Exploring options in psychology
A DEGREE in psychology provides an excellent starting point for a career in science, business and the arts. It equips students with an in-depth understanding of the complexity of human behaviour, knowledge of scientific principles and a fundamental and flexible skillset needed for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Although psychology has traditionally been associated with clinical work and psychotherapy, the field is much broader and diverse in its scope, and offers numerous career options that involve human thought and behaviour in a variety of contexts.
Major destinations of psychology graduates include but are not limited to human resources, marketing, sales and advertising, social services, user experience (UX) design, government and policy development, educational institutions, including special needs centres, hospital settings or mental health clinics, and the pharmaceutical industry.
Psychology at University of Reading (UK)
The year 2021 was the centenary year for psychology at the University of Reading (UK), marking a century of excellence in teaching, research and enterprise.
Its School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences is one of the oldest and most established of its kind and ranks in the world’s Top 150 for psychology in the most recent Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject (2022).
Aside from the university’s UK campus, students have the option of studying closer to home at the university’s international branch campus located in EduCity Iskandar Malaysia in Johor.
The campus in Malaysia offers the BSc Psychology and BSc Psychology with Professional Placement, both of which follow the same academic standards and curriculum as the UK campus.
Both degrees are accredited by
the British Psychological Society, which provides graduates with eligibility for Graduate Basis for Chartered membership along with access to postgraduate training courses in the UK and elsewhere.
Research project opportunities
Throughout the programme, students gain a solid grounding in all core areas of psychology, including biological psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, individual differences, social psychology, conceptual and historical issues in psychology and research methods.
In their final year, students will undertake a major research project. The highly qualified academic team at the Malaysia campus comprised experts who conduct research and offer students the opportunity to undertake projects in various areas of psychology:
Dr Chung Kai Li: Forensic psychology and psychopathology
Chung’s expertise relates psychological
principles with legal applications. Examples of projects students can conduct in these areas include the influence of authority in managing interrogation pressure, false memory production and the role of personality in victimisation and abusive behaviours.
Dr Marat Zagidullin: Applied social psychology
Marat’s research aims to apply theories of social psychology to everyday topics in local communities. Possible student projects can
focus on any type of social interactions, cultural factors and current social issues.
Dr Shumetha Sidhu: Vision science and cognition
Shumetha’s expertise is in the field of visual perception. Potential student projects include investigating various types of eye movements to stimuli with different luminance or orientation-based patterns, and the effects of viewing nature scenes on attention abilities.
Dr Tan Kok Wei: Cognition and social perception
Tan’s research focuses on nutrition, cognition and social perception. Possible student projects under this area include the relationships between diet, lifestyle and well-being.
Vashnarekha Kumarasuriar: Counselling, mental health and cognition
Vashnarekha’s expertise lies within the area of counselling, with a focus on mental health issues like anxiety and depression. Student projects can include research in mental health, nutrition and cognitive processes.
Students can also choose to do research projects in areas relevant to the career paths they are keen on, enhancing their employability.
For more information, visit www.reading.edu.my/psychology or follow on social media at Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ uniofreadingmalaysia )and Instagram (https://www.instagram. com/uniofreadingmalaysia/)