research masters in Psychology , where could it lead to ?

barrymanilow

Hi ,

I am looking at applying for a research Masters in Psychology . I have my undergrad that I got ten years ago . I have not really used my Psychology degree directly . Instead I did a PGCE in primary school teaching and went on from there to work in education support roles.

I'm at a point now where I'd love to go back and go further with Psychology and research is the area i am drawn to. I have been sending out feelers and chatting to various Universities about finding a supervisor that matches my interests.

The thing is I have been out of the Psychology game for some time now so although I am excited about the idea of getting trained up through research in an area that interests me I am not so sure about the opportunities and job prospects at the end of it .

So..... is a research masters in Psychology just another expensive step on the ladder towards a PHD ? or would it be a qualification in itself that would allow me to access research grants and work for organisations that need researchers and research assistants or perhaps lecture and teach ? Is there much of this work in Ireland ? Is this another of those insanely competitive specializations like Clinical Psychology ?

Any insights or ideas are much welcome,

Barry

Squeeonline

Probably similar to most PhDs. Constant disappointment, despair, depression, and frequent questions about "when are you going to get a real job?" and "what do you mean you dont get summer holidays as a student?".

baby and crumble

What is it you want to do, though, OP? Do you want to be a 'researcher'? If so, a Masters is a step. But a masters undertaken by research doesn't really qualify you to be a research assistant. For that you need to do something like the Masters in Applied Social Research in TCD. That particular course is noted in most health research departments as being an excellent qualification.

Then again I don't have a formal research qualification (I do have a masters undertaken by research, as well as a masters in social work) and I'm currently working as a policy & research officer in a not-for-profit organisation. These kinds of masters, ones that don't qualify you to be "a something" require you to be flexible after qualification to get work. You might end up doing something totally random.

barrymanilow

baby and crumble wrote: »

What is it you want to do, though, OP? Do you want to be a 'researcher'? If so, a Masters is a step. But a masters undertaken by research doesn't really qualify you to be a research assistant. For that you need to do something like the Masters in Applied Social Research in TCD. That particular course is noted in most health research departments as being an excellent qualification.

Then again I don't have a formal research qualification (I do have a masters undertaken by research, as well as a masters in social work) and I'm currently working as a policy & research officer in a not-for-profit organisation. These kinds of masters, ones that don't qualify you to be "a something" require you to be flexible after qualification to get work. You might end up doing something totally random.

Thanks for your reply .

In an ideal world i'd like a course that would let me go on and do or be involved in research in the areas of Psychology that most interest me . But I'm not sure how realistic that is . I wouldn't have the finances to battle it out on a Psycholgy ladder all the way up to PHD if that's what it would take .And even then I don't know how secure or available that kind of work is .

But If I could do some sort of research masters which would get me in doing some sort of interesting research somewhere then i'd happily go for that I'm looking at this masters through research in U.L for example

http://www.ul.ie/graduateschool/course/structured-masters-research

I'm just very out of the loop though . I have no friends who went further with research in Psych nor do I know of anyone doing it . If I thought a masters through research would be likely to open doors and that it would be a gamble with a decent chance of an employment outcome I'd do it .

baby and crumble

barrymanilow wrote: »

But If I could do some sort of research masters which would get me in doing some sort of interesting research somewhere then i'd happily go for that I'm looking at this masters through research in U.L for example

http://www.ul.ie/graduateschool/course/structured-masters-research

Ok well to clarify that course isn't a 'research masters', it's a masters in research. Seems picky I know but a research masters is usually something like an M.Litt, which is kind of a mini PhD.

That course is structured and qualifies you for/ teaches you HOW to be a researcher. That's great and probably is what you're looking for. I don't know much about that course but UL is great in health sciences.

There are certainly roles for research assistants (which is really what you're looking at without a PhD), but they top out around 35,000 gross in salary at the topmost point of the recommend pay scales (see https://www.iua.ie/research-innovation/researcher-salary-scales/).

Zoinks

There are certainly roles for research assistants (which is really what you're looking at without a PhD), but they top out around 35,000 gross in salary at the topmost point of the recommend pay scales (see https://www.iua.ie/research-innovati...alary-scales/).

There's certainly some scope for Research Officer/Project Management roles with some significant experience that should push that up by 10-15k. I am not sure what the job market is like in this field though.