Psychological Research Career Paths

MAPR CommencementThis degree gives students a wide variety of career options. We have an equal number of students who use their MA to go into the workforce or pursue their doctorate.

If students want to jump right into the workforce, the median salary for psychologists in research positions with a master’s degree is $63,500 nationwide as of Oct. 1,2020 (The American Psychological Association). The salaries currently range due to placements based on skill level, location and years of experience.

Alumni are currently employed at these companies:

 

  • Boeing Institutional Research
  • Santa Monica College
  • XEROX, Inc.
  • Professor, Rio Hondo College
  • IMB Medical Doctor
  • Hewlett Packard Attorney
  • Health Scientist at Veteran’s Health Administration WestEd
  • UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Program
  • eBay
  • Service Chief at Orange County Health Care Agency
  • Clovis Unified School District
  • Doctor of Jurisprudence
  • Mt. Diablo Unified School District, Professor
  • CSU Instructor
  • UC Davis and CSI Sacramento Research Manager
  • Arizona Supreme Court

If students want to pursue a Ph.D., faculty will prepare them for their next step in their education. Listed are just a few  doctoral programs our students have been accepted into:

  • UCI- Inter-department Neuroscience
  • USC-Higher Education Administration
  • UCLA- Applied Linguistics
  • Michigan State Univ.- Ecological Community Psychology
  • Univ. of Kansas- Social
  • UC Merced- Experimental Psychology
  • Univ. of Arizona-Evolutionary Psychology
  • SUNY Stoneybrook- Social Psychology
  • Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign- Educational Psych
  • UC Bolder- Behavioral Genetics
  • Georgia Tech-Cognitive Psychology
  • UCLA-Quantitative
  • John Hopkins Univ.- Epidemiology
  • USC- Cognitive Neuroscience
  • UC Riverside- Developmental Psychology
  • Florida Atlantic – Evolutionary
  • Oxford- Experimental Psychology
  • Cornell-Neuro
  • Florida State Univ.- Child Dev/Child Care & Public Policy
  • UC Santa Barbara- Clinical

What our alumni have to say about this program:

Christina Logan

Christina Logan

“I would definitely say that the MAPR program facilitated tremendous growth in my research and academic skills. Specifically, I have gained the necessary experience to conduct clinical science, and therefore, I feel well-equipped to continue on to pursue a doctorate in Clinical Psychology.”-Christina Logan

Becca Howard

Becca Howard

“The MAPR program helped prepare me for a doctoral program in Social Psychology. My faculty mentor provided me with opportunities to engage in many research opportunities. I was able to present at conferences, conduct qualitative and quantitative data analysis, contribute to manuscripts, and even co-author a book chapter. My mentor also fostered research creativity by letting my conduct an original study for my Master’s thesis. These experiences honed my research skills and helped me further elucidate my research interests. In addition, other faculty in the department helped prepare me by creating engaging and challenging courses, providing opportunities to lead lab sections, and providing rigorous, constructive writing critiques. The faculty in the MAPR program have helped develop skills—critical thinking, reading, teaching, writing—that are essential for doctoral programs.” -Becca Howard

To view all alumni and see their journey: MAPR Alumni Page