I am a proud Psychology major who is so sick of hearing people put it down and say that I won't get a job or make any money. What I study is just as important and valuable as any other major or career choice out there and here is why:
1. Psychology IS a Science
When you dissect the word Psychology to break it down and understand what the subject actually is you will see that -ology is "the study of" and psych derives from the word "psyche" which means mind. So there you have it, together that makes the study of the mind (and behavior). The word "study" alone means that it takes intense research and cognitive ability. When you are studying or conducting a study of something you are searching for knowledge of a specific topic to understand. There have been many test, case studies, discoveries and theories formed over the years just as any other science.
There are logistics and extensive cognitive abilities involved in Psychology despite the preconceived notion of it being nothing more than "common sense." Anything that you know about human behavior is most likely a result from Psychology and some specific Psychologist. Like the Misinformation Effect, ya know the thing that has been used to counteract eyewitness testimonies and resulted in the release of many innocent people that have been convicted, that didn't happen from someone mixing chemicals in a beaker. It happened because of the important, scientific skill that goes into behavior analysis which is *ding ding* part of Psychology.
** Psychology also requires a lot of Neuroscience and is increasingly gaining recognition as a “STEM” (Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) discipline
2. Psychology Skills are flexible
Psychology is a good underlying major for any job. As future psychologist we learn how to predict, understand, explain, and control behavior. We are taught to see how these factors influence our daily lives and understand different thought processes and behaviors of others in any given situation.
That doesn't make my degree undervalued, it makes me dangerous, kind of like a threat because that can make a wider job pool for myself because at the very least I am better at handling co-workers and how to effectively work with groups which is essential for any job.
As psychology students we also are required to go through the process of knowing how to properly gather, compute and interpret data using statistics. Statistics is not easy, but the mathematical and research background it gives me also makes us future psychologist prime candidates for multiple jobs.
3. Psychology is just as important as any other major or occupation
If Psychology really was just mere common sense, then no one would need a degree. It is just as important as every other subject of choice. So important that we need well beyond a bachelors degree to even get to fully practice the skill because it takes more in-depth training and knowledge than four years of undergrad. It just does not make sense to make someone become a doctor in their field if it's just common sense... if that were the case everyone with a brain and sanity would have a job because no degree would be needed. Trust me, I am certainly not going into debt from student loans over nothing.
