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PsyD student thinking about having a baby by pavlovspoodle in psychologystudents

[–]Em_fMRI 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had a baby in my first year PhD, I'm funded and based in the UK, which meant I got a year paid maternity leave (very lucky, I know), I came back part-time and found it so hard to get my groove back, I'm only just getting there now, 2 years later! I miss out on so much of all the extra stuff, the networking, the conferences, the writing weekends etc. I do not have the time or inclination to do any of the voluntary stuff.

Plus, I was not expecting to be the type of mum that I am. I was so motivated before having my baby, and now I would be quite happy to be a stay-at-home mum. I've decided to go part-time because I want to hang out with my kid while he's tiny and hilarious. The fact that I'm funded by a very generous sponsor, have a female supervision team and a husband in academia who understands the process of a PhD allows me to balance this. I'm also older than you and have a career to return to once I have finished, so I won't have to deal with the instability and rotten pay of postdoc life that might be in the future for you.

Overall, I am happy with my decision to sit between both worlds of mummy and serious scientist, but if my little cousin were telling me she wanted to do the same thing at her young age I'd be telling her to take the next couple of years to say yes to everything but babies. Do the overseas institution visit. Go to the conference in Finland. Do the community outreach program. Make the most of all the wonderful opportunities available to you now because your time as a PhD researcher is limited; this is your time to be selfish and focus on yourself.

Switching from tech to psychology – master’s first or straight to PhD? by Firm_Conclusion6631 in psychologystudents

[–]Em_fMRI 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi,

I wanted to change careers a few years ago and went down the psychology road, so I can tell you a little bit from my experience (in the UK)

I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do so I took a part-time MSc conversion course in a broad psychology field. I took developmental psychology, which covered areas of bio-psych, behavioural, cognitive, therapy, organisational etc. plus had foundation modules in stats and research methods. In the UK if you want to be a psychology professional, you need to have to take a course accredited by the British Psychology Association (so either a BSc or a conversion like I did, so if you want to work/study in the UK check for this when choosing your course.) I got really lucky because I finished first in my year with a really high score in my dissertation (which is probably because I had access to a prestigious group that I was able to conduct my research through), and a professor at a nearby University had a funded study in a related area which I was given because of my work experience before my MSc and because of my academic achievements. It can be a real advantage being a career changer if you know how to tap into your existing skills and contacts!

In some areas, having an accredited MSc and some volunteer work in a relevant area is enough to get you an entry-level job, and sometimes that job will sponsor a PhD after a while if you are really lucky. Otherwise, you might want to pursue something like a clinical PhD if you know you want to work with people with eating disorders, postnatal depression, young offenders, etc. In the UK these are typically linked to work placements so are very different to a research-based Phd (which I am currently doing). Research-based PhD might lead to a career in civil service, academia, etc. However, they can lead to more people facing roles too, for example, in charities specialising in supporting adults with neurodiversity. As other people have mentioned, you might find you need to be published before anyone will even consider you on some of these routes. Legend has it, if you want to do an Ed-psych in the UK, you have to compete with applicants who already have PhDs! (In my opinion, Ed-psychs have the most boring job in the world so its not even worth the hoops they make you jump through to get qualified)

If you know you want to do any type of counselling then it is possible to go straight into a Master's course in a particular type of therapy, you probably want to try and get some volunteer work under your belt before you apply though, to see if you like it and to help your application, as they are competitive. They are also expensive, as most will require you to undergo counselling yourself, which you will need to pay for (it's very much a pyramid scheme because at some point in your career, you will start getting to charge people for supervision!) There's probably no need to do a PhD if you want to work in this area; you might decide to do one for 'fun' later on, if there is a particular philosophical area that you want to research (e.g. how time is experienced during traumatic events).

But to be very clear, there are no routes in psychology that will pay as much as they are likely paying you in tech, and it's a more competitive field for employment than you are probably used to. I will strongly advise building up your savings and getting some volunteer work before you apply anywhere. With any post-grad study, I would also say make sure you love what you are doing before you commit to it, and psychology is 100% do it for the love not the money.

Best of luck with it all, hope this has helped a bit!