuit and instructional field.
Psychology and the public debate. Psychology’s place in society.
2. Specializations in Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Experimental and physiological psychology. Engineering
psychology. Developmental psychology. Educational psychology.
The psychology of personality. Social psychology. Psychometrics
and quantitative methods. Industrial and organizational psychology.
Counseling psychology. Clinical and abnormal psychology. School
psychology. Sports psychology. Emerging specialties, related fields,
and interdisciplinary bridges.
3. Prospects in Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Master’s degree holders. Bachelor’s degree holders. Rapid growth.
Where psychologists work. Geographic distribution. Women and
minorities in psychology.
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iv Opportunities in Psychology Careers
v
vi Opportunities in Psychology Careers
vii
PREFACE
I suppose I have no greater interest in and curiosity about people than
average. That’s only because the average is so high. We are intensely so-
cial creatures and our desire and need to observe, know, wonder, predict,
and attempt to influence or control each other is almost as strong as our
hungers for food and water. We are all (with the possible exception of a
couple of rare forms of psychopathology) driven to spend much of our
time trying to figure each other out. So, even though I am a psychologist,
I may not be more interested in people than you are. However, I have the
great fortune to be able to spend my time and make my living engrossed
in this basic human preoccupation.
Not surprisingly, I love what I do. My passion for learning about and
interacting with others is carried out in the training clinic at a state uni-
versity, the place where doctoral students in psychology learn to be ther-
apists and to do psychological assessment. Since psychology is both the
science of behavior (I was trained as a researcher) and one of the healing
arts (I was trained also to listen, understand, and use my empathy) I have
to (and get to) keep up as well as I can in two separate but related areas.
To teach I have constantly to learn. I learn from reading, observing, and
living. Plus, I say without apology, that I learn as much from my students
as from any other source. And they learn from me that it’s okay and good
to be anxious about the work of dealing with fragile and precious people
and that they can learn to use themselves and their knowledge to help
others.
These days, the most exciting thing I’m learning from and with my
students is neuropsychology—the study of the brain and how it works.
Psychologists have long been the leaders among human scientists and
mental health professionals in the development and use of psychological
testing to measure mental abilities and emotional characteristics. For the
past couple of decades, we’ve also been able to see, through brain scans
viii
Preface ix
or neuroimages, what the brain of a living person looks like and what it’s
doing when engaged in various tasks. We can’t see thoughts, of course,
but we can see what parts of the brain “light up” when a person’s doing
a particular type of thinking. And, we can look at people with different
diagnoses or normal individuals with different results on our psycholog-
ical tests and see how their brains function in different ways. Psycholo-
gists are working in teams with physicians (neurologists), radiologists,
chemists, physicists, computer experts, and others to unravel mysteries
about the brain, body, and behavior. The results are complex while en-
lightening—I once read that if the brain were simple to understand, it
would be too simple to do the understanding. But it’s extraordinary what
we’re learning.
So far, I can’t say that the advances in neuropsychology and neuroim-
aging have changed how I do and teach psychotherapy and psychologi-
cal assessment. I do understand my clients differently and often am
better able to help them see how they developed some of their patterns of
perceiving and living. I also have learned that the cognitive therapy that
I do results in changes in brain images (brain chemistry) that are similar
to what happens when the person takes some of the valuable new medi-
cations for depression.
But for now, I can enjoy the pure science of it all, because whatever I
learn about people and how they think and how they deal with their emo-
tions and relate to other people is part of what I’m supposed to do in my
job. That’s one of the loveliest parts of what I do—anything I read, see,
experience, hear, talk about with others, feel, or find inside myself can
become part of my work, if I spend the time to reflect on it and develop
my understanding. Even my own weaknesses provide valuable informa-
tion (and no, I haven’t gotten rid of all my own weaknesses and flaws).
Psychology at its best is both the collecting of information and the ap-
plication of careful methodology and reason to understand what that in-
formation means. I often describe psychology as the most skeptical of all
the mental health disciplines, and I like that about it. The bookshelves
are filled with self-help guides, and claims about improving the human
condition are spread throughout the sections of bookstores. Psycholo-
gists (and others with a scientific approach to human problems and be-
havior) have helped us and will continue to help us sort through these
x Opportunities in Psychology Careers
claims and refine our thinking about how to be human and how to im-
prove the human condition.
So, one of the promises that psychology holds for you if you study it
and work with it is a different understanding of yourself, the people you
meet, and human nature. I could have said “a better understanding,” and
that would probably be true, but I think the more honest claim is that you
will come to understand people differently—more richly and complexly
and deeply. But you’re likely also to become more aware of what you
don’t know and to doubt the ways you’ve typically come to categorize
and predict and influence others. (To be honest, there are dogmatic and
arrogant psychologists who think they know it all. I, myself, find the
whole endeavor profoundly humbling, while enlightening). If your
teachers are successful, you’ll grow in both knowledge and doubt. And
in acceptance of yourself and others. That doesn’t mean you’ll lose your
ability to believe and judge and be moral, but your morality is likely to
become richer and more complex, too. I know I’m different as a person
because I chose this field. (Or did it choose me?)
All this adds up to a mixed bag of values that comes out of studying
psychology and doing psychology. Whether you simply take psychology
courses, major in it, or do advanced work toward a master’s degree or a
doctorate, you will increase your knowledge, change your way of look-
ing at and thinking about yourself and others, and simultaneously de-
velop more questions, more doubts, and a healthy skepticism. If you’re
okay with ambiguity and willing to put at risk any feeling you might
have in the security of your judgments, go for it. You’ll never be bored.
Blythe Camenson
xi
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CHAPTER 1
PSYCHOLOGY TODAY
Most people think they have an accurate idea of what a doctor or a
lawyer does, and they are probably right. Most people will admit, how-
ever, that they have no idea what a mycologist is, although the field of
mycology is easily described as the study of fungi. People’s ideas about
psychology are different. Many people think they know what a psychol-
ogist is and have some idea of what a psychologist does, but many others
have only a fuzzy or incorrect view about the field of psychology and the
many varieties of psychological work.
For people who have been to college, psychology may be remembered
as an introductory course, maybe in an area they never pursued further.
Perhaps they could not see the value of studying how rats learn to run
mazes, how cats get out of puzzle boxes, or how the mechanism of the
eye reacts to light and darkness. None of the subject matter of the course
seemed to have any bearing on self-understanding, getting along with
others, or helping people with problems of living. Yet psychology is sup-
posed to be the science of human behavior!
Today increasing numbers of people have encountered psychologists
in school, industry, or the armed forces. They are likely to think of psy-
chologists as mental testers or as the genial people in the guidance or
personnel office who always had time to listen to what you thought you
wanted to do. Any one of these pictures of a psychologist is good as far
as it goes, but it does not go very far.
1
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2 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
QUESTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGY
To round out our picture of the nature of psychology, let us consider
some of the kinds of problems on which psychologists work. A discus-
Psychology Today 5
PSYCHOLOGY AS SCIENCE
About one-fifth of America’s psychologists are employed primarily in
research. Whether their work is better called basic or applied is often dif-
ficult to decide, as the examples given here will make clear. Many psy-
chologists employed primarily in teaching or in practice spend some
time in the study of psychological problems or issues, although the ques-
tions asked, the methods used, and the types of data collected and
analyzed vary widely.
learn to exercise some control over the heart rate in response to the sig-
nal. With such techniques people have been able to influence their own
heart rate, blood pressure, and even the brain waves associated with dif-
ferent states of consciousness. Recent discoveries concerning behavioral
aspects of heart disease raise new questions about the biosocial origins
of such disorders and suggest new avenues of research.
Research on biofeedback illustrates both the coherence of psychology
across specialties and the interplay between pure and applied science in
psychology. The techniques of biofeedback were developed by psychol-
ogists with backgrounds in both physiological and experimental psy-
chology and were quickly recognized by personality and clinical
psychologists, physicians, and others as potentially useful in the treat-
ment of some kinds of psychosomatic problems and psychological anxi-
eties. Recently there have been promising attempts at using biofeedback
as therapy for more traditional medical problems involving irregularities
of the heartbeat, gastric ulcers, asthma, and epilepsy. At the same time,
the results of this work are posing major new questions to other psychol-
ogists about theories of learning, psychophysiology, and personality and
mental functioning.
PSYCHOLOGY AS PROFESSION
Half of America’s psychologists are employed primarily in profes-
sional activities, putting psychological knowledge to work in everyday
life. Psychologists often are thought of as test specialists, and many of
them are. One of the largest testing organizations is the Educational
Testing Service, headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey. Its staff mem-
bers develop tests that aid in the selection and guidance of students in
10 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
How individuals learn to work in groups has long been a topic of ap-
plied psychological research. As with many other topics in psychology,
this one was given a strong start by the needs of the military during
World War II. The effective team functioning of bomber crews under
combat conditions was often critical to their success and survival. In or-
der to know better how to train crews—indeed, what to train them for—
their interactions during training and combat were studied. This was
done to ascertain the characteristics of effective and ineffective groups,
the characteristics and behavior of the members of each of these types of
groups, and the factors that make for the emergence and exercise of suc-
cessful leadership. The eventual success of this work significantly facil-
itated the training of air crews and saved many lives. This kind of work
continues. Several incidents during the Persian Gulf War, for example,
prompted a new task force for studying decision making under condi-
tions of extreme stress. Work at the Human Factors Division of the Na-
val Training Systems Center in Orlando, Florida, has focused attention
on the “mental models” used by team members and how the coordina-
tion of their understanding of each other’s jobs can minimize costly or
fatal errors in communication at critical moments.
Survey Techniques
The techniques of market research and public opinion polling are further
examples of the application of psychological techniques. Many psycholo-
gists are employed in consulting organizations, advertising agencies, and
survey centers, conducting studies of what the consumer wants and of
what the public thinks about various issues. Designing questions that will
get meaningful answers, conducting surveys in ways that will get cooper-
ation and a true sample of the public, and interpreting findings are activi-
ties that call for psychological training and skill. It has been shown, for
example, that opinion pollsters who use interview methods are more
likely to get frank responses if they are on the same social level and of
the same race as the person they are interviewing.
program, for example, was cited as “an American success story” for its
“proven record of giving children the foundation they need for long-term
success.” The program was initiated in part because of the concerns of
psychologists and educators in the 1960s; it was modeled on experimen-
tal programs designed by them. The first director of the Office for Chil-
dren, which started the program, was Professor Edward Zigler, a
psychologist on leave from Yale University, and the “proven record” Dr.
Shalala cites consists largely of tests and observations compiled by psy-
chological and behavioral researchers. This work has demonstrated so
effectively the educational, social, health, and economic benefits of such
programs—when they are carried out—that Head Start now enjoys the
strong support of legislators and citizens from all political parties and
across nearly all philosophies of government.
Sometimes in the process of policy formation psychologists are asked
to provide expert testimony to lawmakers or other officials. Dr. Ellen
Greenberger of the University of California at Irvine had one such experi-
ence. The Subcommittee on Labor Standards of the House of Representa-
tives was considering a proposal by President Reagan’s administration to
expand the number of hours that school-age children could be legally em-
ployed. The proposal was part of Reagan’s larger program to minimize
federal regulations in the national economy. It was opposed by labor orga-
nizations, partly for job-security reasons, and by many who were con-
cerned that the temptation of even minimum-wage jobs would interfere
with some children’s attention to properly completing their education. Dr.
Greenberger had recently completed a large study of high school students
and was able to present to the subcommittee factual data relevant to their
debate. In her work she found that fourteen and fifteen-year-olds who
worked long hours at outside jobs (fifteen hours a week or more), spent
less time on homework, received lower grades, enjoyed school less, were
less likely to eat dinner with their families, felt less close to their fami-
lies, and used more of such substances as tobacco, alcohol, and mari-
juana. As she presented these results to lawmakers, Dr. Greenberger was
careful to point out that the associations she found did not necessarily
prove causation, but she was able to bring into her testimony other re-
search findings and considerations that, together, were effective in helping
the committee members come to their own conclusions regarding the ad-
visability of the new proposal, which, in the end, was defeated.
Psychology Today 15
SPECIALIZATIONS IN PSYCHOLOGY
As was pointed out earlier, psychology is somewhat unusual in that it
is both a science and a profession. Some psychologists are primarily sci-
entists, engaged in research work and perhaps in related administrative
and teaching activities. Others are primarily practitioners, engaged in the
application of psychology to practical problems of education, business,
industry, health, welfare, and everyday living. Although many of the sci-
entists also apply their knowledge of principles and methods, and many
practitioners carry on research, psychologists generally can be charac-
terized according to one of these functions.
Moreover, there is further specialization within the field of psychol-
ogy just as there is within the fields of physics and medicine. Just as the
science of physics can be divided into specialties, such as astrophysics
and nuclear physics, so the science of psychology can be divided into
specialties, such as experimental psychology, physiological psychology,
developmental psychology, personality, social psychology, abnormal
psychology, and psychometrics or measurement. Just as the profession of
medicine is divided into specialties, such as pediatrics and internal med-
icine, so the profession of psychology is divided into specialties, such as
clinical, counseling, school, engineering, personnel, and applied social
psychology (market research, propaganda, advertising, public opinion,
morale, group dynamics).
The American Psychological Association (APA) currently lists fifty-
two different divisions that represent the various specialized areas in the
field of psychology.*
1. Society for General Psychology
2. Society for the Teaching of Psychology
3. Experimental Psychology
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Specializations in Psychology 17
4. There is no Division 4
5. Evaluation, Measurement, and Statistics
6. Behavioral Neuroscience and Comparative Psychology
7. Developmental Psychology
8. Society for Personality and Social Psychology
9. Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues—SPSSI
10. Psychology and the Arts
11. There is no Division 11
12. Society of Clinical Psychology
13. Consulting Psychology
14. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
15. Educational Psychology
16. School Psychology
17. Counseling Psychology
18. Psychologists in Public Service
19. Military Psychology
20. Adult Development and Aging
21. Applied Experimental and Engineering Psychology
22. Rehabilitation Psychology
23. Society for Consumer Psychology
24. Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology
25. Experimental Analysis of Behavior
26. History of Psychology
27. Society for Community Research and Action: Division of Com-
munity Psychology
28. Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse
29. Psychotherapy
30. Psychological Hypnosis
31. State Psychological Association Affairs
32. Humanistic Psychology
33. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities
34. Population and Environmental Psychology
35. Society for the Psychology of Women
36. Psychology of Religion
37. Child, Youth, and Family Services
38. Health Psychology
39. Psychoanalysis
40. Clinical Neuropsychology
18 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
Experimental Psychology
The field of experimental psychology is concerned with the processes
of sensation, perception, learning, and motivation. It studies problems of
seeing, hearing, feeling, perceiving, learning, and wanting. These can
best be studied in a laboratory situation and are basic to an understand-
ing of the processes of knowing, thinking, judging, and problem solving.
Experiments in the field of perception and cognition have made impor-
tant contributions to both theory and practice in psychology.
The work of experimental psychologists may involve studying how
people attend to and use different kinds of visual and auditory informa-
tion as well as how this processing of information is affected by what
they are looking or listening for. They also may study the differences in
thinking between novices and masters in chess; the ways that rats learn
to depend on their own efforts or on the efforts of others in getting food
from a vending machine; the effect of the judgments of others on an in-
dividual’s own judgment of the size of an object; or the effects of two
different arrangements of aircraft controls on pilot performance.
20 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
Physiological Psychology
Physiological psychology is the study of how the physiology and
anatomy of the brain, its neural network, and the hormonal system it in-
teracts with control behavior, from eating and sex to reading and solving
puzzles and caring about other people. For obvious ethical reasons, most
of this work is carried out on animals, usually rats, cats, and monkeys.
(Thus some of this work is called “comparative psychology,” where the
results from different species can be compared.) Occasionally, however,
an accident in which a person’s nervous system is damaged in a certain
way, or an unusual case requiring neurosurgery, will stimulate an impor-
tant discovery in human physiological psychology.
Research on brain function has always involved psychologists with
specialists in such other fields as neurology, pharmacology, endocrinol-
ogy, biology, and ethology. All of these are rapidly growing fields, and
physiological psychologists contribute by working on issues that tie
them together. Indeed, subspecialties now can be identified in neuropsy-
chology, psychopharmacology, and other hybrid areas. Much of the
early work in physiological psychology focused on the control of eating
and drinking behavior in dogs and cats and added to general knowledge
of how the nervous system senses the body’s needs and directs their ful-
fillment. Recent work has tended to be in areas more obviously psycho-
Specializations in Psychology 21
ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY
Most engineering psychologists work in industry, generally as engi-
neering or “human factors” psychologists, but many are employed by the
government. The Navy employs them in research positions in the Office
of Naval Research and in other such installations. The Air Force em-
ploys a number who work on the design of equipment appropriate to hu-
man capacities.
Business and industry as well as the military have benefited from
recognition of what applied experimental psychology can contribute to
the design and use of equipment through the “human factors” approach.
It is not only military and spacecraft that present problems of the
22 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
This field of psychology often is divided into the special areas of in-
fant, child, adolescent, adult, and old-age psychology, the last-named
field being known as gerontology. These specialties are increasingly
linked together as life-span developmental psychology. The field is con-
cerned with growth and development from the beginning of life until
death; because of the importance of the formative years, it generally has
concentrated on infancy, childhood, and adolescence. In recent years,
Specializations in Psychology 23
a street corner meeting place, or a sandlot baseball field may also pro-
vide the locale for research. The developmental psychologist only rarely
works in industry and is more often found in the community at large or
in a specially equipped university laboratory.
The training of developmental psychologists includes the usual core
studies in general, and experimental and theoretical psychology. Some
of these courses may be taken at the undergraduate level together with
work in biology, sociology, and cultural anthropology. In addition, the
developmental psychologist will take specialized courses in the psychol-
ogy of childhood and adolescence and the psychological problems of
adulthood and old age, supported by considerable work in personality,
theoretical, educational, and social psychology. Observational methods,
measurements, and fieldwork also play an important part in training. The
doctorate is necessary for employment above the assistant or technician
level.
Developmental psychologists are often employed in colleges and uni-
versities, particularly in departments of education and teachers’ colleges.
Their principal function is teaching, although they may conduct research
either as part of their work or on their own. Developmental psycholo-
gists also hold research positions in institutes devoted to child welfare,
old age, or educational research. These institutes frequently are attached
to universities, such as the Universities of Iowa, Minnesota, Florida, and
California. Developmental psychologists may work in research laborato-
ries connected with hospitals or homes for the aged. There also have
been openings in parent education work and in writing and editing.
The emphasis on understanding infant, child, and adolescent develop-
ment has led to a demand for psychologists with this type of training.
The study of infants at risk from particular problems has linked develop-
mental psychology to pediatrics. Interest in the educational implications
of the theories of Jean Piaget and more recent cognitive studies has made
for a greater relationship between child, experimental, and educational
psychology. There is renewed concern with adult development, joining
not only developmental psychology with other specialties such as per-
sonality psychology and counseling, but also academic insights with
business and management. And finally, a growing elderly population has
promoted greater interest in their functioning and needs.
Specializations in Psychology 25
Counseling 12%
School 6%
Other Pract. 5%
Developmental 4%
Educational 3%
Clinical 47% I/O 5%
Exp'l./Comp./ Phys./Cog. 7%
Social/Personality 6%
Other Research 5%
Source: Draft Preliminary Data. 1997 Doctorate Employment Survey, APA Research Of-
fice, 1999. Note. These data include both Ph.D.s and Psy.D.s.
EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
The field of educational psychology is not easy to define, for while it
is concerned with some problems that are most appropriately its own, it
partly overlaps certain other fields. A number of specialty fields, such as
measurement, counseling, and school psychology, have largely broken
away from it. Remaining in it are teaching and research in the psycho-
logical problems of the educational process. Human learning is one of
the primary interests of the educational psychologist as is the field of in-
dividual differences in abilities and interests. Both of these are obviously
basic to education. Also basic to education is (a) developmental psychol-
ogy, because education is concerned with guiding and promoting devel-
opment; (b) social psychology, because children and adolescents are
social creatures; and (c) the psychology of personality, because educa-
tion is concerned with the development of the whole person, with adjust-
ment as well as with the acquisition of skills.
26 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
ing the abilities and achievements of pupils or, with increasing fre-
quency, plan and carry out—cooperatively with curriculum and
instruction specialists—studies in various methods of organizing and
conducting classroom work.
The growth of developmental and counseling psychology, combined
with the emphasis on mental health and on clinical psychology, has left
educational psychologists somewhat uncertain as to the extent of their
field and the nature of their contribution. Some have stressed theory and
have thus identified with developmental psychology or learning theory.
Others with more applied interests have tended to become measurement
specialists, mental health workers, or counseling psychologists. Still
others have directed their knowledge and skills into the field of curricu-
lum development and instruction.
There are indications that what is now—in a strict sense—the field of
educational psychology may subdivide into two specialties. One spe-
cialty will be concerned with the development of learning abilities, an
area that is basic to educational philosophy and methods. The other spe-
cialty will be primarily interested in new ideas and in the ways and
means of getting these innovations into the mainstream of educational
practice. Both instructors and research workers have been finding chal-
lenging opportunities in these areas in recent years, not only at the doc-
toral level, but also at the M.A. level in positions as research assistants.
Recent reductions in federal funding of educational research and innova-
tion have reduced the number of such opportunities, but have not elimi-
nated them.
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Social psychology has been defined as the study of the interaction of
individuals, of how individuals function in society and respond to the
group. It is concerned with how they become socialized, how they utilize
30 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
social patterns in the world about them, how they develop within them-
selves the social attitudes they find in family and neighborhood groups,
how they participate in community life, and how they affect the person-
ality patterns of those with whom they come in contact.
Social psychologists study such subjects as the social behavior of
children, focusing on the development of different types of social inter-
action as children mature; the relationship of interpersonal relations in
the home to interpersonal relations in school and club groups; personal
and social factors related to the development of cooperative and compet-
itive behavior; bargaining in conflict situations and international ten-
sions; social attitudes such as bias, their origins, and their relationship to
social behavior; voting habits and factors related to them; and the roles
of individuals in groups, the personal and social situational factors re-
lated to these roles, and the effects of changing situations on roles.
Applied social psychology is concerned with the applications of the
principles and techniques of the field to practical situations and problems.
It embraces activities of such seemingly divergent nature as propaganda,
housing, community organization, community attitudes and relations,
advertising, market research, public opinion polling, morale, communi-
cation, and group dynamics. Although the applications are quite differ-
ent, the principles and procedures underlying these activities actually
overlap considerably. They all pertain to the study of groups and to the
behavior of individuals in groups.
Applied social psychologists work on such problems as the study of
national characteristics as a guide to psychological warfare and the
maintenance of peace; the effectiveness of public relations and advertis-
ing; the analysis of consumer buying habits; public opinion; studying at-
titudes toward minority groups and the ways in which they are affected
by living in segregated and nonsegregated neighborhoods; measuring
changes in morale with changes in working conditions; ascertaining how
a group learns to work as a team rather than as a collection of individu-
als; how members of a jury relate to each other as deliberations proceed;
and devising and evaluating methods of leadership in group activities.
The list of applications is long, varied, vital, and fascinating. This field is
involved in business, industry, social agencies, schools, community situ-
ations, the armed forces, and in every kind of situation where groups of
men and women are found.
Specializations in Psychology 31
handling data, while others are concerned primarily with the production
of new forms of existing tests.
Specialists in psychometrics, perhaps more than most other psycholo-
gists, may resemble the popular description of the Ph.D., one who
“knows more and more about less and less,” for their field is one of
methodology rather than of content. However, as their methods are ap-
plied to a variety of substantive fields, those who work on applications
find it essential to become very broad in interest and knowledge. Good
undergraduate grounding in mathematics is essential—at least through
calculus—supplemented by work in the physical, biological, and social
sciences. At the graduate level there should be good grounding in basic
psychology, supplemented by work in developmental, personality, so-
cial, and educational psychology, with intensive study of individual dif-
ferences. They should also study various types of tests, measurement
principles and methods, statistics, and mathematical statistics. Of
course, a knowledge of computer applications is essential.
The field of measurement and evaluation is the applied branch of the
more purely scientific field of psychometrics. Measurement psycholo-
gists are specialists in psychometrics who are more concerned with the
application of existing techniques than with the theory of measurement
or with the development of new kinds of statistical methods.
Applied measurement is concerned with selecting, constructing, and
applying tests or other measures to problems such as finding out how ef-
fective a training program is; with constructing, applying, and evaluating
tests and other devices, such as interview procedures, for the selection,
evaluation, and upgrading of students or employees; and with develop-
ing tests for use in counseling and guidance. The work of measurement
psychologists differs from that of specialists in psychometrics mainly in
its emphasis on applications rather than on theory, and on the use of tests
and test items rather than on statistical methods of treating test data.
Not many psychologists consider this their specialty, even when de-
voting themselves to it full-time, for they tend to view themselves as ed-
ucational, industrial, or other substantive types of psychologists. In one
survey, about 1 percent of psychologists gave this as their specialty;
about half of these had a doctoral degree.
Metric psychologists are employed in a great variety of situations,
wherever behavior has to be measured and measures have to be devel-
oped. They teach measurement courses and related subjects in colleges
34 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY
Counseling psychology is the study of people as individuals, with the
objective of helping them develop as fully as possible by making the best
use of their abilities, interests, and opportunities. It is concerned with the
development of principles, methods, and techniques that will be helpful
in this work and in their application to people who might benefit from
help in self-fulfillment. As an applied field, counseling psychology
draws heavily on the basic fields of developmental, educational, person-
Specializations in Psychology 39
ality, social, and metric psychology. It has much in common with per-
sonnel psychology on the one hand and with clinical on the other. It
brings standard principles and techniques to bear on problems of under-
standing and helping individuals, and it supplements them with research
on problems that are either peculiar to or highlighted in counseling.
Counseling psychologists interview high school and college students,
employees, persons in need of vocational rehabilitation, and people in
general who have problems concerning personal, social, educational,
and vocational development and adjustment. In addition to the interview
technique, they use tests and observational methods to collect additional
information about their clients as individuals, in groups, and in the envi-
ronments where they live and work. All of this is done to help their cli-
ents develop more fully and make better adjustment. They carry on
research in the development and improvement of appraisal methods and
counseling techniques. They study resources that may be helpful to their
clients in improving social or vocational adjustments, and they may
supervise the work of other counseling psychologists who are less expe-
rienced or less highly trained.
The training of counseling psychologists has been studied by commit-
tees of the professional association concerned with education below and
through the doctorate. The counselor trained in psychology who special-
izes in vocational guidance should have at least two years of graduate
training, although nonpsychologically trained school counselors now
typically have one year of graduate preparation. However, training to the
doctorate opens up a greater variety of higher level opportunities.
The undergraduate program should be broad, with work in the social
and biological sciences including psychology and education. The coun-
selor’s graduate training should include work in developmental, educa-
tional, personality, social, and measurement psychology. It should also
include courses designed to bring the principles of these fields to bear on
problems of personal, marital, social, and vocational development and
counseling. It should include some study of sociology, economics, the
type of institutional setting in which the counselor will work, and partic-
ularly educational and occupational information and other resources
helpful in counseling. There also should be training in the techniques of
appraisal and counseling, with provision for some supervised experience
in the use of these methods with clients. The American Board of Exam-
iners in Psychology issues a Diploma in Counseling Psychology to
40 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
Gulf) with the increase of work needing to be done with returning ser-
vicemen and servicewomen, the shifting of war-industry workers, and
the need to rehabilitate numbers of wounded and emotionally disturbed
veterans. Former veterans’ guidance centers generally were converted
into permanent college or community counseling services, employing
well-prepared counseling psychologists and vocational counselors. It
was found in many situations that a staff composed of men and women
trained at both the M.A. and Ph.D. or Ed.D. levels worked very effec-
tively, setting a pattern now widespread in community colleges, four-
year arts and engineering colleges, and universities.
Colleges and universities have employed counseling psychologists in
other aspects of student personnel work, such as testing programs, disci-
pline, mental health, student activities, and the direction of student ser-
vices. Public school systems increasingly are seeking counseling
psychologists with high school teaching experience as directors of guid-
ance, and community guidance centers steadily have raised their stan-
dards and increased in number.
Antipoverty projects added new opportunities for leadership in the de-
velopment of counseling and training programs and services. The budget
cuts of the early 1980s reduced these community services and the pro-
fessional opportunities associated with them, but there is still some con-
tinuing demand.
Counseling psychologists have taken on new roles in evaluating the
employability of adults for the Social Security Administration and for
Vocational Rehabilitation. The extension of insurance coverage, both
governmental and private, to cover psychotherapy and, in some instances,
vocational counseling designed to restore or to improve employability,
also has opened new opportunities for counseling psychologists.
The Veterans Administration and the Rehabilitation Services Admin-
istration followed and assisted in these developments by raising stan-
dards, by supporting training programs in cooperation with a number of
universities, and by employing a large number of well-trained counsel-
ing psychologists. Despite budget cuts, counseling psychology contin-
ues to offer opportunities in the services and programs of colleges,
schools, community agencies, hospitals, and industries staffed by both
M.A.s and Ph.D.s.
42 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
other major military efforts. This increase is partly because of the great
volume of work to be done with emotionally inadequate or disturbed
members of the service and partly because of an increased public aware-
ness of the importance of human resources and human adjustment. In or-
der to meet this need, large-scale programs were set up by the Veterans
Administration and the United States Public Health Service after World
War II and a smaller program by the army for the training of clinical psy-
chologists at the doctoral level. Furthermore, the American Psychologi-
cal Association assumed the responsibility of evaluating and accrediting
graduate training in clinical psychology, a move that has since been ex-
panded to include concern for psychological training in all applied areas.
Actual accrediting is done only when requested by outside fund-granting
agencies for such fields as clinical, counseling, and school psychology,
and upon request of the university.
SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY
School psychologists often have functioned as clinical psychologists
in an educational setting. They are concerned with problems of adjust-
ment, mental health, and school achievement, primarily in elementary
schools. School psychology has therefore drawn on the basic fields of
developmental, personality, social, and metric psychology together with
physiology, sociology, social work, educational psychology, and educa-
tional philosophy. It makes its own synthesis of these other fields to un-
derstand children who have problems adjusting to school. It endeavors to
help them directly as well as through their parents and teachers to make
better adjustments and get the most from their educational opportunities.
In the process, school psychologists conduct research to make better ap-
plications of their techniques and to provide themselves with more effec-
tive working tools.
More than ever before, school psychologists have a broad responsibil-
ity for the educational adjustment and mental health of students. They
work with teachers, administrators, and parents to develop healthy emo-
tional and effective learning experiences for children. School psycholo-
gists may work with a group of teachers on a problem such as the
psychological factors involved in the poor scholastic achievement of
bright children. They also may work as members of teams in clarifying
procedures related to the classification of pupils, the development of a
46 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
have had extensive experience with exceptional children often will ad-
vance to administrative positions in special education programs.
If employed by a public school system, school psychologists must be
certified in the state in which they work. The requirements for certifica-
tion vary from state to state. They can, however, usually be met in one
year of properly planned graduate work. Students should check the re-
quirements of the states in which they expect to be employed. A program
of study should be planned with these requirements in mind. There is no
specialty certification in this field by professional associations.
The demand for well-trained and effective school psychologists is
considerable. The development of special programs for disadvantaged
and special needs children highlights this need.
SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY
Sports psychologists are concerned with the psychological stimuli
that affect and improve athletic performance. They also look at the ef-
fects of exercise and physical activity on psychological adjustment and
health. Sports psychologists typically work in academic settings and/or
as consultants for sports teams. They often work in conjunction with
sports medicine professionals.
PROSPECTS IN PSYCHOLOGY
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of psychol-
ogists is expected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations
through 2008. Employment in health care will grow fastest in outpatient
mental health and substance abuse treatment clinics. Job opportunities
also will arise in schools, public and private social service agencies, and
management consulting services.
Companies will use psychologists’ expertise in survey design, analy-
sis, and research to provide marketing evaluation and statistical analysis.
The increase in employee assistance programs, which offer employees
help with personal problems, should also spur job growth.
Opportunities for people holding doctorates from leading universities
in areas with an applied emphasis, such as clinical, counseling, health,
and educational psychology, should have particularly good prospects.
Psychologists with extensive training in quantitative research methods
and computer science may have a competitive edge over applicants with-
out this background.
51
McGraw-Hill's Terms of Use
52 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
RAPID GROWTH
The great majority of American psychologists belong to the American
Psychological Association (APA), although there still are many persons
trained or functioning as psychologists who do not belong to their major
professional association. The growth of this professional association
parallels the growth of the field. In 1920, there were approximately 400
APA members; in 1940, there were about 2,500; in 1950, the number
was approximately 7,500; in 1960, they numbered some 18,000; in
1975, about 40,000; and now there are more than 159,000 members. The
increase in the number of psychologists was slow and steady from 1900
to 1920, somewhat more rapid from 1920 to 1940, and extremely rapid
after 1945. It still increases, as psychology continues to be one of the
most popular undergraduate and graduate fields of study.
The mere fact of increase in the number of psychologists is important,
but not sufficient for someone considering the opportunities in the field.
The next question is, what are they doing? What proportion of them are
employed, and where are they employed? How much do they earn?
One outcome of the recent rapid growth of psychology is of passing
interest: it is a profession of relatively young men and women. The ste-
reotype of the gray-bearded professor practitioner is no longer, if it ever
was, justified. Nearly one-third of the members of the American Psycho-
logical Association are less than forty years of age, and most psycholo-
gists have earned their doctorates during the past twenty years.
Prospects in Psychology 53
40
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GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
While discussing the number of psychologists, it may be helpful to
add a few words about their geographic distribution. As a relatively new
science and profession, psychology is more in demand in the highly de-
veloped parts of the country than in those areas that are less advanced
economically and technologically. Psychologists tend to be found
largely in the centers of population, and particularly in cities in the
Northeast, the Midwest, and the Pacific Coast. New York and California
lead with about 11 percent of the country’s psychologists each, Pennsyl-
vania and Texas are next, while Alaska, North Dakota, Wyoming, and
Delaware have the fewest psychologists. Of course the population as a
whole has a somewhat similar distribution across the country, but there
are still considerable geographic differences in the ratio of psychologists
to the general population.
FINANCIAL REWARDS
In 1999 the APA conducted extensive salary surveys among its doc-
toral-level members. The salary range is wide and varies depending
upon work setting and number of years’ experience. The new graduate
working a nine-month contract at the bottom of the university hierarchy
might start out at $32,000. At the top of the ladder salaries exceed
$70,000; university researchers earn close to $100,000, and those in
business and industry well over $100,000.
In general, salaries in the field of psychology compare well with those
for chemists and engineers and are superior to those of social workers
and teachers. Financially, psychologists are in the top 10 percent of the
employed population.
Recent salary levels for doctoral-level psychologists working in dif-
ferent settings with different levels of experience are summarized in Ta-
ble 1, and salary levels for master’s degree holders in Table 2.
58
McGraw-Hill's Terms of Use
The Rewards of Psychology 59
RESEARCH POSITIONS
Private Research
2–4 years $58,143
5–9 years 58,500
15–19 years 86,333
University Psychology Dept.
2–4 years $28,429
University Research Center
2–4 years 46,429
10–14 years 60,500
Government Research
20–24 years 81,400
VA Hospital
5–9 years 60,000
Individual Private Practice
2–4 years 49,833
10–14 years 56,750
20–24 years 81,673
APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY—INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL
Consulting Firm
2–4 years $59,111
5–9 years 101,222
15–19 years 109,000
20–24 years 180,200
Business/Industry
2–4 years 70,200
5–9 years 84,000
15–19 years 123,167
The Rewards of Psychology 61
APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY—INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL
Consulting Firm
2–4 years $52,000
5–9 years 73,692
pay and that of some other professional groups, despite salary differ-
ences depending on where they work and what their specialties are, psy-
chologists earn enough to lead interesting lives and to raise their families
according to good standards. Few acquire wealth, but few suffer hard-
ship. Moreover, what they do is useful to society.
Material rewards for psychologists vary with the type of organization.
In private practice or consulting work, psychologists obviously must
provide themselves with retirement benefits, medical care, housing, and
the like. They also will receive social security benefits after retirement.
At the other extreme, psychologists commissioned in one of the armed
forces have the benefits of medical care, retirement, housing, and com-
missary facilities traditionally available to military personnel. Colleges,
hospitals, social agencies, school systems, and business and industry fall
somewhere in between as to the type and number of benefits they pro-
vide. With respect to the nonsalary rewards, psychologists are just like
physicians, engineers, lawyers, machinists, truck drivers, and janitors;
what they receive depends on where they work.
INTANGIBLE REWARDS
Now let us look at the intangible rewards, the work satisfactions, and
the way of life that a psychologist enjoys. These fall into a twofold clas-
sification: those that are associated with being a psychologist and those
that are associated with working in institutions and organizations where
psychologists are employed. Let us look at the former first, since it is
more peculiar to psychology.
The work satisfactions of psychologists come from the application of
scientific methods to the understanding of human behavior and to the so-
lution of problems of human relations and personal adjustment. Psychol-
ogists’ work combines in a unique way the methods of science and the
subject matter of human relations. They are in a position to obtain the in-
tellectual satisfactions of discovery, understanding, and invention at the
same time that they experience the emotional satisfaction of working
with and for people. Depending on the field of specialization, psycholo-
gists can emphasize or minimize the extent to which they do any one of
these.
An experimental psychologist may have relatively brief and transient
contacts with people in the course of work, and the helping of people
The Rewards of Psychology 63
they do not pall with age and experience. If anything, time makes them
more enjoyable and more rewarding.
Psychologists enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. They may not have a
wealth of material things, but neither do they suffer any hardship. Psy-
chologists do not stand at the top of the social prestige ladder, but they
are high enough to be respected by all and low enough to be acceptable
to most. Their work brings them in contact with other educated persons
with whom they can share the intellectual and aesthetic interests that
usually develop during the course of college and graduate education.
The psychologist’s income is sufficient to indulge these interests, share
them with neighbors, and rear children to appreciate and enjoy them.
SOME DISADVANTAGES
Along with the advantages, the disadvantages of being a psychologist
should be commented on here. But whenever these terms are used, one
must ask, “advantages and disadvantages for whom?” It is an old saying
that one person’s meat is another person’s poison. Each reader of such a
book as this must ask whether the type of work and the way of life de-
scribed is appealing, whether it will enable the attainment of valued
goals, and whether it will provide the opportunity to be the kind of per-
son one would like to be. The young man or woman who is more inter-
ested in the things that money will buy than in the things done to earn the
money will find some disadvantages in psychology as a profession.
While we have seen that psychologists earn as much as most profes-
sional groups, they earn less than people in other fields such as medicine
and the higher levels of business, and the work is intellectually and often
emotionally demanding.
The young woman or man who enters psychology will find that there
are certain drawbacks associated with the type of institution or enter-
prise in which she or he works. In an educational institution, the psy-
chologist probably will have too little clerical assistance. In a mental
hospital or school for the mentally retarded, social life will probably be
rather limited, for there is a tendency for staff members of such an insti-
tution to live on or near the isolated grounds and to become a little com-
munity of their own.
In a business organization, the young psychologist will lead a life like
that of an office clerk if he or she is employed at the technician level, and
The Rewards of Psychology 65
one should be capable of the advanced study and research necessary for
a Ph.D., Psy.D., or Ed.D. degree.
Psychology is a scientific profession devoted to the study of human
behavior and the improvement of human adjustment. This means that
the student of psychology should be a person who believes that knowl-
edge is important, that time and energy should be spent in finding out
what is true, and that principles and facts should be put to work in the in-
terest of human welfare. It means that the student should consider
knowledge and welfare ultimately more important than one’s own mate-
rial well-being, prestige, or aesthetic values, although these, too, have
their proper place in one’s life.
Psychology involves careful and precise work with large numbers of
detailed observations concerning human or animal behavior, bringing to-
gether and understanding these data by statistical or other methods, read-
ing widely and deeply in theoretical and applied subjects, and dealing
with people as colleagues, clients, subjects, and students. The extent to
which a given psychologist does each of these things depends partly on
his or her specialty and partly on the kind of institution or organization
in which he or she carries on the work of his or her special field.
But all psychologists need to be interested in the careful study of be-
havior and in collecting, organizing, and understanding data on behav-
ior. All need scholarly interests and work habits. Interest in working with
people may vary considerably, for in some specialties the psychologist
may deal only indirectly with people other than professional colleagues
or students. In other specialties the psychologist works closely with peo-
ple of varied backgrounds and personal characteristics.
The personality requirements of psychology are to some extent sug-
gested by the interest requirements. Psychologists need patience and
persistence in working with varied and complex data, coupled with the
ability to work toward remote goals that are difficult to attain. If they are
employed in the applied or professional specialties, they need to be tol-
erant of individual differences and personality deviations in others. In
clinical, counseling, and especially school psychology, a wholesome
personal adjustment and a genuine acceptance of and interest in others
are crucial.
As a social science that has contributed greatly to the understanding of
bias and prejudice, psychology is an occupation that is relatively free of
bias as to sex, race, religion, or physical handicap. Female psycholo-
The Rewards of Psychology 67
68
McGraw-Hill's Terms of Use
Education and Training 69
UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION
For these reasons, undergraduate education in psychology is consid-
ered nonprofessional in nature. The position of the American Psycho-
logical Association, as expressed by various committees, conferences,
and its Education and Training Board is that the undergraduate study of
psychology has general educational value that gives it an important
place in college curricula but that it cannot and should not attempt to
prepare people for work as psychologists, except in laying a foundation
for a higher degree.
Some colleges and universities do offer undergraduate courses that are
professional in nature, but this practice is frowned upon. Instead it is rec-
ommended that undergraduate courses in psychology provide some of
the theoretical understanding that is essential to the wise and effective
use of professional techniques and that tool courses, such as those in in-
telligence testing, be offered only to persons who have the background
necessary for the wise use of these tools. Furthermore, the need is
stressed for the potential psychologist to include basic courses in other
fields while an undergraduate, so that he or she will have the broad un-
derstanding needed as a foundation for professional education and for
effective scientific and professional work.
Undergraduate study leading to career preparation as a psychologist
should include a substantial amount of work in psychology (not neces-
sarily a major). Such a program of study should be designed to give the
student a fair acquaintance with the content of the field, both in its gen-
eral and in its laboratory aspects. Courses in general, experimental,
physiological, developmental, personality, social, educational, and met-
ric psychology are desirable together with some work in the history of
70 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
GRADUATE PREPARATION
Becoming a psychologist involves getting over a number of hurdles.
The first of these is getting into college, and the second is graduating
from college. Next comes getting into a graduate school, perhaps as a
candidate for a master’s degree, then obtaining the master’s degree (a
step skipped by many who aspire, on completing the B.A., to move di-
rectly to the doctorate). Then one must be accepted as a candidate for the
doctorate, progress over several hurdles while in the doctoral program,
and then pass a comprehensive examination, complete a doctoral disser-
tation or research project, and finally, in most universities, defend the
doctoral dissertation in an oral examination. The number of people over-
coming each hurdle gets smaller as the hurdles get higher. Several of
these hurdles are more difficult to surmount than others, specifically, ac-
ceptance to a Ph.D., Psy.D., or Ed.D. program; passing the comprehen-
sive examination for the doctorate; and completion of the doctoral
dissertation. It is at these points that most of the candidates who do not
succeed are dropped from the training programs.
Universities generally try to weed out the intellectually and emotion-
ally unqualified as early as possible. They attempt to select only those
students who are considered, at the time, likely to complete their studies.
Moreover, the better universities seek to admit only as many students as
can be handled effectively and, on completion of their studies, can be
placed in appropriate jobs. Within these objectives, however, methods
vary considerably, and it is well for the prospective student to know how
the institution he or she is considering operates.
Selection of students for admission to master’s and doctoral programs
is based partly on intellectual ability as shown by college grades,
achievement examinations, and scholastic aptitude tests. The Graduate
Record Examination (achievement and aptitude) and the Miller Analo-
gies Test (aptitude) were devised especially for these purposes. Ratings
72 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
MASTER’S PROGRAMS
The degree Master of Arts (or Science or Education) requires one or
two years of graduate study, varying with the institution or department.
Most institutions believe that only average or better-than-average col-
lege students should be admitted to work for the M.A. Some institutions,
however, admit any college graduate, and a few admit only potential
doctoral candidates.
In the first two types of graduate schools, the master’s program may
be perceived as a proving ground for doctoral candidates in which stu-
dents have a chance to show what they can do. It may be planned as a
Education and Training 73
DOCTORAL PROGRAMS
The degree Doctor of Philosophy (or Psychology or Education) gen-
erally requires three or four years of graduate study, including the M.A.,
and often takes five years because of the time required for completing a
research project. As already pointed out, completion of the M.A. is by no
means a guarantee of admission to a doctorate program. In fact, admis-
sion to a doctorate program probably is the most difficult hurdle of all to
surmount, and more would-be students are eliminated at that point than
at any other. In fields such as clinical and counseling psychology, the ra-
tio of applicants to openings ranges from 10 to 1 to as many as 40 to 1.
While some institutions consider it wise to use the master’s program
as a proving ground for doctoral work, most of the better universities
74 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
POSTDOCTORAL PROGRAMS
Postdoctoral preparation in psychology has existed for many years in
informal and unsystematic ways, but now it is formalized and more com-
mon in some specialties. College psychology teachers who wanted to
shift to research or applied positions occasionally sought and obtained
such positions at nominal salaries and with supervision, thus mastering
the special skills and acquiring the special knowledge of the field to
which they were changing. Today, postdoctoral training in clinical psy-
chology is provided at centers such as the Postgraduate Center for Men-
tal Health in New York and the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, in
shorter courses given at some universities, and in connection with the
annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.
Postdoctoral training in research is offered by a number of research
institutes, many of them located at universities. The Social Science Re-
search Council and the National Research Council have offered fellow-
ships for a number of years for postdoctoral research training. The Ford
Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the Office of Educa-
tion have contributed more recently to developments of this type. Simi-
lar developments are taking place in other special fields, but not as yet to
the same extent as in clinical and experimental psychology, educational
measurement, and research.
At all levels, students in the applied fields need opportunities to apply
their knowledge and use their skills under expert supervision. This su-
pervised experience is known as practicum training and generally is re-
quired in clinical, counseling, school, personnel, and applied social
psychology. In many of the theoretical fields, such experience also is
considered necessary, as in the laboratory work of the experimental psy-
chologist, the nursery school and elementary school observation of the
developmental psychologist, the field studies of the social psychologist,
and the apprentice teaching of the graduate student with a teaching
assistantship. While the American Psychological Association has not,
through its Education and Training Board, recommended the inclusion
of practicum training in many fields, the trend is very definitely in the di-
rection of providing such training.
A student deciding on a university for graduate education should
find out what types of practicum training (including research) are
available. In the field of clinical psychology, for example, practicum
76 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Psychologists, like professionals in many other areas, increasingly are
interested in brief, intensive courses or workshops that are classified as
“continuing education.” Such programs may consist of a weekend semi-
nar on new statistical techniques or an afternoon session on the psychol-
ogist’s role in legal issues of criminal insanity. Many psychologists find
continuing education workshops an efficient way to keep up with recent
developments and acquire new skills. In addition, a certain number of
hours at certified sessions is required by many states for keeping a valid
license to practice psychology.
because of requests from the United States Public Health Service and
from the Veterans Administration. This committee then evaluated inter-
ested universities and prepared an approved list that these agencies could
use in granting funds and in setting up training programs.
It has been the policy of the APA to evaluate and certify university de-
partments of psychology only at the request of some outside organiza-
tions and cooperating universities. For this reason, there currently is no
list of universities approved for the study of psychology in general. In-
stead there are lists of universities with approved doctoral programs only
in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, and more recently,
school psychology. While it is true that a department cannot be approved
for training in these fields unless there is adequate supporting work in
the basic fields, it is quite possible for a university to have excellent
work in the basic fields and in some applied fields without offering a
doctoral specialty in others.
Another way to evaluate universities would be by the number of de-
grees granted in the field of interest. Presumably a university that
granted many degrees in psychology would necessarily be a university
from which many people wanted degrees in psychology. But what peo-
ple want depends partly on what they can get. Therefore, some universi-
ties award many degrees because their degrees are sought, while others
awarding similar numbers may do so because they have low standards
and admit many less able students. Similarly an institution granting few
degrees may do so because of high standards, which lead it to accept
only a few students to whom it offers superior resources, or it may grant
few degrees because few people want a degree from that institution.
Furthermore, even within institutions there are differences, as shown
by the fact that several universities have more than one department of
psychology. In some of these universities, more than one department and
in others only one department, are on approved lists. The larger number
of degrees granted by a given university may then actually indicate that
it has some good offerings and some poor offerings.
A CAREER IN PSYCHOLOGY
A career, as defined by vocational psychologists (who may be coun-
seling, clinical, or organizational in their professional affiliations), is not
an occupation; it is a sequence of positions occupied by a person. Occu-
pations are sets of tasks organized to constitute positions, with similar
positions grouped to constitute an occupation. Occupations exist
whether or not there are people to fill them, for they mean that a certain
kind of work needs to be done to produce certain kinds of goods or ser-
vices. Careers exist only in the lives of individuals. A career begins with
education and the occupation of the position of student; it continues with
work and the occupation of a sequence of positions that may or may not
be substantively related. Thus a career in journalism may, and often used
to, begin with employment as a copywriter and continue with promotion
to reporter, then perhaps to editor or columnist. It now often begins with
university study of English or journalism.
The current awareness of “mid-career crises,” men’s and women’s oc-
cupational changes, and women’s re-entry into the world of work after a
period of full-time homemaking has made most people much more
aware of career development problems and of the desirability of a
longer-term perspective on career planning. This chapter, therefore, fol-
lows the chapter on education and training with discussions of getting
started, getting ahead, and keeping up. It ends with a very brief consider-
ation of eventual retirement, for in career development, it is usually
“later than you think.”
GETTING STARTED
Anyone aspiring to a profession should know what the profession is,
what sort of work is done, where the work is done, what the future
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82 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
prospects are for the field, what kind of training will be needed to enter
the profession, and where to get this training. In addition, he or she also
must know how to get started and become established in the chosen
profession. The majority of these topics—job analysis and description,
social and economic trends, training—are relatively objective and hence
easily dealt with. But getting started and getting established in a profes-
sion is another matter. It is a social and psychological process with many
variations and is much more difficult to observe and to analyze.
Those who engage in an occupation are often somewhat reluctant to
look at it objectively, because a careful analysis may make certain as-
pects appear in an unfavorable light. Furthermore, not all writers on
occupations are trained and experienced in the methods of observing and
analyzing human behavior. In recent years, psychologists and sociolo-
gists have been paying more attention to the process of entering and
gaining a foothold in an occupation.
It is therefore possible at present to describe some of the principal
methods for making a place for oneself in a profession such as psychol-
ogy. The reader of this description should not, however, get the impres-
sion that psychologists are any more success-minded than other
professional groups. Each occupation has its own version of the ways of
getting ahead described here. The emphasis on success is as much a part
of our civilization as is the emphasis on human welfare. Psychologists as
a group tend to emphasize human values rather than material values.
This is exemplified by their code of ethics, which stresses their obliga-
tions to society more than their obligations to each other. The code is not
a means of defending the selfish interests of the profession, but rather it
is one method of protecting the genuine interests of the public.
Personal Evaluation
The student of psychology who is about to complete formal profes-
sional education, whether at the M.A. or Ph.D. level, is a merchandiser
about to put a new product on the market. The new psychologist has a
product to sell: oneself, or rather, one’s professional services. The new
psychologist must analyze this product to see what there is about it peo-
ple might want, find a market that wants this product, and find out how
to get this product to that market in a way that makes people want it.
A Career in Psychology 83
ogist who later headed up the research program. Another obtained her
position as a college professor because, at another convention, she
joined a friend at breakfast. This friend happened to be sitting with a
third psychologist who was looking for a new assistant professor. Still
another psychologist is director of a college counseling center because
he accepted a minor assistantship while a graduate student. He carried
out his routine duties in a way that made him stand out in the minds of
the faculty as a person of unusual ability. Finally, a young woman in the
male-dominated field of industrial psychology got her start in industry
by working on a professor’s research, which took them into several busi-
ness organizations.
Placement Services
Registering with a placement service is another, more obvious, and
very acceptable method of making oneself available to employers. Most
universities operate placement offices in which student and alumni
records are kept and to which employers write about openings. Many
faculty members operate informal placement services, keeping lists or
sets of resumes of students and former students interested in jobs. Some
professors, research workers, and practitioners with reputations receive
many requests for nominations to jobs from employers who know them
or their work. Having papers on file in the placement office makes it
easy for a professor to recommend someone with supporting evidence.
The American Psychological Association operates a placement ser-
vice, listing positions available and positions wanted in a monthly em-
ployment section of the APA Monitor, which is sent to all members and
to many libraries. The Observer of the American Psychological Society
also lists employment openings. Large professional meetings, such as
the annual national convention of the American Psychological Associa-
tion, also provide placement services and facilitate interviews. The state
employment offices in some states operate placement services for psy-
chologists in their professional divisions. Finally, federal and state civil
service examinations offer another means for the psychologists in search
of employment. There often are openings in the federal civil service for
research psychologists with physiological, experimental, social, psycho-
metric, personnel, clinical, and counseling specialties.
86 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
Personal Interviews
Techniques of applying for positions in person also are dealt with in
such manuals, but there are certain customs in the employment of psy-
chologists that the student should be aware of. Colleges and universities
like to observe certain traditions of gentility, even though they may actu-
ally engage in hard-headed bargaining. For example, the major universi-
ties have a way of not putting themselves in the position of being turned
down by candidates for employment. They sometimes achieve this by
asking the candidates, late in the explorations, whether, if offered the po-
sition at such and such a salary, they would accept.
The colleges expect the applicants, too, to be above bargaining. The
applicants achieve this by knowing ahead of time what salary they can
command and what salary the college is likely to be able to pay. Candi-
dates also let the college know in various subtle ways that they know
what they are worth. The university is likely to offer a position to a can-
didate in the first place only if it has been led by its own analysis to be-
A Career in Psychology 87
A Good Start
Getting off to a good start in the new position, like applying for the
position, requires a knowledge of and respect for ways of doing things.
The psychologist working in governmental or industrial bureaucracy
must know the official channels through which business is transacted.
The researcher who works in a large insurance company must know in
which of the company dining rooms to eat and not be overly bothered by
social stratification. The college instructor must be able to see a chal-
lenge rather than an insult in the immaturity of some of the students.
And each type of situation has its “uniform,” be it a sober business suit
or blue jeans.
The undergraduate student may have limited horizons and lack intel-
lectual curiosity. The business executive may be interested in answers
that give results rather than in methods that give answers. The military
officer may desire results immediately if not sooner. The patient may
refuse to conform to textbook types. The medical specialist may have
more confidence in the conclusions that he or she reached after working
with one case than in those that someone else drew from a statistical
analysis of one hundred cases. These are just a few of the more serious
and more constant challenges that the newly employed psychologist
must accept graciously and learn to handle to keep the job and render the
type of service that will make the job worth keeping.
GETTING AHEAD
Once the psychologist is at work on the new job and has made the ini-
tial adjustments to become part of the institution in which he or she
works, the next problem to be faced is that of getting ahead. It probably
is desirable to remain in a position for at least two or three years to dem-
onstrate that one is stable and dependable as well as to provide some real
88 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
Teaching
In a field that includes both pure and applied science, university con-
nections and university teaching confer prestige. Universities tend to
seek faculty members who have excelled in some aspect of their scien-
tific or professional work. These are presumably the women and men
who have something to contribute to students, who will attract new stu-
dents, and who will in other ways help build up the institution. Reason-
ing conversely, having a teaching appointment in a university is often
assumed, rightly or wrongly, to be a sign of attainment.
The prestige of university connections makes part-time teaching ap-
pointments a means by which psychologists working in clinics, hospi-
tals, counseling centers, schools, industry, and government agencies
advance in their fields. Those who can teach others well to do what they
have done well add to their professional stature and make themselves
known to a larger audience of psychologists and other consumers of psy-
chological knowledge. They make their wisdom and skill known to oth-
ers in a highly acceptable way. They also tend to enjoy sharing their
knowledge with interested students.
Psychologists who are full-time instructors or professors are in a posi-
tion to build reputations as teachers. They are able to organize and con-
duct courses in such a way as to attract students who will want to study
with them because their instruction is meaningful and helpful. In some
A Career in Psychology 89
Publication
Publication, on the other hand, whether in the form of textbooks, re-
search monographs, articles in professional and scientific journals, or
papers at scientific meetings, attracts attention more rapidly. It is tangi-
ble, and its results can be brought together and examined for quantity
and quality. A study that is frequently quoted in textbooks, a text that is
used in many institutions, or even a number of journal articles that may
have limited intrinsic value, have the effect of publicizing both the insti-
tution at which the psychologist works and the psychologist personally.
The psychologist thus becomes well known, and if the publications have
been genuine contributions rather than chaff, this reputation brings stu-
dents, clients, grants, contracts, offers of positions, and promotions. For
academic psychologists, those in research positions, and those employed
in medical, community, governmental, or industrial settings, this is a su-
perior and satisfying way in which to develop a reputation among other
psychologists and among kindred professionals and executives.
Research
Research is closely related to publication as a means of advancement.
Research usually will result in publication, but it is different in some re-
spects. Developing a reputation as a writer may be achieved through
textbooks, reviews, or other contributions not based on original research
or experimentation. Research may lead only to rare monographs, arti-
cles, and papers, but it may be so important that its impact is great. The
nature and scope of a project may capture the imagination of others. Its
planning may be so well conceived and its initial stages so well carried
out that the psychologists involved in the project will acquire reputations
as research workers even before any significant publications result from
their work.
A Career in Psychology 91
Development Work
The practice of psychology is another means of advancement that is
becoming increasingly important as the demand for psychological
services increases and as the number of psychological practitioners
becomes greater. Engineering, measurement, school, counseling, per-
sonnel, or applied social psychologists who are especially effective in
development work in business, the armed forces, or education find their
services very much in demand.
The term development may need a little explanation. It frequently is
used in connection with the term research. The development of a profi-
ciency examination for policemen or for computer programmers, for ex-
ample, is not research in the strict sense of the word. It involves no new
contributions to knowledge but is simply the application of existing
techniques to a slightly different problem. It is, however, a task best car-
ried out or supervised by persons with a research background and re-
search skills.
Similarly, making a follow-up study of students who have left high
school in order to get data for use in revising the offerings of the school
involves no new techniques and contributes no new fundamental knowl-
edge. It is, again, the kind of project to which a research-trained educa-
tional, counseling, or personnel psychologist can contribute a great deal
in rationale, method, and interpretation.
A number of consulting organizations and research institutes special-
ize in this type of work, and many college teachers are active consultants
on such projects. Those who are skillful in working with others to put
existing knowledge to work find themselves valued as staff members
and as consultants, and thus they become established rapidly.
that traditionally have been best known. They, too, have been very much
in demand; as a result, competent clinicians and counselors have found
ample opportunity to advance to responsible positions or to develop pri-
vate practices.
The practicing clinical or counseling psychologist, like other psychol-
ogists, may build a reputation partly through publication, research, and
teaching, but in practice these are incidental or peripheral activities.
Their principal functions are diagnosis, assessment, psychotherapy, and
counseling. The practitioner therefore develops a reputation among pro-
fessional colleagues and among clients by establishing and maintaining
good interpersonal relations, by becoming a skillful diagnostician, by
doing an effective job of counseling or psychotherapy, and by communi-
cating with colleagues in psychology and in the related professions in
ways that are meaningful to them. The practitioners’ services are valued
because social workers find that their case summaries provide a sound
and clear basis for child placement, because pediatricians find them
good team members in working with difficult children and parents, be-
cause psychiatrists find their diagnostic summaries perceptive and to the
point, and because teachers feel that they understand school problems
and help show how classroom situations can be used to help children. It
is those who are effective in this type of work who are offered opportu-
nities for supervisory and administrative responsibility.
Committee Work
Committee work often proves to be an important means of bringing to
light a psychologist’s ability and contributions. This is especially true in
the case of teachers whose superior teaching builds reputations rather
slowly, and in the case of clinicians and counselors whose effective work
with clients and professional colleagues may remain known only in the
relatively limited circles of their institutions. The American Psychologi-
cal Association, the American Psychological Society, the various state
psychological associations, and some city associations have a large
number of active committees working on a variety of scientific and pro-
fessional problems. The burden of committee work falls heavily on those
who have the ability and the motivation to work, so that new talent is
eagerly sought and soon given responsibility.
A Career in Psychology 93
Popularization
Popularization (writing or talking about psychology for the general
public) is another method that sometimes is used by psychologists to
build reputations and to advance. Traditionally, however, this has not
been viewed very favorably by the profession unless it is incidental to
substantive contributions or done by professional writers. The fact that
psychology has a strong popular appeal makes for quite a demand for
popularization in widely read magazines, popular books, newspaper sto-
ries, radio, television, and public lectures. The very nature of the appeal,
however, often results in the distortion of psychological data, selection
of the sensational, and catering to unhealthy needs and interests.
Popularization of a type that is in the public interest requires a great
deal of skill, time, and strength of mind on the part of the psychologist.
Many popularizers have found their best efforts frustrated by a sales-
minded publisher or TV producer. An occasional psychologist has vio-
lated the APA’s Code of Ethics and fallen from grace because the lure of
easy money through popular writing and lecturing led the psychologist
to cater to publicity and sales departments. Another important factor is
the tendency of scientists to be skeptical of popularizers, even though it
is in the interest of a science or a profession to have its work understood
and supported by the public. The American Psychological Association
and the American Psychological Society are very much aware of the
need for good popularization, and publishers, press, radio, and television
are receptive to good popularization. There is growing interest in psy-
chology for these media, but abuses still make it a rather difficult way for
a young psychologist to make a solid reputation or to win advancement.
MOVING AHEAD
The American dream has always been to find something better. Mov-
ing from one place to another, from one job to another, even from one
occupation to another often has been viewed as the means. Even if one
really likes the present job, the present institution or organization, and
the present place of residence, distant pastures may seem greener.
Americans were a very mobile people during the decades immedi-
ately following each major war, and the tradition of mobility persists
even during periods of recession and depression. One good reason for
94 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
doing graduate work in a university other than that in which the bache-
lor’s degree was earned is that one can thus get a broader perspective on
higher education as a place of employment. Similarly one good reason
for field work and internship is to learn in greater depth what psycholo-
gists do in a variety of settings.
Mobility is not necessarily a good thing, but having other employers
want to hire one often does help to make a person seem valued at one’s
own institution or organization. The potential of mobility is good, pro-
vided it does not make one restless and distracted from the work at hand.
The means of making oneself wanted already have been discussed. In
this section, attention is paid to the types of mobility that are typical of
psychologists.
Academic Networks
Each graduate school tends to have its network of communicating,
mutually respecting, and accepting institutions. The foundations of these
networks are partly geographic, for people from neighboring institutions
meet more readily, for example, at the annual Eastern, Southeastern,
Midwestern and Western Psychological Association meetings. They are
partly affiliational, for people tend to maintain contact with their former
professors, their fellow graduate students, and their own former stu-
dents. And they are partly hierarchical—prestige-based—for the famous
universities tend to place their graduates in other well-known institu-
tions, and the universities with local reputations, no matter how good,
tend to place their graduates in nearby, often lesser, institutions.
There are thus several academic networks, and movement tends to be
within the network in which one starts academic work. People do move
from higher-level networks to lower, sometimes because of the attrac-
tions of less famous but in other ways very attractive colleges or univer-
sities, or sometimes because of the lack of openings in the favored
network. Movement from a lower-level network to a higher one is less
common and is most likely to be the result of unusually good research or
writing. In the applied fields, and this is less often the case, it may be the
result of unusual contributions in the development of service programs
or in professional committee work. Some graduate schools make a prac-
tice of employing their best graduates in junior positions after they get
their degrees—a help in getting teaching experience—while others pre-
A Career in Psychology 95
fer to see them go elsewhere and prove their worth in the field before
considering them for teaching appointments. Those who stay at their
alma mater too often have a rude awakening when they are pushed out of
the nest after four or five years of service to make room for another,
newer, candidate for whom tenure will not be a question for several
years. The possibilities of getting tenure are important in considering a
first regular academic appointment, and getting onto a tenure track at
least one or two years after receiving a graduate degree generally is wise
in academia.
Practitioner Networks
Careers in private practice may, of course, involve consultation either
with individuals (clinical or counseling) or organizations (industrial and
organizational, including assessment, counseling, and organizational
and group development). Practitioners not only work alone, as has so
commonly been true of physicians and dentists, but often in groups as
has been true of lawyers and is increasingly true of physicians. It is clini-
cians and counselors who are most likely to eventually work on their
own with private patients or clients, while some, like most industrial and
organizational psychologists who engage in consulting work, do so
within an organizational framework. The common pattern for those in-
terested in being practitioners is to start in a junior staff position in such
an institutional or organizational setting, partly to develop expertise and
partly to accumulate evidence of legitimacy and competence. From a
university, business, industrial, or consulting firm base, the neophyte de-
velops not only competence and contacts but also the maturity essential
for public confidence. If interested, they then can move to full-time prac-
tice on their own or in higher-level organizational work.
Reputations as practitioners develop largely through word of mouth,
personal contacts, training workshops, and work well done. Getting
ahead is measured first in the type of work that one is assigned, then in
terms of the type of problems on which one is asked to consult and on
the volume of work or business that one develops, whether within the
framework of an organization or on one’s own.
It may at first seem odd that clinical and industrial practice are dealt
with together, as they are here. The reason lies not only in the fact that
both are applied fields, but also because people in either clinical or
96 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
ployee or other practitioner who feels tied down by office hours. Or the
risks and challenges of applied work may tempt the teacher tired of grad-
ing papers or of degree seekers who are not interested in knowledge.
Each person considering a career in psychology should take into account
that this great variety of options is available and that what is a wise
choice for one person may not be a wise choice for another. Exploration
of the possibilities is called for while still in college and graduate school
so that the graduate program can be planned with emphases that qualify
one for the desired type of career in psychology.
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Scientific and Professional Organizations in Psychology 99
accredited schools/programs
boards and committees
books
careers
conferences
continuing education
conventions
international affairs
jobs
journals
licensure
pamphlets
position papers
publications and communications
research funding
research office
salary surveys
state associations
But that doesn’t even scratch the surface. A visit to the APA website is a
must for any potential psychology major.
The APA has a staff consisting of a full-time executive secretary, a
managing editor for its journals, and others concerned with professional
education and placement. Its affairs are directed by an elected president,
other officers, and a board of directors. In addition, there is a larger
council of representatives elected by the various divisions of the associ-
ation. Much of the association’s work is carried out by boards and com-
mittees, some of which are listed here.
Finance Committee
Membership Committee
Committee on Accreditation
Committee on Aging
Committee on Animal Research and Ethics
Committee on Children, Youth, and Families
Committee on Disability Issues in Psychology
Committee on Division/APA Relations
Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs
Committee on International Relations in Psychology
Committee on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns
Committee on Professional Practice and Standards
Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessment
Committee on Rural Health
The special interests of psychologists in the American Psychological
Association are served by fifty-three divisions. Each division is con-
cerned either with a special aspect of psychology as a science, with the
applications of psychology in some special field, or with the interests of
psychologists employed in a particular type of setting.
There are currently more than 159,000 members of the American Psy-
chological Association, much greater than ten years ago. The increase
has resulted largely from the rapid growth of psychologists providing
health services. But the growth and particularly the shift toward psychol-
ogy as a health profession created great tensions within the association
about how best to organize its affairs for promoting both the science and
the practice of psychology. As a result, a large number of psychologists
formed the new American Psychological Society. Many of these were
based in university or research institutions and were oriented to the
science side of psychology, although many of them also had applied, if
not clinical, interests. A large number maintain membership in both
organizations.
Members of the American Psychological Association may be either
associates, members, or fellows. Associates must have completed either
two years of graduate study in psychology in a recognized graduate
school or one year of graduate study plus one year of experience in work
that is psychological in nature. In both cases, at the time of application
Scientific and Professional Organizations in Psychology 101
PSI CHI
Psi Chi is the national honor society in psychology with chapters on
the campuses of many colleges and universities. It holds meetings like
those of the state and local associations and helps with the orientation of
psychology students to their field, but its main purpose is to encourage
Scientific and Professional Organizations in Psychology 103
RELATED ASSOCIATIONS
There are a number of other scientific and professional societies that
include psychological divisions or in which psychologists and members
of related fields meet. These include the following:
The American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association on Mental Deficiency
The American Educational Research Association
The American Management Association
The American Orthopsychiatric Association
The American Personnel and Guidance Association
The Association for the Advancement of Psychology
The Canadian Psychological Association
The International Association of Applied Psychology
The International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology
The International Society of Political Psychology
The National Association of School Psychologists
The National Education Association
The Psychonomic Society
RECOMMENDED READING
The following books are published by the American Psychological Asso-
ciation. For complete book descriptions and ordering information visit the
APA website at www.apa.org/books/students.html or call 1-800-374-2721.
Career Paths in Psychology: Where Your Degree Can Take You, by Robert J.
Sternberg, 1997.
Critical Thinking About Research: Psychology and Related Fields, by Julian
Meltzoff, 1998. Equips you with the tools needed to identify errors in others’
research and to reduce them to a minimum in your own work.
Dissertations and Theses from Start to Finish: Psychology and Related Fields,
by John D. Cone and Sharon L. Foster, 1993.
Encyclopedia of Psychology: 8 Volume Set, by Alan E. Kazdin, Ph.D., Editor-in-
Chief, 2000. Definitive guide to every area of psychological theory, research,
and practice.
Getting In: A Step-by-Step Plan for Gaining Admission to Graduate School in
Psychology, 1993. Competition is fierce and admission standards are high.
Getting In reduces the stress of applying and increases applicants’ chances of
being accepted in the programs of their choice. Applicants are provided with
manageable goals and the tools to achieve them. Among the tools are a
monthly timetable for completing application tasks, concrete information
about career options in psychology, descriptions of graduate specialty
options, and detailed worksheets for selecting the best program matches.
Graduate Study in Psychology: 2000 Edition. Print and electronic versions.
Offers practical information about more than five hundred psychology
programs in the United States and Canada. This edition provides current facts
about programs and degrees offered, admission requirements, application
information, financial aid, tuition, and housing.
105
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106 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
APA-ACCREDITED DOCTORAL
PROGRAMS IN PROFESSIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY
The Committee on Accreditation of the American Psychological As-
sociation approved in 1996 the doctoral programs in clinical, counsel-
ing, school, and combined professional-scientific psychology that are
conducted by the institutions listed below. In the institutions listed, the
approved programs are directed by the department of psychology unless
otherwise indicated. Programs that have not requested evaluation and
programs that have been evaluated but not approved are not included in
the list.
There are three categories of accreditation. Full accreditation is
granted to any program that meets the criteria in a satisfactory manner.
Provisional accreditation is granted to programs making initial applica-
tion that do not meet all the criteria but for which the committee believes
there is a reasonable expectation that they will be met within a foresee-
able period of time. Probation is the category into which a fully accred-
ited program is placed when the committee has evidence that it is not
currently in satisfactory compliance with the criteria. (Provisional or
probationary accreditation is indicated for any such programs in the fol-
lowing list. All other programs are fully accredited). The criteria for
evaluating these programs can be obtained from the Accreditation Office
of the American Psychological Association.
Inclusion of an institution in this list indicates approval of doctoral
programs in clinical psychology, counseling, school psychology, or
107
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108 Opportunities in Psychology Careers
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
Adelphi University Allegheny University of the Health
Derner Institute of Advanced Sciences (formerly listed as
Psychological Studies Hahnemann University and
Garden City, NY 11530 Medical College of
April 1, 1957 Pennsylvania)
Next site visit scheduled 2006 Department of Clinical and Health
Psychology
Adler School of Professional Philadelphia, PA 19102-1192
Psychology (Psy.D.) January 15, 1991
Chicago, IL 60601-7203 Next site visit scheduled 2003
November 13, 1998
Next site visit scheduled 2002 American School of Professional
Psychology Hawaii Campus
University of Alabama (Psy.D.)
Department of Psychology Honolulu, HI 96816
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0348 June 16, 1998
February 1, 1959 Next site visit scheduled 2003
Next site visit scheduled 2000
American School of Professional
University of Alabama at Psychology Virginia Campus
Birmingham (Psy.D.)
Medical Psychology Program Arlington, VA 22209
Birmingham, AL 35294 November 30, 1999
March 20, 1985 Next site visit scheduled 2002
Next site visit scheduled 2000
American University
University at Albany/State University Department of Psychology
of New York (formerly listed as Washington, DC 20016
State University of New York at March 1, 1972
Albany) Next site visit scheduled 2005
Department of Psychology
Albany, NY 12222
May 16, 1979
Next site visit scheduled 2006
APA-Accredited Doctoral Programs 109
COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY
SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY
APA-ACCREDITED PREDOCTORAL
INTERNSHIPS FOR DOCTORAL TRAINING
IN CLINICAL AND COUNSELING
PSYCHOLOGY
In 1996, the Committee on Accreditation of the American Psycholog-
ical Association approved for doctoral training in professional psychol-
ogy the internships offered on the following pages. There is no longer a
distinction, as there once was, between clinical and counseling intern-
ship programs.
There are three categories of accreditation. Full accreditation is
granted to any program that meets the criteria in a satisfactory manner.
Provisional accreditation is granted to programs making initial applica-
tion that do not meet all the criteria but for which the committee believes
there is a reasonable expectation that they will be met within a foresee-
able period of time. Probation is the category into which a fully accred-
ited program is placed when the committee has evidence that it is not
currently in satisfactory compliance with the criteria. The criteria for
evaluating these programs can be obtained from the Accreditation Office
of the American Psychological Association.
Alabama Arizona
University of Alabama at University of Arizona College of
Birmingham Medical Center Medicine
Central Alabama Veterans Health Arizona State University Counseling
Care System (formerly listed as and Consultation
Veterans Affairs Medical Center) Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs
Medical Center
134
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APA-Accredited Predoctoral Internships 135