Danielle
How important is a PhD in the field of experimental psychology?
I have a Bachelor's degree in psychology and would like to eventually pursue a career doing research in the field of psychology. Is it essential to have a PhD, or would a Master's degree suffice when applying for jobs? Does your education level affect your pay grade?
4 answers
Joan Brand
Joan’s Answer
Yes, you will have greater credibility as a researcher. In addition, you will have a difficult time competing for research scholarships and grants if you do not have a Ph. D.
Debra Dukes
Debra’s Answer
If Research is your goal - you'll probably need a PhD. And yes, your education level will most likely impact your salary. Much depends on what KIND of research you do and where. Public setting or private? Educational environment or non-educational? etc. There are different job titles you will see .. such as "research analyst" , "research assistant" , "research coordinator" , "Sr, Research assistant"... and some of those positions may only require a Master's degree. But if you want to be a "lead" researcher or in control of research studies, you'll need a Ph,D. Check out some different websites hiring research folks and look at the different job titles, educational requirements and position responsibilities and you'll learn a good bit about real-world jobs , current availability, and salaries. Here are a few to review.
https://www.governmentjobs.com/jobs?keyword=Research
https://www.higheredjobs.com/admin/search.cfm?JobCat=150
http://jobs.sciencecareers.org/?utm_campaign=267832017&gclid=CjwKEAjw9MrIBRCr2LPek5-h8U0SJAD3jfhtDxAWxGx0xZe7VjTwi3Mc88uc8atGsf715J302oqJMRoCicDw_wcB
http://www.topresearchjobs.com/
Wendy Walls-Vance
Wendy’s Answer
Yes I recommend getting your PHD for psychological research. I doubt you will be able to do so without one.
Collin Green
Collin’s Answer
Research in an academic setting will almost certainly require a PhD. Research in industrial settings may or may not require a PhD. Companies that hire people to do market research, customer and user research, design research may prefer advanced degrees, but are often open to hiring skilled applicants that have undergraduate degrees only, especially if they have experience as a research assistant in a lab, a relevant internship or apprenticeship, or valuable complementary skills (e.g., design, data analysis, programming).
I run a research team at a tech company. My researchers have backgrounds in many fields (ranging from economics to engineering to psychology to public health and social work). Most of them have advanced degrees (PhDs on the whole, a couple Masters) but at least one has just an undergraduate degree and some relevant job experience.
Education will affect pay early on in your career, but later that will be more closely linked to your professional experience. Also, the area in which you work will have a large impact on pay (government or academic research will have more modest salaries; finance and technology will have higher salaries and other compensation and benefits).
You should not pursue a PhD to raise your earnings potential; you should pursue a PhD if you want to acquire research skills and work in research (it's a large commitment and there's a good argument to be made that your earnings will benefit more from ~5y of job experience than from the advanced degree, depending on field). I would focus on finding a field or job that you're interested in pursuing and then focus on what education and credentials you need to do to get into that field.