The
Boomerang February 2019
Psychology at UCU, and Master’s elsewhere by Sven Bosma
Illustration © Amu Endo
I
spent the Winter Break facing the scary future by firing off Master’s applications left, right, and centre. I’ve sent six off, and could possibly be sending out a couple more. One might say I’m operating like a pollinating flower, increasing my odds of success by spreading applications far and wide. That may be so, but there’s a more serious reason for this too. I’ve applied for Master’s programmes in the Netherlands as well as in London, and they all had a title similar to “Industrial / Organisational (and
“
Trying to check all the boxes for any of these programmes, you feel slightly helpless asking “Where am I going to find all these credits?” Business) Psychology”. Looking at the structure of the courses, most of the compulsory modules have similar content, and the basic requirements are a general “must have completed a Bachelor’s degree in psychology or related social science”. That too, I have more or less covered, majoring in social sciences with mostly psychology courses. The problem presents itself once I delve into the specific requirements for each programme. Bear in mind that this is based on applying to (only) five psychology Master’s programmes in the Netherlands (technically three, but tracks within programmes allow for five total), and this of course is not a massive sample. For that reason, I’ve chased down students, alumni, track representatives and fellows to get their input, complaints, experiences, recommendations, and workarounds. The problem in question is what the universities seem to be calling “Track-specific qualifications”. Psychology Master’s at both Amsterdam universities ask for a minimum amount of credits in very niche fields such as Personnel Management, Leadership, Work Motivation, Human Resources, etc. Some of the UU Master’s programmes in Psychology have equally niche
requirements. We’re aware of the problems encountered by UCU students trying to make the transition to clinical psychology, but it turns out the Master’s programme Social, Health and Organisational Psychology presents a similar problem. Depending on which specific track you apply to, the above mentioned specialisation courses may vary.
It’s not just a matter of taking courses that you can tick off a list. The plot thickens once you’re confronted with the specific amount of EC’s. Studying anything related to social psychology in Amsterdam requires eighteen EC’s of “Advanced Social Psychology (level 2/3)”. This is already in addition to a required six EC’s on “Attitudes u
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