Masters in psychology for an engineer

[sneha ahens]

Hi,

I have a bachelors degree in information science engineering. I have been working in Deloitte since a year. But i am interested in pursuing masters in psychology. I would like to know if i am being realistic or plain whimsical. Is it possible to do my maters in psychology and if so which is the best area(in terms of return of investment) and its scope.

Thanks and Regards,

Sneha

[Zencarrot]

Sneha - I would recommend that if you are interested in pursuing graduate studies that you make sure you are motivated intrinsically by a genuine interest in the subject matter as opposed to an extrinsic motivation concerned with ROI. That being said, in terms of maximizing your job prospects and future salary, industrial/organizational psychology is probably your best bet (other specializations are also on the rise, however, such as geriatric psychology). Considering your background at Deloitte, it would also be the most relevant of the subdisciplines within psychology to pursue. I know that Deloitte encourages collaboration between its different departments, and having a degree in information science engineering and I/O psychology would put you in a unique position to contribute to cross-disciplinary projects.

Hope that helps a bit.

[sneha ahens]

Thank you for the advise. I am particularly interested in Physiological, cognitive and forensic psychology. Are there any open courses for any of these , so as to gain some in depth understanding before I continue to apply for universities.

Thanks & Regards,

Sneha

[lewin]

Those are pretty diverse interests and it's not obvious to me how they relate to engineering. Are you considering a career change? The place to get exposure to many areas of psychology is undergraduate work, not master's level work. Graduate work is the time to specialize. You might do well to take or audit a few undergraduate classes in the areas that interest you at the local university to focus in on something specific.