how important do you think the work of a psychologist is? Will there always be a need for psychologists in the

Question: how important do you think the work of a psychologist is? Will there always be a need for psychologists in the ever-changing world, if so why is that the case and why is the post-graduate employment rate for a psychology degree so low?
- Keywords:
  important,
  psychology,
  work
Asked by anon-304047 on 12 Nov 2021.
- Madeleine Steeds answered on 12 Nov 2021:
  
  I think work in psychology is important not only from a mental health perspective but from the perspective of understanding the science behind people and what they do. I think in an ideal world there would be less demand for clinical psychologists (those that help with mental health related issues) and more demand for research psychologists. In terms of postgraduate employment rates I think part of the issue is the general state of the economy. There was a lot of pressure for people to get degrees but a lack of graduate jobs. There is also a general issue of employers preferring people without degrees because they can pay them less. So I think it’s not necessarily a reflection of psychology not being valued but rather an issue of employees not being valued.
- Emily McDougal answered on 12 Nov 2021:
  
  Psychology is still a relatively new science compared to other disciplines (for example, physics or biology), so there is still a lot to learn, making it very important indeed! Psychology is also applied in A.I. (artificial intelligence) research and development, which will be an exciting area that may grow in the future.
  
  A psychology degree is really valuable as it gives you skills that can be applied in lots of different areas. Although this is a positive, it also means that a degree in psychology isn’t very applied/practical compared to others such as engineering or veterinary studies, so there isn’t one clear route into employment. This is just one of many reasons that employment may be lower for psychology graduates.
- Alex Baxendale answered on 12 Nov 2021:
  
  I believe the work of Psychologists is extremely important, a lot of the ‘hard sciences’ can’t account for many of the social and individual issues that exist between people without becoming a super specific field, which is where Psychology comes in as that specific field. We are able to look at a lot of the behaviours that occur in ourselves and others and figure out things that make life easier or better where possible.
  Research into people with Parkinsons helps them to live more fulfilling and independent lives where the field of Biology or Chemistry might not be able to help. No matter what happens in the future, as long as humans are alive there will be a need for Psychology as we are constantly changing. We are not the same people as those who were born 1,000 years ago, where fields like Cyberpsychology and Neural Networks are arising now due to changes in technology we will likely see more similar subfields come up as we start exploring space, or perhaps integrate technology into our bodies.
  
  The post-graduate employment rate is quite difficult as there are many different reasons, issues such as an expectation to fulfill some kind of employment pushes people to take courses that might seem ‘generic’ or easy – something that doesn’t really require a specialty (like music, art, or math). When these people graduate they may not be all that interested in getting a job within Psychology for example, and then they get stuck struggling to find a job that is appropriate to their education. Funding for jobs is also an issue, a lot of common job prospects in Psychology are hyper competitive and require a lot of background experience (primarily Clinical Psychology), so where there are 30 people fighting for 1 position due to a lack of places available (usually due to a lack of funds to train more people) then you end up with a bunch of individuals who just ‘float around’ looking for their opportunity to come up. There are many more reasons why people to struggle to get a job after graduation, people sometimes feel lost as they have spent their entire life in education, some want to go and travel with money they saved up because it’s the most convenient time in their life, some people just struggle to find something they’re interested in.
- Clare Wood answered on 12 Nov 2021:
  
  I think psychology is relevant to so many areas of life we need psychologists to contribute to many areas of society. The employment stats for psychology are often low because you need to get work experience or another qualification before you can qualify or get employment as a specific type of psychologist, so its misleading. But psychology equips you with a skill set that is relevant for so many jobs that you are really employable, its just that often folk focus on narrow areas for their first job, or go straight into more training. I think people are becoming more aware of all the things you can do with a psychology degree now.
- Natali Bozhilova answered on 15 Nov 2021:
  
  There will always be a need for a psychologist in this world because psychology deals with human behaviour. Every aspect of our life from taking an exam to becoming a good doctor involves human behaviour and cognition. Mental health difficulties are also rising, meaning psychologists are more and more necessary to live better.
  
  Employment rates can be quite low for various degrees due to the current working climate. I would focus less on these statistics and consider how I could be employed (i.e., what skills and qualifications do I need to be competitive?).
- James Bartlett answered on 15 Nov 2021:
  
  I think it is important but psychology is also very difficult to study. Its an incredibly broad field as we are just studying human behaviour, so you can have 10 psychologists who all study something completely different. Its also complicated as human behaviour is rarely the result of a single factor, its the combination of many personal and environmental influences.
  
  I also think psychology could do more. I remember reading an article in the BPS magazine which has always stuck with me. It asked the question “what is psychology’s non-stick frying pan?”; i.e., what is a defining finding in psychology that has changed the world? For me, it was studying eyewitness testimony and how it affected evidence in courts, but the findings in psychology are often more subtle than in say physics where they identify different particles.
- Natalie Butcher answered on 16 Nov 2021: last edited 16 Nov 2021 9:21 pm
  
  The work psychologists do will always be important because psychologists work to understand / explain human behaviour, which will always be relevant and able to respond to the ever changing world. Take the psychology communities response to the COVID19 pandemic as an example. Social and health psychologists have been at the forefront of (attempting) to advise the government and other relevant agencies about how to most effectively communicate restrictions to ensure adherence to the rules. The BPS quickly set up a coordinating group and prepared a vast array of resources for professionals and the public (see https://www.bps.org.uk/coronavirus-resources). My colleague at Teesside University, Dr Judith Eberhardt has been researching vaccine hesitance to understand hesitance and barriers to having the vaccine to inform public health campaigns. Hopefully this one example shows how the work of psychologists can be responsive to the changing world and incredibly important.
  
  In terms of employment statistics, ‘What DP graduates do’ is an annual report of graduate outcomes across disciplines. The most recent version shows that only 5.8% of all UK graduates are unemployed 15months after graduating. For psychology that figure is 6.1% so the data doesn’t suggest unemployment is significantly higher for psychology graduates than other subjects. You can read the full report here: https://graduatemarkettrends.cdn.prismic.io/graduatemarkettrends/03ab4cc3-0da8-4125-b1c7-a877e1d5f5fd_what-do-graduates-do-202021.pdf Sometimes employment statistics look poorer for psychology because a higher % of psychology graduates go on to further study (MSc, PhD, PGCE) than many other subject areas because becoming a chartered psychologist and related careers require further qualifications so these graduates won’t be in graduate level jobs but instead are continuing their education.