Is a psychology degree really useless?

[notsoposhdarlin]

Asking because I'm half way though one and not interested in pursuing a career in psychology.

I'm predicted a 2:1/2:2 and don't want to feel like I've wasted 3 years. I have a pre schooler so no extra curriculars to note and I study off campus.

Forgot to add. I read that other thread about useless degrees and psychology cropped up a few times.

No it's not but any degree is 'useless' if you don't do anything with it. So, as you're not intending to pursue a career in a psychology related field, it's useless to you but a degree could get you another job you'd prefer, so not useless in general, iyswim.

I used mine as a stepping stone to a law conversion course. I couldn’t find anything that interested me career-wise flowing directly from Psychology.

What are planning to do with your degree? It's a good base if you are wanting to become a psychologist but for that you need to get on to the doctorate which is very difficult

The opinion that a specific degree is useless is quite subjective imo.

I havent used mine, but I needed a degree in something to get into my chosen career so it got me there.
Any degree is "useless" to an extent if you dont intend to go into a related career.

I've got one. It is effectively useless as I'm not practising psychology in any shape or form. However the fact I have a degree of any kind suggests I can research, reason, analyse and report etc which is very useful for my job. I think decide what you DO want to do and start thinking of the steps to get you in that door.

All of my jobs post degrees have required that I be educated to at least degree level. Having one is good even if you don't directly use it.

What are planning to do with your degree?
A few areas that interest me are Social Research, technology and finance/business/management.

DDIL has a psychology degree and is currently doing her Masters through OU. She works as a Town Planner. Head office is in Lindon but she works from home in the South West. Her Company is funding her Masters. She makes a good living at it.

Why did you choose psychology if being a psychologist doesn’t interest you?

I have a psychology degree and work in a senior position in finance. It has been invaluable - the statistics help me with the numerical aspects and my general interest in people has helped when I’m leading and managing my team. Education is never wasted.

No, having a degree and a good understanding of people will not be useless.

It is useful for managers, highly useful background for HR professionals and there is no reason that you cannot use it as a foundation to build a successful career.

Could you not switch or something to a business related course (business mgt, etc)? @notsoposhdarlin

Like most degrees you learn skills - research, essay writing, statistical analysis. Most people who do an undergraduate degree do not go on to specialise or work in that field

I don’t think any (specific subject) degree is useless. I worked in various industries where having a degree was pretty much a prerequisite but the subject made no difference. I worked with people with degrees in all sorts. I have a drama and theatre arts degree, from an RG uni. The subject was never a barrier or an issue.

Psychology would be useful for so many things.

If you are borderline 2.1/2.2 I would work as hard as you can to get a 2.1. In my experience a 2.1 would get you a lot more interviews than a 2.2. And agree that the blend of skills in psychology make it very far from a useless degree whichever of those fields you pursue.

You can apply for graduate entry jobs that don’t need a specific degree e.g fast track civil service but you will probably need a 2.1 for these.

No!

It can help you on a career path outside psychological therapies to because you will be learning about thinking, decision making, reasoning, brain development, personality development etc....

HR
Law
Police
Advocacy
Care sector
Anything with the public or people management!

Marketing, advertising

degree seems to be standard level of education now! my job wouldn't even interview anyone without a degree - I have one that is not related to the job I do - but it doesn't matter - still got the job!

I'd say a degree in absolutely anything is useful!

Alot of people take a psychology degree because they find the subject interesting and need a degree to get a graduate job. Just like they might take a history or literature degree. Many have no intention to become psychologists.

It is not a vocational degree like medicine. It is a useful degree because it can lead to a specific career as a psychologist if you do further study. Or it can be treated like any other degree for the purposes of getting a graduate job. It is also useful for careers that need you to understand how people think like HR, advertising or the police.

Are you enjoying studying it?

Yes, the content is interesting especially social psychology and cognitive (language and memeory).

I quite like using statistics and working with data sets- it's my best and easiest subject actually. Not an essay person at all, but still getting ok/decent grades for them.

Not at all, it's a brilliant degree as it gives you both written and numerical skills. However, you do need a good idea of what you want to do next and get on the right track if that's to be an actual psychologist in one of the recognised streams