What should I major in?

Throughout this academic year, The Rider will explore the programs of study at UTRGV. This is the sixth in a series. The Rider interviewed Joseph Hovey, Psychological Science Department Chair, for information. 

Major: Psychology

School: College of Liberal Arts

Department Chair: Joseph Hovey

Prerequisites: None

Total credit hours needed to graduate: 120

What is psychology? “It is the scientific study of human behavior. Compared to a history or other humanity-type courses where the field may strive to understand behavior, they may not use the same scientific methods that psychologists use.”

Which classes can students expect to take? “All the students would take what are called core classes, which are those that would provide a core foundation for more specialized-type courses, so everyone who is a [psychology] major would have to take intro to psychology called General Psychology. That goes over, in a brief way, in all the different fields of psychology. Then, students would have to take a core course to go over these areas like Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Theories of Learning, Physiological Psychology, which at some universities is also called Biological Psychology that studies the brain and behavior, Cognitive Processes and Abnormal Psychology. So, students have to take five of those six classes, which provide a really good foundation. In addition, they would have to have scientific courses like statistics and research methods. Most of these classes are required to go on to graduate school. After they take all these core courses, they would have to take five more courses that are electives, so whatever interests them in the field of psychology they can load up on credit hours in those areas. These are divided into, for example, other developmental courses, other cognitive or physiological courses, other applied courses like Clinical and Counseling Psychology.

What skills will students learn by the time they graduate? “Two things. One of them is you’ll have a really good solid background in science. In addition to the [statistics and research methods] classes I mentioned earlier, the students will be able to take other methodological courses if they desire. Everything that students learn in any psychology class is based on science, whether it’s an estimate of how many people have a certain disorder or a developmental course, it’s all based on science and studies that have been done in the past. Secondly, students learn a lot about human behavior and how to get along and understand other people’s behavior, motivation and how they think. So, quite often when someone has a psychology degree, not only are they understanding things in a very scientific way, but they are able to understand and get along with other people.”

What are some possible careers? “Ideally, if someone is really interested in psychology, they would pursue their education in grad school. So, if someone goes to grad school, I think the stereotype is that people who have masters or Ph.D.s are clinical psychologists, which is kind of what you see in the media. That would be someone who can work as a therapist, a teacher or can get a job as a researcher. If they get a job as a teacher or researcher, they will be in sort of a college or university setting. However, there are lots of other types, such as social psychologists, who study group behavior; developmental psychologists, who study how people develop over time. There’s a new field called industrial psychology, in which one understands workplace behavior. Those psychologists don’t provide treatment like clinical psychologists do, they specialize in other ways and most of them will end up working in either teaching or research-type settings. Not everyone goes on to grad school, so sometimes people wonder what they can do with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Sometimes people use this degree as a way to get a well-rounded education that will set you up for another field such as law. Some get a minor in biology or chemistry and go on to medical school. [Many times] people go to business school and part of the reason for that is lots of industrial organization psychologists get their degree there because you’re dealing with the workplace. Sometimes people can work as an entry-level counselor with a bachelor’s degree if there is someone with an upper-level degree who supervises their work. Some people take their strong background in sciences and go off and do data analysis or research work for companies or organizations. There are many things you can do with a psychology degree. I think people tend to think that all they can do is go to grad school, but it really gives you a broad background of human behavior.

Who are some possible employers? “University settings, research settings, community colleges. Sometimes people get a teaching certificate after getting a B.A. in psychology and teach at elementary schools. Especially, people interested in families and children will go to work in an elementary school setting. Any sort of businesses as well.”

What salary can a student expect to earn after graduation? “Depends on how far you go and what area you go into. If you go into business, you can start out in the $60,000 to $75,000 range. If you go to grad school and go off into a private practice, you can start in the $60,000 to $70,000 range. If you get an academic job in a good setting, it may be little more than that. If you get a bachelor’s and decide to teach in a school or becoming an entry-level counselor, the pay rate will be less, you know, anywhere from $30,000 to $35,000 to maybe $40,000 to $45,000 a year. Hopefully, with the idea that as time goes on and you get more experience, that will increase.”

Are there any student clubs? “We have two, Psychology Honors Club and we have one called Psi Chi Honor Society, which is a national honors organization in psychology. The groups sometimes overlap, but they are two different things. Students that kind of want to get involved with other undergrads or faculty will be involved in either one of those two organizations. I think you have to meet certain criteria to join them, but in reality, I don’t think they would reject anyone that wants to just hang out and learn more about psychology.”

For more information: contact Hovey at joseph.hovey@utrgv.edu or call 665-3329.

—Compiled by Sarah Carvajal