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Maximise your employability with a joint degree in Business and Psychological Science. You will develop business operations and decision-making skills alongside critical thinking underpinned by an advanced understanding of human behaviour to set you apart in the global workforce.

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Tailor your degree

Align your subjects with your career goals

$58,900

Median graduate salary* *Good Universities Guide 2022, UG Psychology

Industry experience

Benefit from internships

Townsville

Townsville: February, July

$32,960.00⁺

⁺estimated annual tuition fee for a full-time study load

Plus Student Services and Amenities fee
Scholarships and financial aid available if eligible

4 years full-time

English (Units 3/4,C)

Recommended Knowledge

Mathematical Methods (Units 3/4,C)

English language requirements

Band 1

If your native language is not English, you must meet the minimum English language requirements for this course.

085453A

What to expect

As you study the Bachelor of Business — Bachelor of Psychological Science joint degree, you will cultivate a balance between academic theory and practical ability — valuable to employers in both psychology and business. Develop an in-depth understanding of how human psychology impacts business and how the unique combination of knowledge and skills that you acquire in this degree can be implemented in a career with unlimited potential.

Study a curriculum designed by industry experts to ground your learning in contemporary research and real-world relevance. Take part in practical experiences through ground-breaking research, industry internship opportunities, and Work Integrated Learning (WIL). In your internship and WIL, you’ll have firsthand experience working in the field that sparks your interest. The professional connections that you make during these internships will not only increase your professional development but build your network to further opportunities post-graduation.

Gain the knowledge and skills to pursue the field that you’re most interested in or embrace the interrelationship of the two.

In your first year of this joint degree you will study core subjects relevant to all business majors and will learn about the pillars of a sustainable business. In your second year, you can tailor the degree to suit your interests by selecting a business major in either Human Resources Management, Management or Marketing for the Digital Age to become a business leader.

In the Bachelor of Psychological Science, you’ll take a behind the scenes look at the social, psychological, and biological factors that shape human behaviour. You will learn the importance of critical thinking as you explore the interconnection of social theories and experiences, which inform our understanding of ourselves and the people around us. Your understanding of what motivates people will give you a competitive edge in the world of enterprise. Whether you choose to pursue a career in human resources management, marketing or psychological science, or management, your knowledge of the wants and needs of the people that make up a demographic will enable you to operate effectively and strategically in the workplace.

Your psychological science studies allow you to tailor your degree by choosing from a range of specialised subjects, including forensic psychology, memory and cognition, cognitive neuroscience, and intercultural psychology. The Bachelor of Business has three majors for you to choose from. The majors and subjects that you choose in each degree can complement each other to deepen your knowledge in a specific area, or you can incorporate variety into your study, increasing the breadth of your expertise.

Consult the handbook for majors available at each campus and a detailed overview of available subjects.

Majors

The Bachelor of Business has three majors. Not all majors are available at all campuses. The handbook provides detail about subjects you can study within each major and the campuses each major is available at.

Human Resources Management

Discover what motivates employees and how you can boost performance and productivity in organisations. Learn how to effectively communicate, develop positive employment relations and create environments that help people thrive. Your passion for human resources can take you across industries within Australia and around the world.

Management

Use your love of innovation, entrepreneurship and people-management to strengthen your employability. Learn how to lead businesses in highly competitive environments, solve complex organisational problems, plan effectively and hire the right employees. Managing finances, resources, and direct business operations with confidence in a fast-paced setting. You will learn a variety of transferable skills, important in managing a business or team in any industry.

Marketing for the Digital Age

Gain the skills to speak directly to your customers through traditional advertising, digital marketing and social media. Your creativity and understanding of people will help you to become an effective marketer, fulfilling the needs of your customers or growing a new customer base. Develop industry knowledge by creating sustainable marketing strategies for real-world businesses. Transfer your skills across organisations in private, public, and non-profit sectors and stand out in a competitive marketplace.

Honours

Honours is available in each discipline as additional 24 credit points of study. Please refer to either the Bachelor of Business (Honours), or the Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) Handbook for eligibility information.

Career Opportunities

JCU Business-Psychological Science graduates combine the skills and knowledge of two disciplines to pursue rewarding careers across a range of industries.

You could find employment in counselling roles in business, community, or government organisations. Different subject choices could see you working in human resource management, professional development, market research, and more.

Handbook

Bachelor of Business – Bachelor of Psychological Science

Handbook year	2022
Course Code	114310
Course type	Bachelor Degree (AQF Level 7)
Professional accreditation status	This course is accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC). Graduates of this course, who wish to become fully registered as psychologists, must complete an accredited fourth year course (e.g. BPsychSc(Hons) or GDipPsych) plus either a two year Psychology Board of Australia approved postgraduate program, or a one year Psychology Board of Australia approved postgraduate program plus one year of supervised practice.
Owner	Division of Tropical Health and Medicine
College	Healthcare Sciences Business, Law and Governance

Award Requirements

Admission Requirements

Course prerequisites

English (Units 3/4,C)

Recommended: Mathematical Methods (Units 3/4,C)

Minimum English language proficiency requirements

Applicants of non-English speaking backgrounds must meet the English language proficiency requirements of Band 1– Schedule II of the JCU Admissions Policy.

Academic Requirements for Course Completion

Credit points

96 credit points as per course structure

Course learning outcomes

JCU graduates are committed to lifelong learning, intellectual development, and to the display of exemplary personal, professional and ethical standards. They have a sense of their place in the tropics and are charged with professional, community, and environmental responsibility. JCU graduates appreciate the need to embrace and be acquainted with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples of Australia. They are committed to reconciliation, diversity and sustainability. They exhibit a willingness to lead and to contribute to the intellectual, environmental, cultural, economic and social challenges of regional, national, and international communities of the tropics.

On successful completion of the Bachelor of Business graduates will be able to:

Demonstrate essential knowledge necessary for a career in business related professions
Synthesise underlying principles and concepts for making business decisions
Critically analyse the core professional obligations, values and operations of organisations including sustainability
Critically evaluate data and resources in the context of relevant academic literature
Apply critical thinking to address issues in business
Convey information clearly and fluently, in high quality written form appropriate for their audience
Demonstrate effective oral presentation skills for academic and professional audiences
Demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively
Apply technical skills, including numeracy, necessary for professional practice in business
Demonstrate an awareness of ethical and social responsibility in professional practice
Identify and act upon, learning opportunities and self-improvements

On successful completion of the Bachelor of Psychological Science, graduates will be able to:

Integrate a broad and coherent body of knowledge with depth in major theoretical perspectives and concepts, and philosophical and historical developments, in the core areas of psychology
Review, analyse, consolidate and synthesise knowledge and evidence bases in the core areas of psychology in a manner that is reflexive, culturally appropriate and sensitive to the diversity of individuals including but not limited to, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Review and reflect on the methods and ethics of scientific investigation as applied to psychology
Exercise critical thinking and judgement in the design and conduct of scientific investigations to solve psychological questions with intellectual independence
Apply advanced English language and technological and numeracy skills to generate, interpret and communicate knowledge, data, arguments and research findings appropriate for a diversity of audiences
Adapt and apply research skills, psychological and cultural understanding, to investigate human behavior in diverse contexts in regional, national and international communities including but not limited to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Demonstrate responsibility and accountability for one’s own learning and practice in collaboration with others

Course Structure

CORE SUBJECTS

Level 1

BU1002:03 Accounting for Decision Making

BU1003:03 Principles of Economics

BU1104:03 Introduction to Management Concepts and Application

BU1105:03 Professional and Academic Skills for Business

BU1112:03 Business Law

PY1101:03 Exploring Psychology: from Brain to Practice

PY1102:03 Exploring Psychology: from Perception to Reality

PY1103:03 Critical Thinking in Psychology: How to Think About Weird Things

PY1106:03 Communicating Psychology: Listening, Translating & Disseminating

Level 2

PY2103:03 Introduction to Research Methods and Data Analysis

PY2107:03 Experimental Investigation and Analysis of Behaviour

BU2108:03 Marketing Matters

PY2111:03 Learning Processes, Behaviour and Performance

PY2112:03 Memory and Cognition

PY2101:03 Psychological Neuroscience

PY2106:03 Through the Looking Glass: Development Across the Lifespan

Level 3

BU3101:03 Professional Internship or BU3102:03 Multi-Disciplinary Project or BU3103:03 Independent Project

PY3101:03 Psychological Research Methods and Interpretation

PY3102:03 Social Psychology in Everyday Life

PY3103:03 Mining the Mind: Psychopathology

PY3107:03 Psychological Assessment in Action

PY3108:03 Personality Psychology: Decoding the Mysteries of Humans

OPTIONS

Select 6 credit points of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences subjects (from the following prefixes: AN, AR, AY, BA, CI, CN, CU, CY, EL, FR, GR, HI, IA, IT, JA, JN, NM, PL, PY, SS, SY, WC and WS) or any level 2 or 3 subjects.

PLUS

Select a Business major from Table A

Table A (BUSINESS MAJORS)

Credit points in major

24 credit points

MAJOR	AVAILABLE AT	NOTES
Human Resources Management	JCU Townsville External
Management	JCU Townsville External
Marketing for the Digital Age	JCU Townsville External

Location

COURSE AVAILABLE AT	NOTES
JCU Townsville

Candidature

Expected time to complete	4 years full-time or equivalent part-time
Maximum time to complete	10 years
Maximum leave of absence	2 year

Progression

Course progression requisites	Nil
Course includes mandatory professional placement(s)	No
Special assessment requirements	Nil
Professional accreditation requirements	The accredited sequence in Psychology leads to provisional registration with the Psychology Board of Australia with the addition of a fourth year of accredited studies in psychology e.g. Graduate Diploma of Psychology or Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours)
Supplementary exam for final subject	A student who has failed the final subject towards the degree and who gained 40% or more of the marks for that subject, may be granted a supplementary examination in that subject

Credit

Eligibility	Students may apply for credit transfer for previous tertiary study in accordance with the Credit Transfer Procedure.
Maximum allowed	60 credit points
Currency	Credit will be granted only for studies completed in the 10 years prior to the commencement of this course.
Expiry	Credit gained for any subject shall be cancelled 20 years after the date of the examination upon which the credit is based if, by then, the candidate has not completed this course.
Other restrictions	Nil

Award Details

Award title	BACHELOR OF BUSINESS – BACHELOR OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Approved abbreviation	BBus-BPsychSc
This is a joint degree	Yes
Inclusion of majors on testamur	Majors will appear on the testamur
Exit with lesser award	Students who have completed 24 credit points of their course award requirements, and withdraw from or fail to meet the requirements for progression in the later years, may be eligible for the award of Diploma of Tertiary Studies. Students who exit the course prior to completion, and have completed ALL appropriate subjects for the relevant degree, may be eligible for the award of Bachelor of Business or Bachelor of Psychological Science.
Course articulation	Not applicable

Honours

Honours availability

Honours is available in each discipline as additional 24 credit points of study [end-on]

Eligibility

A student admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Business – Bachelor of Psychological Science at this university may be invited by the College Dean to undertake the Honours degree in Psychology if that student has

Psychology Honours

obtained a minimum of 72 credit points including successful completion of all Psychology level 1, 2 and 3 subjects prescribed in Bachelor of Business-Bachelor of Psychological Science
obtained a minimum of a Credit average (65%) across PY2103, PY2107 and a minimum Distinction average (75%) across 15 credit points of level 3 PY subjects, including PY3101; or
completed an AQF Level 7 bachelor degree that includes an Australian Psychology Accreditation Council approved three-year sequence in psychology completed within the past 10 years; and a minimum program GPA of 5.5

Business Honours

Normally a minimum average grade of Credit is required in the pass degree subjects relevant to the field in which Honours is to be taken.

Fees and scholarships

Estimated annual tuition fee: $AUD32,960.00

Courses are charged per year of full-time study. International course fees are reviewed annually and subject to change.

A Student Services and Amenities Fee is payable per subject up to a maximum amount per year.

Student Visa holders must have Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for the duration of their Student Visa (except Norwegian, Swedish and Belgian citizens). Costs depend on the length of study and the number of dependants accompanying the student. For more information see Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC).

Scholarships and financial aid are also available for international students.

Pathways to JCU

Applicants with TAFE diplomas in Business, Business and Commerce Studies, Events, Hospitality, Human Resources Management, Management, and Travel and Tourism can apply for credit.

How to apply

Gather the documents you need to apply and submit an application via JCU's online application portal.

Student

Aimee Cameron

Bachelor of Business - Bachelor of Psychological Science

JCU provides me the opportunity to continue living and working in the tropics, while studying a joint degree that allowed me to follow both my professional and personal passions. I have been continually impressed by the lecturers and staff at the university and their support and encouragement.
Student

Olivia Riordan

Bachelor of Business - Bachelor of Psychological Science

The practical placement is the best part about the course as you can experience a career in the industry whilst being a student. You gain invaluable knowledge and a unique viewpoint into how these two rapidly growing sectors interact with each other and how particular factors will influence the workforce.
Lecturer

Alf Kuilboer

Head of Management, Governance and Tourism

This degree cultivates a balance between academic theory and practical ability, both valuable and sought after skills by employers in psychology and business. You will understand how human psychology impacts business, combined with knowledge in the practical elements required for managing a sustainable business.
Lecturer

Dr Kerry McBain

Head, Psychology

Having an understanding of human behaviour - what motivates people, how they perceive the world, and why they make the decisions they do - is invaluable knowledge in business. The joint degree gives students a solid grounding in both the principles of business and of human behaviour.