Psychology and Management BA (Hons)

Lancaster University

Psychology allows us to understand how people think and behave, while management utilises this understanding to improve our working lives. This combined discipline allows you to develop the skills and knowledge for a fulfilling and rewarding career.

The key to good management is an ability to understand people and why they behave the way they do. Bringing together the expertise of two specialist departments: Organisation, Work and Technology; and Psychology, our programme has been designed to provide you with specialist skills, knowledge and experience from the two disciplines.

This degree is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS), providing the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership with the Society, which is essential if you wish to pursue a career in professional psychology, and follows the main themes of modern psychology:

• Brain and Behaviour: how neural disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease affect behaviour
• Cognitive Psychology: our reactions to colours, smells, speech and music
• Developmental Psychology: the ways in which infants perceive space, patterns, objects and events
• Social Psychology: how our thoughts, emotions and behaviours are shaped by the presence of others

In the first year, you will gain an in depth overview of the main study themes through our Understanding Psychology module. You will explore the theories underpinning these areas, learn to evaluate scientific journals, and develop your ability to construct formal arguments. Running parallel to this, you will also undertake the Investigating Psychology module, which will equip you with important practical skills for conducting research in psychology, such as data analysis and report writing.

During the second year of your degree, you revisit the key themes covered in Year 1 in greater detail. You will study specialist modules on topics such as cognitive, developmental and social psychology; deepening your understanding and testing your knowledge. This year, you will also focus in on how psychology guides the organisation of work, and the role of psychology in the development of people management techniques and practices. The knowledge and skills gained from this module will be valuable for your career progression and will be highly sought after by employers.

In addition to these themes, Research Methods and Statistics modules will be covered this year. These will expand your knowledge of research methods, develop key skills and enable you to gain a detailed understanding of analysis and reporting.

In the third year, you will further develop your knowledge and understanding of the core aspects of modern psychology, taking modules in Brain and Behaviour; and Personality and Individual Differences. You will also study two management modules; one a core module looking at how people experience change and the other an optional module from the range of modules offered by the Department of Organisation, Work and Technology. You will enhance and apply your psychology knowledge by examining management, social and behavioural science as you relate ideas to real-world workplace events.

In addition to these core modules, you will also carry out your own research project under the supervision of an experienced researcher, and undertake a variety of optional modules.

Structured Work Experience

Alongside your academic study, you will have the opportunity to gain voluntary work experience through our Psychology Employability Programme, allowing you to develop invaluable skills for either a career in psychology or a graduate programme. You can choose between working part-time in the community with charities and organisations that support vulnerable people, or working alongside staff in the Psychology Department on their ground-breaking research projects.

Accredited against the requirements for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) of the British Psychological Society (BPS).