EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR PSYCHOLOGY GRADUATES IN SOUTH-AFRICA - ACONTEMPORARY ANALYSIS

The practice of psychology in South Africa currently depends on a high level of qualification and is reserved within professional registrati on. Apart from the fact that this professionalisation does not produce the human resources necessary to meet the social needs of the country , it is also excluding the potential enlistment of a very large number of graduates in psychology in social practice domains. In order to ma ke an analysis of the current situation. an audit was done of professi onal and graduate trends in 1993/1994, and a newspaper survey of emplo yment opportunities in 1994 for graduates in psychology was conducted. The data indicate a rapidly developing professional population, with little apparent uptake for employment in public service or the private sector. On the other hand, employment opportunities exist for graduat es in the broad social sciences, mainly at a non-professional and gene ralist level. Job advertisements indicate that a wide range of skills are required of graduates, many of which are not reflected in current degree curricula in Psychology. It is recommended that data on social trends. together with information on the ongoing development of the ps ychological profession, be used to reflect on current social and psych ological practice and tertiary educational curricula in psychology.