Psychology to boost employability

According to the Human Resource Institute’s Dr Ruben Ovais, many students see psychology as the healthy mix of all subjects because of its flexible course syllabus that encourages creative thinking. “Psychology in itself is a very broad field. Business psychology deals with the way people behave as units in a business enterprise or as consumers in the economy, which narrows the scope of study for those interested in marketing and advertising in particular,” he said.

Currently, Middlesex University Dubai offers an undergraduate degree course integrating psychology with the pragmatic field of Human Resource Management (HRM). Namrata Hari, a first-year student in the course, feels that this integrated approach to learning psychology and HRM has been insightful so far. “We learn how to handle people in various situations, how employees work in emotional situations and how to manage stress and other workplace issues,” she said.

Namrata, like the 80 others in her batch, prefers her course over psychology and counselling. “I feel like there’s the element of employability in this field. Psychology supplements Human Resources Management, making my degree stand out compared to the others who just major in one aspect of HR,” she added.

Dr Annie Crookes, co-ordinator of the newly launched Business Psychology programme at Heriot-Watt University Dubai, believes that the popularity of multidisciplinary courses related to psychology may be due to the practical nature of the combined programme. “There are lots of business degrees students can take up, each offering a specialisation that aims to make students stand out. Students who have the ability to see things from a different perspective, and are able to adapt to situations quickly and creatively truly stand out. Business psychology offers an integrated course that combines the study of human behaviour with the practicality of business studies,” she told Khaleej Times.

“The UAE has always been focused on business growth and development, so an understanding of the inner workings of the system is something many are interested in,” she added.

Second-year student Reveka Harjani admits to having enrolled in the Psychology and HRM course to satisfy her fascination with psychology while appealing to her parents’ concerns over job prospects on graduation. “If you have a thorough understanding of human behaviour, it can be applied to every aspect of life. I want to go into clinical psychology, but that requires years of learning and a PhD, which isn’t very developed in the UAE. By taking this integrated course, I can learn the foundations of psychology which can be used in the working world when I apply for jobs,” she said.

According to Dr Crookes, psychology in marketing has a lot of potential that could really boost the economy.

“Consumer trends and behaviour understood from a psychological perspective can give those in marketing and advertising an added edge,” she said, noting how these professionals would be able to effectively gear products to a targeted demographic section.

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