Diverse careers in community psychology

Abstract

Community psychology is a diverse field. Community psychologists may work for the government, for nonprofit foundations, as researchers or teachers in academic settings, at NGOs, as independent consultants, overseas in international development, and more. Despite such professional diversity, very little information has formally been made available to students and practitioners about the range of careers they can pursue when studying community psychology. Diverse Careers in Community Psychology details a range of potential career paths for someone with community psychology or related social science training, describes the different types of careers (e.g., tasks involved, benefits and challenges, salary range, etc.), and outlines steps one can take to develop such a career. The volume is built on three foundations: (1) a career survey of almost 450 respondents, which provides quantitative information about the different types of settings in which individuals with community psychology training might find themselves, (2) more than twenty chapters by contributors who share their personal stories and guidance on how to select, prepare for, find, and succeed in careers similar to theirs, (3) and interviews with community psychologists, further illustrating examples discussed in the authored chapters. This volume provides both a depth and breadth of information about the possible careers available for someone with community psychology or related training.