Arden University has launched a new postgraduate MSc Business Psychology course designed to allow psychology or business graduates to pursue a specialisation in business/occupational psychology, gaining valuable employability skills that are highly sought after by organisations in the process.
Covering the application of psychology to workplace settings, this new course explores psychology across the employee lifespan - from attracting candidates through to employees exiting an organisation.
Through consultation with business psychologists, industry professionals and graduates of stage one programmes, the course has been designed from the ground up to develop authentic knowledge and skills that will support students in a range of roles - from running their own business through to management consultancy and beyond.
Theories are looked at from an individual, team and organisational level, and students will have the opportunity to explore interventions to help improve a variety of important business issues such as: increasing employee wellbeing, improving employee performance, managing organisational change, and increasing the success rates of hiring new employees.
Successful completion of Arden’s MSc Business Psychology will fulfil stage one of the UK’s chartership process, enabling graduates to move onto stage two and eventually gain full chartered status and the ability to use the protected title of Occupational Psychologist. With Occupational Psychologist being a legally protected title within the UK, only individuals who have completed the Full British Psychological Society chartership are eligible to be Occupational Psychologists.
Gail Steptoe-Warren, Head of Psychology at Arden University, said: “We have noticed an increasing demand for business psychology related knowledge and skills in the professional landscape.
“With research showing work-related stress on the rise during the pandemic, organisations within both the public and private sectors are increasingly hiring in-house occupational psychologists as they recognise the strategic advantage of having employees who are versed in applying psychology to the workplace.
“Because of this, we wanted to ensure our students are not only in the position to be sought after in the jobs market but also prepare them for the practical side of the role itself.”
Programme Leader, Anthony Thompson said: “Organisations are increasingly viewing their employees as a strategic investment – this is seen in the growth of employee wellbeing initiatives, increasing use of personality and ability tests, as well as the rise of coaching and mentoring.
“The knowledge, skills and abilities gained by completing the course will be incredibly attractive to a wide variety of organisations. This can give students the flexibility to move between different sectors and areas of a business.”
