Psychology

Jurek Kirakowski, senior lecturer in psychology in the School of Applied Psychology in UCC

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“The problem with psychology is it’s not taught at second-level. If it were, you could teach details of experiments, theories and methods, but they only make sense when you put them together conceptually.

“Students must be mentally agile to learn new methods. They will be introduced to a number of practical things they will have to learn, such as collecting data, interviewing people, and generalising observations.

“We introduce them to different ways of thinking about human thoughts and behaviour. Students may find this bewildering. Humans are extremely complex entities. You can talk about humans from a physiological, personal, social, biological and chemical point of view – the study of psychology encompasses all of these. Many students are surprised when they see how broad the application of psychology is.

“Psychology in an arts faculty is a bit of an ugly duckling. Other arts disciplines do study a person, but in relation to something else. For example, the person and literature, the person and law. But in psychology, we give students the ability to concentrate on the person. Jurek says students who study and enjoy the following subjects for the Leaving Cert may be interested in psychology.

• English – because they’re exposed to literature and they learn to talk about the way people express themselves.

• Maths – because you learn to express yourself in terms of the purest statement of the way things are.

• Science – so they can get used to the concept of an experimental method as a way of discovering truth.

“A lot of people come in who have done volunteer work for charities. I would like to see psychologists who are interested in other people and who are prepared to appreciate the diversity of people. That is one of the hallmarks of psychologists.”

Law

Gerry Whyte professor of law at Trinity College Dublin

Gerry Whyte says one of the qualities prospective law students should have is intellectual curiosity: “Law is not about memorising rules, or, at least, that’s not what the academic study of law is about. It’s about asking if something is a good rule.”

Gerry says the ability to reason logically and rationally and get below the emotions of a debate is valuable. A good command of English, both written and spoken, is also beneficial. However, diligence is probably the most important attribute.

“Law students will have fewer contact hours with lecturers and teachers, so they have more time at their disposal and they must be organised and disciplined with that,” he notes.

Gerry says dropping out is often down to a lack of research: “Work experience in a solicitor’s office wouldn’t be like the academic discipline of studying law, but it would allow students to find out what that life is like. A university open day is the best thing that can be done, or contact the law school. Trinity law did a half-day open day this year where we put on mock classes for students. It’s one of the few ways students will actually see what kind of content they will be studying in lectures.”

When asked if a law degree is highly regarded by employers, Gerry says that a good law degree is indicative of an analytical mind and a diligent nature.

He notes: “You can do anything with a law degree (that) you can do with an arts degree, except teach.”

“Students come to law for two reasons,” he concludes. “Many are motivated by a good career after their degree and they want to get into large commercial firms. Another group are idealistic. They think that with a law degree they can influence or change society, which is fine because lawyers can engage politically.”

Engineering

Gerry Byrne, principal of the UCD College of Engineering and Architecture and the dean of Engineering.

Students from a farming background make good engineers says Gerry, thanks to a practical understanding and feel for technical equipment. He says engineering trains students in problem-solving, analytical skills and the ability to critically appraise. Interested students should be curious about how things are designed and work.

“Creativity is also important because of the design side,” he adds.

Surprisingly, an interest in sport can also help. Gerry says: “This is because you’re looking at how performance is achieved. If an engineering student is a top-performer in a sport, they are often great students. High performance means efficiency. In engineering we think about efficiency a lot.”

In terms of future jobs, Gerry says: “The tractor of the future.”

Increasingly, tractors are including sensors and built-in intelligence, which are areas related to mechanical and electronic engineering.

“Some strong Irish companies have developed in that space,” he says. “For example, Dairymaster got Entrepreneur of the year last year. Edmond Harty did Mechanical Engineering in UCD and went to PhD level here in biosystems engineering – he developed sensors around milking equipment. Gerry also notes that engineers often go into the financial world, others are entrepreneurs.

“This is because they have problem-solving skills combined with technical skills, so they can develop products,” says Gerry. “In delivering lectures in UCD, we put an entrepreneurship slant on it. We do modules on entrepreneurship, business development, and accounting.

Gerry also says that Biosystems Engineering may be of interest to farmers as it is agriculture and food-oriented. Candidates could start with a degree in mechanical engineering and go on to the masters in Biosystems Engineering.