In this article, I talk about the Master of Psychological Science (Majoring in Business Psychology) programme offered at James Cook University’s Singapore campus.
If you’re familiar with JCU Singapore, you might know that they also offer a Master of Psychology (Clinical) programme.
If you’re more interested in JCU Singapore’s Master of Psychology (Clinical), check out these other blog posts instead:
FAQ for JCU Master of Psychology (Clinical) | Clinical Psychology Frequently Asked Questions
Tips for Applying to the JCU Master of Psychology (Clinical) in 2020
Basically the course you enroll into and the pathway you take will depend on your goals.
As I’m sure you can guess by the course titles, if you want to work in mental health, the clinical psychology programme would be better while the business psychology programme will be suited for those looking to take on business related functions like marketing, HR or just management.
What is Business Psychology?
Let me just take a moment now to talk about what business psychology is.
According to The Association for Business Psychology:
Comparing the programmes
Now let’s do a quick comparison of the Master of Psychological Science (Majoring in Business Psychology) and the Master of Psychology (Clinical).
There are 2 major differences between the programmes.
The first thing you should know is that the business psychology programme is NOT a professional qualification.
Graduates of the programme cannot register as a psychologist in Singapore or Australia.
Second, the Master of Psychological Science (Majoring in Business Psychology) is purely a Master’s by coursework. Unlike the clinical psychology programme, it will not include a supervised practicum component, training in assessments or training in interventions and counselling.
To put it simply, the two programmes have different goals. The clinical programme is designed to train practicing clinical psychologists while the business psychology programme trains you to apply psychology across a range of professions.
At the time of writing, it seems that the Singapore campus of James Cook University is the only institution to offer a business psychology programme in Singapore. Feel free to correct me in the comments of my Youtube video above if I’m wrong.
As to why anyone would take up a Master of Psychological Science (Majoring in Business Psychology), I would say it could be more versatile than a typical MBA or a Master’s in HR for example, especially if you’re coming to this with a business management or administration degree or a HR degree.
Graduate Certificate Pathway
Just take note that JCU will require those without a psychology degree to complete a Graduate Certificate of Psychological Science before they can progress to the Master’s.
Course Fees
Here are the fees for the grad cert and the master’s.
If you’ve any questions, feel free to call Daryl Wong at 8200 1386 or email enquiries-singapore@jcu.edu.au
