Recent graduates with degrees in psychology or art are having trouble finding jobs

[StarSong]

It takes a doctorate to become a psychologist -- not simply a Bachelor's degree in psychology. Psychologists are doctors.

Even to become a mental health therapist or counselor requires a Master's degree, and then they have to develop their practice, get an office, find clients... With the availability of AI therapists, it seems like becoming a therapist would be a dead-end occupation. I'd bet that university Master's programs for that are having trouble filling classes.

Apparently quite the opposite is true. The national acceptance rate for Masters in psychology is approximately 5% overall, less than that for the best universities.

Despite very good grades in HS & while earning her Bachelor's (not sure if it's a BA or BS), my niece is having a very difficult time getting into a Masters program. She's therefore taking a gap year during which she hopes to plump her resume with a hands-on internship at a mental health facility.

 

[RandomName]

One more angle on the topic : Age-old situation : you have to be ABLE to do the job. Most people, myself included, aren't able to be a 'good' accountant, engineer, or doctor, no matter how much training and 'go-getter' attitude. You really do need a certain kind of brain for those jobs, a brain with lots of neurons in the right places. Have to face reality, and get a job doing what you are able to do (even if you hate it, lol). Trade off between liking what you do, and money you earn. Nothing new here.

 

[WhatInThe]

With kids, teens etc sometimes I think it's better to let them experience life a little and not put a lot of pressure on them to chose a career. School should be emphasizing the basics including STEM subjects and a variety of other courses. The high school diploma should mean a lot of more include trainable in multiple areas because the student/job applicant has mastered the basics.

One of the reason the student/person should really want to complete a degree or program is that have a sincere interest in the job/field. Enough of an interest they'll be motivated to see what is actually required including post graduation certification or licensing- a student should already know that. Shouldn't have to be told that.

Point being highly motivated people frequently wind up doing something even if not planned. Some seem to wait for real life to come to them, the perfect job, perfect job hunting conditions etc. Sometimes one just has to chase life including a job.

 

[StarSong]

One more angle on the topic : Age-old situation : you have to be ABLE to do the job. Most people, myself included, aren't able to be a 'good' accountant, engineer, or doctor, no matter how much training and 'go-getter' attitude. You really do need a certain kind of brain for those jobs, a brain with lots of neurons in the right places. Have to face reality, and get a job doing what you are able to do (even if you hate it, lol). Trade off between liking what you do, and money you earn. Nothing new here.

A very good point, RN. I've known more than a few people who trained heavily for a field, then ultimately discovered the work itself didn't suit their personality gifts or temperaments, or was crushingly dispiriting.

I'm not talking about also-rans. These friends and family members include a couple of RNs with Master's degrees, PhDs including three lawyers, an MD, a PhD clinical psychologist, and a television producer who was a household name for nearly two decades.

All moved from practicing in their fields to teaching it.

 

[RambleTamble]

There's another similar article in the NY Times today...

Why College Graduates Feel Betrayed​

This graduate studied video game design...

Dylan Burton, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, already had a lot of college credit when they enrolled in the video game design program at the University of Texas at Dallas in 2017. It would still cost them nearly $70,000 over two and a half years to earn their bachelor’s degree, after room and board. But they had wanted to make video games since childhood, and the industry was exploding in popularity and revenue.​

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So millions of people like Mr. Hoffman and Ms. Barrett and Mx. Burton applied for scholarships and part-time jobs, and took out loans to cover the difference. Mx. Burton borrowed the full amount. For several years these students juggled finals and term papers and the night shift at the dining hall or the weekend shift at the mall.​

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And then, once they graduated, many found themselves with tens of thousands of dollars in loans, and no path to a job in line with their credentials.​

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Mx. Burton, who in college had led a team that made a playable video game called KaiJr, struggled to find work as a designer after graduating in 2019. It turned out that designing video games, notwithstanding the university’s optimistic marketing material, was more akin to becoming a Hollywood actor than a computer programmer: The field could support only a small fraction of the millions of people eager to enter it. Mx. Burton eventually took a much more tedious job testing video games for glitches, for $15 an hour.​

And this one studied English and theater...

After earning his degree from Grinnell in 2014 and spending a year abroad on a prestigious Watson Fellowship, Mr. Hoffman became a barista at Starbucks. The idea was to buy time while he settled on a career path. (He had studied English and theater.) But seven years later, he was still at Starbucks — partly because the pandemic had delayed his professional plans. With a child on the way and money getting tight, he and his wife applied for temporary public assistance. The state rejected their application.​

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