What’s Your House in Psychology Game of Thrones?
The fifth season of Game of Thrones recently ended, and I’m going through withdrawal. Then I started thinking, what if psychology were like Game of Thrones? For those of you who don’t know the show, here’s a quick summary. Set in a medieval, magical world, there is a land called Westeros where there are 7 Great Houses that were principalities now united into one kingdom. These houses have regional power over smaller (less powerful) houses in their area. The king of this world sits on the Iron Throne (a throne made of swords). In the book series and the show, the death of one king has led to an ongoing civil war with different leaders fighting to succeed him. Each House is run by a family (which gives the house its name) and has a sigil, a flag which includes a symbol and a saying. My favorite house is House Stark, which has a direwolf as its symbol and its saying is “Winter is coming”.
I started thinking what would Game of Thrones set in a psychology world look like? I started thinking of which psychologists might lead powerful houses and what might their slogan be. Here’s what I ended up with:
Internship and Postdoc Sites Share LGBTQ Climate and Training Data
What does the site you’re applying to say about its LGBTQ training opportunities and affirmative environment? (Source: Kurious on Pixabay. Some rights reserved.)
Are you applying for internship?
Are you interested in finding out more about LGBTQ climate and training opportunities at internship and postdoctoral sites?
If so, check out our new resource created by the APAGS Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity and Division 44’s Student Representatives! (Special thanks go to Julia Benjamin, Skyler Jackson, Elizabeth Ollen, and Eric Samuels for their leadership on this project, and to willing training directors for their time and insight.)
We conducted a survey on APPIC-registered internship and postdoctoral sites this summer with the intent of collecting information about how friendly these sites were for people of diverse sexual orientations and genders, and about LGBTQ-focused internship training opportunities that the site might offer.
We received responses from 120 internship sites, 22 postdoctoral sites, and 45 combined internship and postdoctoral sites, from a total of 36 states as well as Washington DC, and three Canadian provinces.
Feel free to explore and manipulate the Excel file here! (last updated 10-1-2015)
- You’ll be prompted to download an Excel file after clicking the link above.
- Please note that the file has two sheets; the first is introductory and the second is raw survey data.
- Note: If you can’t open .xlsx files, you can first download the file and then use a free online site (like this one) to convert the file to other formats, such as .csv or .pdf.
Data points are organized into broad categories including information on general site information, health insurance, staff diversity trainings, expression of identity, LGBTQ training focus, LGBTQ climate for clients, and overall area and site LGBTQ-friendliness. Additionally, for ease of reading, colors have been used to signify specific answer types.
In finding a site that is right for you, we encourage you to consider all sites in their totality, across domains presented here and in combination with other factors available in the APPIC directory and materials made available by each site. Further, we ask that you refrain from making conclusions about sites that did not or could not complete our survey by its deadline.
APAGS CSOGD and Division 44 plan to periodically update this database to provide the most up-to-date information for internship applicants. We hope you find it to be a helpful resource!
Editor’s note: Other APAGS tools that might help intern and postdoc applicants include webisodes on the APPIC application process, a climate guide (PDF) in workbook format for evaluating sites independently on LGBTQ criteria, a new resource guide for LGBTQ students, and much more.
Year-by-Year Self-Care for Graduate Students: Part 3 of 4
For Third-Year Students: This year is all about knowing when to plug in and when to unplug. With two years under your belt, you can not only identify your strengths but are also likely to be able to identify the people and places that make you stronger. Make this year about capitalizing on the connections you’ve made, and don’t forget to add a little something new along the way!
(Source: GotCredit on Flickr; some rights reserved)
Develop support systems.
After two years in your doctoral program you are likely to have been exposed to both happy and more trying moments. In those moments you’ve probably taken note of who was with you during those easy and hard times, and how they contributed to your experiences. Remember those people, and keep in touch with those who make you the happiest. Some of these people might be in your own research lab or weekly seminar. Others might be friends of friends who are not in graduate school, but manage to force you out of your apartment on a Saturday night on a strict “no-thinking-about-your-research” policy. Whether in your cohort or off-campus, these are the people who get you through. Know who they are and make time to be with them.
Take a vacation! Or just temporarily vacate.
Take a moment, or get moving…either way find time and space away from work (Source: Willemvdk on Flickr; some rights reserved)
Sometimes a great getaway is just a bike ride rather than an expensive plane ticket, away! Remember to bring along your important people and hit the road. (Source: Kamal Zharif on Flickr; some rights reserved)
It is likely that limited finances and long hours of studying, teaching, data analysis, or conference preparation will all be viable reasons for not taking the breaks we would like to take. It is this writer’s opinion, however, that you don’t need to be 100% settled in life to take a 100% rest. When and however you can, build in time to get away from your program. Getting away does not necessarily need to look like everyone else’s vacation. There are, however two requirements: (1) no checking email (yes, I said it); and (2) leaving the vicinity that you currently live or go to school in. As long as your mind is not on work and you are off the grid, you are resting. For example, even if you do not have the option of going on a trip that requires spending money and a passport, you can still pool your options for going someplace new—even if it is only for a weekend.
Some doctoral students prefer to save for a one-to-two week trip. Others may benefit more from shorter weekend trips. Whichever way you travel, allow yourself the escape. The more able you are to take a break, the easier it will be to look forward to getting back to work with a clear head.
Editor’s Note: This is the third installment of a 4-part series. View part 1, dedicated to the first-year graduate school experience, and part 2, dedicated to the second year.
A Cog Neuro Student Nabs an Industry Internship
The author found himself interning at Electronic Arts for 10 weeks one summer, thanks to a fateful TED-like video and a LinkedIn suggestion. (Source: nickstone333 on Flickr. Some rights reserved.)
Editor’s note on the term “internship”: Doctoral students in clinical, counseling, and school psychology may hear “internship” referenced in this post and immediately think of the yearlong field placement in a therapeutic setting that is required just prior to earning the doctorate. Here, author Stephen Gray refers to a different kind of internship–one that may interest students in science and research fields who are considering non-academic experience prior to graduation.
A leg up
Internship. It may be a strange word to weathered doctoral students who have done nothing but tirelessly toil away on research studies for years, but in a world where there are an increasing number of PhDs and a decreasing number of tenure track jobs, it may become something to consider as the job market continues to shift. And while the term may invoke images of demoralized undergraduates getting coffee for high level CEOs, rest assured that there are plenty of companies and organizations interested in taking advantage of the unique skills a graduate student in psychology has to offer.
Although giving up a summer of research may slightly delay the timing of your degree, an internship offers invaluable experience in knowing what research in the “real world” is like and may allow you to determine if it’s a good fit for you. Having an internship on the resume gives you a leg up compared to other industry-bound students when applying for jobs, and in some cases, may even result in a permanent job offer from the company at which you intern.
Finding my way into an internship
To be completely honest, I didn’t come into the summer before my fifth year as a doctoral student with intention of finding an internship – things just sort of worked out that way.
It started a few years ago, when I stumbled upon a TED-style online talk by Dr. Jeffrey Lin, the head of social systems at Riot Games. Dr. Lin, who has a PhD in cognitive neuroscience from the University of Washington, spoke of the research Riot Games was conducting to reduce negative player behavior in the game League of Legends. As a passionate online gamer myself, the idea that I could use my skills as a researcher to study how people interact with video games was enticing.
Per Dr. Lin’s recommendation, I joined a LinkedIn group called “Games User Research,” and came in contact with dozens of individuals with psychology degrees who were now using their skills for the gaming industry. Desperate to get some hands-on experience myself, I made a post introducing myself and asking about opportunities for freelance work.
To my surprise, I received quite a few responses, although the one that stood out to me was a Consumer Insights internship at Electronic Arts (EA) in which I would be working for an individual with a PhD in social psychology. After submitting my application and a series of interviews, I was soon headed to Los Angeles to begin my summer as a researcher at EA.
My favorite part of industry research is its blistering pace…I was also fortunate to receive a hiring recommendation
Turning an internship into a potential job
The experience I gained was invaluable. My favorite part of industry research is its blistering pace; I was able to dabble in six different projects while I was at EA in ten short weeks. I conducted literature searches, analyzed large sets of survey data, and presented my results to stakeholders and executives. I was also fortunate to receive a hiring recommendation, meaning that I have a potential job waiting for me when I finish my PhD next year.
The industry world is not for everyone – there are plenty of students (and advisors) who scoff at the idea of doing anything but academic research, and that’s okay. For the rest of you who are on the fence about what to do with your degree, I would highly recommend seeking out an internship that fits your passion. Even you dislike the experience, it will provide critical information about the right career path for you.
Editor’s note: Stephen Gray is a PhD student in experimental psychology, focusing on cognitive neuroscience, at the University of Chicago. Stephen is completing a two-year term on the APAGS Science Committee.