Resources
The resources below* are designed to help you navigate key academic challenges in graduate school. They are grouped by topic (e.g., writing, statistics) and by stage (e.g., year of program). We’re continuously updating this list and appreciate your patience as it grows.
*Note: The resources below were not created by our team; rather, we have pulled them from different sources online for distribution. We give full credit to the authors of each post.
connecting with others
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Joining psychology groups can help you network with others and is therefore important for advancing your career. Although most groups have a fee, students get a discounted rate. Below, we highlight some groups that align with the mission of HICCUP. A full list of APA divisions can be found here.
Association for Women in Psychology - Attends to issues and concerns at the intersections of feminism and psychology
Society for Personality and Social Psychology (APA Division 8) – Seeks to advance the progress of theory, basic and applied research, and practice in the field of personality and social psychology.
Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (APA Division 9) – Seeks to bring theory and practice into focus on human problems of the group, the community, and nations, as well as the increasingly important problems that have no national boundaries
Society for the Psychology of Women (APA Division 35) – Provides an organizational base for all feminists, of all genders and of all national origins, who are interested in teaching, research, or practice in the psychology of womxn. New membership is free
Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (APA Division 44) – Focuses on the diversity of human sexual orientations by supporting research, promoting relevant education, and affecting professional and public policy
Society for the Psychological study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race (APA Division 45) – Encourages research on ethnic minority issues and the application of psychological knowledge to ethnic minority issues
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There are plenty of other groups working to diversify psychology alongside us. Some additional groups you can look into are:
Marginalia Science - A group that promotes and learns about the work of social scientists who are women, gender non-conforming, BIPOC, LGBTQI+, disabled and/or in any other way not promoted by the status quo in academia
NextGen Psych Scholars - A virtual graduate student-led mentorship program for underrepresented (e.g., BIPOC, low-income, first-gen, LGBTQIA+) undergraduates and post-baccalaureates interested in applying to psychology PhD programs
Applying to Graduate school
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Attending graduate school is a big commitment, as this can take anywhere between 3 years (for Master’s programs) to 6 years (for PhD programs) to complete. Before making this decision, there are a few things you should consider:
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So, you’ve decided that graduate school is the next best step for your career. How do you actually get there? Below, we provide some resources to facilitate your application to graduate school.
Getting Started in Graduate School
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Congratulations! You've been accepted to graduate school. It's a long journey, but we've got your back. Here are some helpful tips for starting your first year.
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Below are some tools for planning short and long-term goals during your time in graduate school.
the research process
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The following articles highlight some strategies for creating good research questions:
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“Open science” can seem daunting at first, but it is simply an attempt to make research accessible to all levels of society. Scientists do this by making their research process transparent to other scholars, sharing their materials online, and making their articles free to read. Below, you will find information on how to use open science practices in your own research.
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Research is expensive! But it doesn’t have to come out of your own pocket. Plenty of grants exist for research:
Statistics resources
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Before conducting any analyses, it is important to know which tests are appropriate for your research question. We highlight some resources below:
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Here, we provide a short list of resources to learning R . We highlight a brief intro to R, common analyses in R, and additional resources (e.g., where to learn more). More resources are to come!
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Please check back in! This section will be updated soon
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Here, we provide open-source textbooks for learning statistics.
R for Data Science by Wickham and Grolemund (2017, updated version coming in 2023)
Hands on programming with R by Garrett Grolemund
Statistical Inference via Data Science: A ModernDive into R and the Tidyverse by Chester Ismay and Albert Y. Kim (2022)
Writing, publishing, and REVIEWING papers
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A literature review is often the first step in conducting research. In a literature review, you summarize previously published works on a topic. Here are some strategies for effectively conducting a literature review:
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Writing takes time to master. Here are some ways to improve your writing:
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You’ve probably heard horror stories of “Reviewer 2” - the reviewer who is rude, smug, and unwilling to treat your research with respect. The following resources are meant to help you become a good reviewer (and avoid becoming another Reviewer 2 horror story):
A step-by-step guide to reviewing a manuscript (as told by Wiley publishing)
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Knowing where to submit your manuscripts can improve the likelihood of its acceptance. Here are some tips for selecting appropriate journals (and avoiding predatory journals):
Teaching
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The first step in any great classroom is having a good syllabus. Below are some resources and examples for developing a syllabus:
Project Syllabus (example syllabi)
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Developing lectures can be time consuming. Below, we provide lectures that can be adapted for your own classroom:
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Studies on the scholarship of teaching and learning suggest that a student-centered approach is the most effective pedagogical strategy (e.g., Freeman et al., 2014). Student-centered classrooms emphasize active learning and collaboration, and often do so through the use of activities. Below, we provide a list of resources that emphasize a student-centered approach to teaching:
The Job market (and post-docs)
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There are many jobs you can get with your psychology PhD, including academic jobs, non-academic research jobs (e.g., UX, non-profit), and science communication jobs, among others! Below, we highlight ways you can begin your job search and how you can get your job application materials together:
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Increasingly, PhD students are moving away from academic careers (only 33% of psychology PhDs are working in academia!). If you are unsure whether academia is right for you, know that there are plenty of other options. You can use your PhD for many careers, including those below:
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A postdoctoral fellowship is a temporary period of supervised training after you’ve finished your PhD. Postdocs give you a chance to learn new methodological techniques and build your research program, without the pressures of teaching. Not everyone chooses to pursue a postdoc, but if you do, the following resources can help:
Professional Development
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Personal websites can help you market yourself for the jobs, share your research, and improve your online presence. We provide some resources for creating websites below:
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A résumé is a brief, informative summary of your abilities, education, and experience. These are like a condensed version of your CV - with a few key differences. We highlight how to write a résumé, CV, and cover letter below:
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Interviews are central to various aspects of your graduate career - including getting into graduate school, choosing an advisor, picking a postdoc, or when you’re entering the job market. How do you have a good interview? We highlight some strategies below: