The applied social psychology program
is social psychology, but with a practical focus,
and that means you get work experience outside of
just basic lab research.
Our courses try to blend in traditional knowledge skills,
research skills, practitioner skills,  and experiences.
That whole embrace that we have of that researcher/practitioner model
is what attracts a student to the program
and it's what also provides them a range of career opportunities afterward.
One of the most valuable things that I took out of this program was
the ability to consider and apply to a range of different jobs.
You know, I think that's one of the cool things, is that the graduates from this program
go on to do a really interesting range of things.
The practicum opportunities were beneficial because
you learn what career options are available to you outside of academia.
It's allowed me an opportunity to really thing about what career path I'd like to take by exposing me to various options.
I feel a lot more confident in terms of what I'd ultimately like to do with my research career.
We have classic organizations we typically work with
and so we'll try to work with them to give them the skills they need
to know how to approach an organization, and know how to
create that opportunity for practicum with that organization
and start to build a career, a network of contacts that they'll be able to use.
It allows for a student to develop different types of skills.
They are also able to apply some of those skills that they learned in the courses, and in their research
within academia, applied in a different setting.
The faculty who are in charge of the student practicums
were really helpful in talking me through what exactly it was I was looking for for a practicum,
what my research interests were, what skills I was looking to develop,
and they reached out to their networks and found for me a really great fit.
I think it's a great sort of a mix, of a strong connection to the applied world,
but also, I think, a real commitment to rigour and to academic research.
Now, when I go out analyze something, or figure out what a research design should look like,
I'm really prepared to do that.
As an employer who is interested in hiring people with this kind of skill set,
I really appreciated the fact that the grad students that come to us
come with a really solid knowledge of quantitative methods and qualitative methods.
I appreciate the program as an employer, as well as a graduate.
I am proud of this program because here the success of a student is the success of a faculty.
That creates a sense of collegiality amongst all of us who are members of this program.
