Hi there,

Apologies in advance if the topic has been already discussed--had a quick look in the forum but didn't manage to find anything.

I am currently applying for a PhD in Psychology and there's one programme where you get to study/do research on a specific area of Psychology. However, the actual 'title' of the PhD will be a ''PhD in Social Sciences'' although one will practically conduct psychological research. I appreciate that Universities around the globe operate differently in terms of the degrees they award but in my understanding, a PhD in Psychology is different from a PhD in Social Sciences in terms of the career prospects of someone who wants to get into psychological research. Is that correct?

Do folks have any similar experiences or thoughts they would like to share on that topic? Does the 'title' of a PhD make actually such a great difference?

Hope this makes sense.

All the best,

G.

It doesn't make a difference - it what you produce from the PhD that matters. You could have a PhD in Chemistry and work mostly on bacteria and then move to a Biology department and apply your chemical techniques to plants. It doesn't matter.

Thanks 'TreeofLife' :)

G.

I would advise you to run it past the BPS (or someone who knows about BPS eligibility, maybe the prospective PhD supervisor), if you are intending to register as a chartered psychologist after doing the PhD (most Psychology academics are chartered psychologists). I think if you will be able to use it to become chartered then it should be fine, but I would want to clarify that first.

I don't know in your case but I thought I would just add: I actually ended up with a PhD in a different subject to what I thought I was studying for!

Thank you guys! :)

G.

Yes title make a difference as a Phd title tells your core interest and also the area where you focused on during research . So it matters.

Thanks :)

G.

I don't even know what mine is....

Though topic could matter as unis sometimes look for specific research area e.g. cognitive, social, neurobiology However, I do not think topic is crucial but methodology is. As long as you used method/analysis frequently used in psychology research.

Thank you!

G.