SGPsychStud: Recognition - Such a vague word!

In the questions that I have got from readers, a certain word often shows up: “Recognition / Recognised", with questions often revolving around whether certain psychological programs are "recognised" in Singapore.  I would not like to present myself as ranting about this matter; however, I understand that some clarifications are required so that more readers of this blog would understand this matter at hand.

Most people are concerned whether the degrees that they are pursuing are "recognised", as they may feel that it may affect their future job applications.  But this is a very hard question to answer.  This is because this "recognition" of the degrees would be done by the companies and their human resource departments, and there is no way of really knowing how they quantify or measure or recognise the degrees, unless you are working in the HR department (I have never worked in HR departments, so I do not really know).  The only exception I know of would be for government-related jobs, which your degree should be a local degree or permitted by the CPE (that is if you are studying in a private education institution).  However, this might be flawed too.

So the only two ways we should be looking at overseas degrees programs conducted at PEIs are:
1. If it is permitted by CPE
2. If it is accredited by the respective psychological societies (APS/BPS).

So what about local degrees?
There is no accreditation of local psychological degrees, i.e. degrees from NUS, NTU, SMU, by SPS or Ministry of Education.  But, pretty much, if you attained your degrees in a Singaporean university, it should be "recognised" in Singapore.

Comments