MSc Psychology in Business

Overview

Course Length:	1 Year Full-Time, 2 Years Part-Time
Start Dates:	September 2021, September 2022
Subjects:	Business and Management Psychology
Location:	Edge Hill University

This taught Masters degree is designed for graduates in Psychology or a related discipline who wish to learn and apply the skills needed to thrive in a range of careers in organisations, from start-ups to multinationals. The programme is framed around the key skills of creativity, innovation, communication, teamwork, leadership and management. It provides an immersive learning environment that fosters these skills through a combination of traditional, modern and technology-enhanced learning methods. Above all, the course is organic, enabling you to acquire the relevant skills by undertaking and discussing projects and activities that are derived from your own motives, knowledge and experience.

In Depth

What will I study?

The programme provides the knowledge, skills and experience to form the springboard for a graduate in Psychology or a related discipline to embark on a career in a range of business environments. You will focus on contemporary issues and challenges facing organisations in the 21st century alongside the nature of leadership and management roles and the impact and influence of development interventions.

Modules explore the psychology of creativity, innovation, sales and marketing. The application of perspectives and insights from core areas of psychology to leadership, motivation, recruitment and employee wellbeing in the workplace will also be examined, as will the role of psychometrics in selection, assessment and development.

The programme will equip you with the advanced professional skills needed to underpin a successful career. It will additionally help you develop the soft skills of teamwork and communication through group work and individual reflective commentaries, underpinned by a distinctive and supportive learning environment.

How will I study?

The programme adopts ‘Professional Action Learning’ (PAL) methodology for selected modules, developed from the classic Revans approach. These modules are designed with a series of day schools/workshops using group-based discussion and action, with 5-6 students per group.

Other modules will take a more traditional approach and require attendance at one seminar per week. These sessions will be a combination of tutor-led and student-developed interactive activities. You will also be encouraged to engage with your tutors on a one-to-one basis.

The module timetables are structured so that all contact time falls on a maximum of three days per week.

How will I be assessed?

You will be assessed through a combination of group-based presentations, written assignments, individual reflective portfolios and a 10,000 word dissertation.

Who will be teaching me?

The programme will be delivered by a cross-department team of academic experts from the Department of Psychology and the Business School who have specialist knowledge of areas such as marketing, sales, teamwork, psychological assessment and professional development.

A Great Study Environment

Psychology

Students walk past the Law and Psychology building at night. The £6m Law and Psychology building provides contemporary teaching and learning facilities for students in the Department of Psychology and the Department of Law and Criminology.

The three-storey building includes a 250-seat lecture theatre, seminar and tutorial rooms, and social learning areas which encourage a more informal and interactive style of learning. There are also specially designed experimental facilities for psychological research.

Psychology resources include state-of-the-art eye trackers, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) methods, and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for examining cognitive functioning and brain activity. Other specialist laboratories include a group testing laboratory, two bi-directional observation rooms, a ‘bar simulation laboratory’ (for alcohol research), audio-visual suites and dedicated IT facilities equipped with subject specific software installed to support experimental work.

You are encouraged to join the ‘We are Psychology’ (WAP) student society and participate in a range of events, from guest lectures and education-based group sessions to a variety of social activities. The society also operates a peer support scheme where you can access support from a peer mentor or apply to become a peer mentor yourself.

Business School

A student makes notes during a seminar. A stunning £8m building provides state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities for students in Edge Hill Business School.

The three-storey building offers a 100-seat lecture theatre and modern seminar and meeting rooms. There are also social learning areas which encourage a more informal and interactive style of learning, in addition to an attractive roof garden and atrium.

Edge Hill Business School is home to a thriving research community, hosts a growing international partnership portfolio, and is a member of AACSB International (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), the world’s largest management education network.

Modules

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BUS4520Leadership and Management Development (20 credits)

Leadership and Management Development explores the nature of leadership and management roles as well as the impact and influence of development interventions on the individual and the organisation. At the organisational level the module considers how far organisational culture and strategic change can be influenced by development interventions, thereby enabling organisations to deal more effectively with environmental uncertainty. At the individual level, the module evaluates the importance of the identification of development needs, as well as work-based and formal development interventions, for career development. You will consider leadership and management development in a range of organisations and enterprises and conduct an examination of contemporary trends in the area.

Assessment: Coursework: 100%.

BUS4524Management in the 21st Century (20 credits)

Management in the 21st Century explores the challenging contemporary issues facing organisations in the 21st century. It considers the alternate economic and social structures that are applicable throughout the world and how these differences collude and conflict with the development of the global economy. The success of the free market ideology, the international movement of capital, globalisation and the emergence of developing economies will all be considered within the module, as will technological developments and the social, environmental and ethical challenges which organisations are facing.

Assessment: Coursework: 100%.

PSY4001Advanced Professional Skills (20 credits)

Advanced Professional Skills focuses on client-facing processes to present the range of skills that underpin a successful professional career in psychology and related disciplines. The module immerses you in systematic information retrieval, analysis, synthesis and dissemination. You will gain the skills required for academic and professional practice, reflect on ethical considerations and consider public understanding of science. The module concludes with a practical exercise which will prepare you for writing and managing a research proposal or business plan for a research project.

Assessment: Coursework: 70%, Practical(s): 30%.

PSY4008Psychology of Creativity and Innovation (10 credits)

Psychology of Creativity and Innovation recognises that it is commonly thought that being creative is a gift that either you have or do not have. In common with most skills, however, there is a science to achieving high levels of skill. This module will enable you to undertake extensive practice – on an issue that is important to you – in a challenging but supportive environment. You will complete a project that enables you to develop and assess your skills and engage in a reflective commentary on the process. The aim is to enhance the skills of innovation and creativity in your everyday life, creating an innovative approach and then developing the idea further.