Educational Psychology Career Guide

The term educational psychology involves the study of how children, adolescents and adults learn in schools and colleges. This field of study involves the psychology of teaching in educational settings, the efficiency of educational interventions and the psychology of schools in social areas.

Although the terms school psychology and educational psychology have often been substituted for one another, they are not the same. Theorists and researchers are more likely to be recognized as educational psychologists, while practitioners in either schools or school-related settings are recognized as school psychologists. The field of educational psychology often focuses on subgroups such as those subject to certain disabilities and gifted children, and it is concerned with how students develop and learn.

Psychology Careers

Most Popular Psychology Jobs

The American Psychological Association lists many kinds of psychology jobs and specialties that can be pursued with a psychology degree to suit a wide variety of interests and needs. According to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics Employee Outlook Handbook, psychology jobs are expected to increase 12 percent from 2008 to 2018.

The American Psychological Association lists a number of popular psychology jobs, mostly involving research and counseling. Beyond the typical notion of psychological counseling that helps people identify and work through their problems, the APA lists a number of intriguing specialties.

Cognitive and perceptual psychologists study “human perception, thinking and memory.”
Development psychologists look at how people develop through age, looking at childhood or adolescent development, and as lifespans increase, psychologists study aging and the elderly.
Engineering psychologists study how people work with machinery and how design might be improved.
Sports psychologists work with athletes to maintain motivation and improve performance.
Health psychologists look at the relation to people and health, and attempt to determine why some people follow or don’t follow health advice, or why others may engage in behaviors they know are unhealthy.
School psychologists work directly with schools to counsel students.

The Study of Religion Psychology

Religion psychology is the psychological study of religious experiences defined scientifically. Historically, religion psychology focused on a belief system that drove a way of life, usually of entire societies. But in the last couple of decades, religion is becoming less a way of believing and more a way of living. Simply put, it is impossible to understand how people think without also understanding their religious beliefs.

The fields of religion and psychology both enter realms of the unseen and until now, have done so in entirely different scopes of academia. Psychology began as a formal, scientific field of study approximately 100 years ago with Sigmund Freud, who realized that behavior is primarily driven by the subconscious. Religion psychology has been in existence in one form or another for a long time and has been studied as theology.

How to be a Psychology Professor

Psychology ranks amongst the top most-popular courses taken up in post secondary learning the world over. The popularity of this discipline has seen the proliferation and saturation of this career field. Graduates often get assimilated into the workforce as teachers, counselors, researchers and administrators. For those keen on teaching, becoming a psychology professor may be a career line worth pursuing. But what does it take to become a psychology professor?

Pursuing a career in psychology begins with a desire to become involved in the various aspects that define the psychology discipline. This passion should culminate in pursuing a Bachelors degree in psychology. This is a four year program that includes modules such as introduction to social sciences, discovering psychology sub-fields and exploring psychological theories.

A bachelor’s degree equips students to understand diverse ideas, theories and concepts, as well as analyze, evaluate and debate psychological theories and situations. This degree course will terminate in a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Psychology.