The anatomy of a psychology major

It is mysterious, doesn't give itself up to the casual observer.

The intro class does not reveal its mysteries.

Even with years of study, one still knows very little about this monster with so many specialties.

We learn about the branches of psychology -- the subareas, the fields of study, the PhD, PsyD, counseling, clinical, school, experimental.

Even when immersed in a specialty program, one does not learn in complete depth (it is simply too deep). One can learn in excruciating detail about their topic of research, maybe even their area of research.

And then, after almost 10 years of painful long nights typing papers, running stats, you finish your training officially -- terminal degree done, prestigious post-doctoral fellowship done, papers written and underway, lifetime path of research envisioned. And it is this darn recession, and you may not be able to find a job.

The long-promised payout of this terrible process of grad education in psych is a tenured faculty job. What happens when not enough are open when you finish?

This is a problem being confronted by a friend of mine. I am concerned for this person and upset at the system that created this problem.

Thinking back to my decision to major in psychology as an undergrad. Have the insight that this decision was based on knowing so little about it and basic curiosity. The low level courses didn't tell me much, but did prime my curiosity. So I had to take higher and higher level classes to try to find out why people act the way they do. And none of those classes really helped. But they were more interesting than other, more potentially profitable, majors.

I tried geology and environmental science -- both a bit dry. English seemed very impractical. International studies or poli sci were promising, but looked at the world in such broad brushstrokes.

I wanted something that took the individual more into account. But, it turns out, psychology is too far to the other extreme. It is a bit reductionistic, even when considering social influence. It tends to boil things down to stimulus and response.

Anyway, psychology is seductive in the undergrad years, but doesn't have much of a payoff -- whether you do the grad school route or the working world route.