Take a look at this Instagram post that I’ve found:
As you all know, I’m all about exposing honest truth about higher education, rather than promoting ‘best-case scenario’ to attract people to it, as I believe informed decision is a way to empower our youths.
So let’s dissect this together! ✊🏼
Firstly, yes, there is not much job opportunity in the psychology field if you got the bachelor’s degree. Only after getting a Master’s degree, you would be qualified to be a psychologist.(Yes, there is more job opportunity outside of psychology field. I’m just focusing into the field itself).
And I was shocked, when I found out about this, ONLY after enrolling into the field. And take note, I already researched about psychology for years before even enrolling.
With that being said, I love psychology with all of my heart, and I view this as a misunderstanding rather than a scheme.
After enrolling, I believe that pursuing career in psychology is similar with pursuing career in the medical field:
- You need to be excellent in both theoretical & practical knowledge
- You need to base both knowledge in lots, lots, & lots of research
- You are dealing with the complex aspect of a human (medic – physiology, psychology – mind & behavior)
- It’s strictly scientific, yet requires creativity in problem-solving
- Thus, due to all of these reasons, it takes time. A long time.
I remember sitting in the car with my dad, who is complaining about this very particular issue; about how psychology graduates can’t seem to land on appropriate jobs for them.
And… you know what? Just listen to the entire dialogue here.
“Actually, to be a real psychologist, you need to have a Master’s degree, not a Bachelor’s degree.”
“What? It should not be like that. You guys need to work as well.”
“Yeah, it’s kinda sad. But I understand though. I believe it’s kinda like a medical degree. It’s very scientific, we need to indulge into researches, and mastering competency in both theoretical & practical knowledge is kinda hard already.”
“Nah, medical degree is more complex. You need to study human’s anatomy & physiology.”
“Umm… so you don’t think learning about human’s mind is complex?”
…
*silence*
‘Yeah, that’s what I thought.’ (in my heart y’all! I didn’t dare to say this out loud, let alone after what felt like a comeback, which I totally did not intend to 😅😅😅)
“So what? So you agree that getting a psychology degree is a whole big scam?”
Nope. Rather than a scam, I view this as a whole misunderstanding.
Especially nowdays when mental health becomes a word buzz, everyone is seemingly attracted to pursue psychology. And while I could not be happier, I can’t help but worry that they just decide to jump into that, full-time, right after 17, with no financial stability whatsoever.
So, to those high school students, who are eager to get into this field
as someone who is in love with psychology, I beg you to at least put it off.
It would be intensive and takes a long time. Please ensure that you are at least financially secure so that you can enroll. properly.
Get a job first, and you can enroll as a part-time student.
Or maybe, you can enroll full-time, but you gotta have a side-hustle that can bring food on your table.
Or maybe just focus on work & saving money, so that you can enroll full-time 5 to years later in the future.
(For Malaysians, if you want to prioritize work, you can try to view SPA & look at which job could be the closest, to working with human mind and behavior)
Because it’s going to be a long ride, with little to no financial benefit.
So there, I hope this gives a clarification.
To simplify the answer to the question; it’s not a scam, it’s just a misunderstanding due to different expectations.
And while we’re being deep here, let me tell you another secret. The one that many people not know, but should know.
THIS.
APPLY.
TO.
ALL.
COLLEGE.
DEGREES.
TOO.
Yeah, not just psychology.
To those who have been following me for a long time, this should be no surprise.
But to those who are now like, “Wait, what?”, you need to watch this video here.
I could go on and on talking, but I’ll let the the video speaks for itself.
And lucky for Malaysians, I have written a book, on not just career irrelevancy in Malaysia, but how to actually get past that:
All of these, is for the sake of what I said in the beginning: venturing honest truth about higher education, to empower our youths through informed-decisions.
With that being said, thank you for your time reading up until here!
Your commitment is much appreciated & hopefully it’ll benefit you as much as it benefits me 😀
p/s: please don’t go attacking the guy! He’s a great person & just sharing that pic to gain fruit of thought 😅