Male Glance on Applied Social Psychology Master`s Program
Applied social psychology masters program graduates Kharitonenko Alexey, Kuznetsov Nikita and Alekseev Gleb sharing their experience of studying at HSE and Tilburg University
Alex, did you initially want to go to Tilburg (before the enrollment), or did you feel the urge when you were already studying at the HSE program? Please tell us how it happened and why you decided to go.
Going to Tilburg was an important goal for me even before my studies at HSE. Generally speaking, the possibility of obtaining a double-degree diploma (Russian and European) was a very significant factor for me when choosing a master's program. When I found out that there was such a program at HSE, I immediately realized that this was exactly what I needed. I wanted to continue my development in the field of psychology at the international level.
As for studying in the Netherlands, it all started a long time ago, when I studied in primary school. Once my grandfather, a professor of rheumatology, came from Holland after participation in the European conference and talked a lot about this amazing and beautiful country where a lot of attention is paid to education and green technologies. Then I really wanted to go there. This desire only became stronger during my studies at HSE.
What is your most vivid impression of studying in Tilburg? Maybe something related to the culture or student life?
The Netherlands just blew me away. That time COVID-19 pandemic conquered the world, everywhere I could see just sad and brooding people wearing masks, but here in Tilburg, everything was calm and peaceful, I could see smiling faces and bicycles everywhere. It felt like you could ride a bicycle and just get away from all the problems. I was also amazed by the nature there. In general, Tilburg is a very small and quiet town, which made me happy, because, for example, there is not a large number of tourists, compared to Amsterdam. Also, when I got to the local campus, even despite the pandemic, I caught a feeling of great opportunities being offered to me, both in terms of professional and academic development.
As far as I know, in Tilburg you have to choose between the tracks of "Organizational Psychology" and "Economic Psychology". Which track have you chosen and why? Was it hard to study?
Yes, in fact, in Tilburg there are two tracks under the general program of "Social Psychology". My choice turned next to organizational psychology, since I have always been interested in issues of professional motivation and psychological health of employees (for example, burnout prevention, increasing work engagement). Also, during my studies at HSE, for example, when we studied cross-cultural aspects in relation to organizational context, I realized that this is the area that interests me the most.
As for the difficulty of studies, I can’t say that the study was somehow overwhelming. I think the level of difficulty of studying at Tilburg and at HSE was about the same: the studies were intense, but still there was enough time for refreshment and rest.
Do you think the knowledge you gained during your first year at HSE was useful for you while studying in Tilburg? Have your expectations from studying in Tilburg matched the reality?
The knowledge gained at HSE was not only useful but provided the necessary foundation for continuing my studies at Tilburg. Having studied at HSE I laid the basis, above which the more narrowly focused knowledge, which I then received in Tilburg, was layered.
Regarding my expectations from studying, I can say that, of course, the transition to the online format in Tilburg was quite disappointing. In fact, I first came there only in May, at the end of my studies, because there was simply no need for this - we studied the entire academic year remotely, including all exams and even an internship. In this sense, it is very difficult to immerse yourself into the student life, communicate with other students and learn about the culture of the Netherlands, because all learning is limited to meetings in video conferences and correspondence by mail. But looking from the other perspective, I can say that even in such conditions, the quality of education did not suffer at all. The online education was well-thought, there was no feeling that the university was not ready for this transition. On the contrary, teachers often found some new methods of presenting the material and introduced additional media resources. So, from studying at TiU I received exactly the high level of training that I expected, even though the conditions for delivering the knowledge were quite restrictive.
In your opinion, what is the biggest difference between the tracks in Tilburg and HSE? And in what ways are they similar?
I think the main difference between the tracks is that at HSE we got very fundamental knowledge, studied theories and approaches that are essential in psychology and that you just need to know before you start delving further into your specialty. In Tilburg, on the contrary, you acquire knowledge very specific and relevant to your field of study, so I think that the tracks complement each other perfectly.
From what they are similar, I can single out a great focus on the practicality of knowledge: both at HSE and at Tilburg, a lot of attention is paid to the ways the acquired knowledge can be applied in real situations. Also, in both tracks I liked the fact that the results of the most recent scientific research were used during the training, so you can be sure that you are acquiring knowledge that is relevant today.
Your first-year training was partially conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and classes were held online. Was it difficult to adapt to the new format? What was especially difficult and how did you deal with it?
Being an introvert, I did not experience any particular difficulties in adapting to the online format, at least in terms of socialization and my psychological state. I also saw the transition to distance learning as a great time-saver, as it took me several hours every day to get to and from the university. However, as for difficulties it is still worth noting that, of course, it is easier and faster to get in touch with teachers and other students when you are all physically present at one place, so in a sense, the speed of communication in the online format of studying, in my opinion, significantly decreases. But it helped in this regard that both the teachers and my groupmates, fortunately, were available for communication by e-mail and instant messengers.
What are you doing professionally now? What are your plans for the future? Will you continue to develop further in the field of social psychology?
Of course, I plan to further develop in the field of social psychology in general and, in particular, organizational psychology. During my studies in Tilburg, we carried out several projects for various organizations (for example, we worked out leadership development programs, planned interventions to increase employee engagement, etc.), then I did an internship in Human Resources Management in Luxembourg as a part of my studies in Tilburg (the internship is a part of the curriculum). Now, after receiving my diplomas, I plan to continue my development in this area and see my professional growth in the direction of consulting, organizational development, and HR.
Nikita, did you initially want to go to Tilburg (before the enrollment), or did you feel the urge when you were already studying at the HSE program? Please tell us how it happened and why you decided to go.
Yes, I wanted to study in Tilburg since I learned about the master's program itself (during my undergraduate studies). During my undergraduate studies at HSE, I didn’t have a chance to try mobility programs or take other opportunities to study abroad, so I didn’t want to miss out studying in Tilburg. However, since my master’s studies coincide with the very peak of the pandemic, I worried that in general there would be no opportunity to study there at all. Luckily, Tilburg was prepared for the pandemic and all the courses were held online.
What is your most vivid impression of studying in Tilburg? Maybe something related to the culture or student life?
As I said, Tilburg held all the courses online. And even if the students were in the Netherlands, they attended classes online. For this reason, I decided to stay in Moscow during the first semester and study remotely. And during the second semester, when the COVID-19 situation got a bit better, there were no new subjects and classes, and we only needed to finish our master’s theses and undertake an internship, so it seemed irrational for me to go to Tilburg. So the most striking thing for me, probably, is the format of training. When all classes are held online, and all students study from different parts of the world. At the same time, I was afraid that the quality of training would be much worse compared to the offline format, but in the end I got the feeling that many teachers already had extensive experience in giving online classes, since everything went smoothly, without any difficulties. I would especially like to note that if in Russia it is almost impossible to make students turn on their cameras during online classes, which worsens the dynamics of the lesson, then in Tilburg literally just a couple of students had their cameras turned off. It is very nice not only to hear other students, but also to see them, albeit on the screen.
As far as I know, in Tilburg you have to choose between the tracks of "Organizational Psychology" and "Economic Psychology". Which track have you chosen and why? Was it hard to study?
I chose organizational psychology because I am interested in this area. Burnout and productivity of employees, their interaction with each other, work in teams — this is only a glimpse of what organizational psychologists work with, and which is greatly related to the success of the company and the psychological state of employees themselves.
It seems to me that studies should not go without difficulties at all, because if it does most often this means that either the student does not fully understand what he/she is studying, or he/she is learning what they already know. Some tasks were easier than others, some required much more time and diligence. But there were definitely no “impossible” tasks.
Do you think the knowledge you gained during your first year at HSE was useful for you while studying in Tilburg? Have your expectations from studying in Tilburg matched the reality?
Before this master's program, I completed a bachelor's studies in psychology at HSE. Therefore, to be honest, the first year has not provided me with much new knowledge about psychology that would be useful in Tilburg. If I had studied at another university, or had a bachelor's degree in another field, then the knowledge of mathematical methods that we studied during the first year in HSE would have helped me a lot in Tilburg. But I gained almost all this knowledge while studying for the bachelor's degree.
Studies in Tilburg completely satisfied me though. During the short period of study, I attended many interesting lectures, tried myself as a discussion moderator for foreign students, tried on the role of the head of a small consulting company, interviewed the head of the HR department of one foreign company, and many more.
In your opinion, what is the biggest difference between the tracks in Tilburg and HSE? And in what ways are they similar?
It seemed to me that the first year of study at HSE was strongly focused on studying the theoretical foundations of social and sociocultural psychology. Unfortunately, I have not seen any link to the practical/real application of that knowledge. Tilburg in a shorter period (since the studying of new subjects there only took half a year) was able to combine both immersion in the necessary theory, and opportunities for the students to try out the acquired knowledge in practice.
Both years of study were taught in English, so I think here the tracks were the same :)
Your first-year training was partially conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and classes were held online. Was it difficult to adapt to the new format? What was especially difficult and how did you deal with it?
As I said, Tilburg has thoroughly approached the issue of conducting classes in an online format. All students had their own Zoom accounts, all links for the classes were shared in advance, teachers also did not experience any difficulties while conducting classes online. So I would not say that there were any difficulties on the part of Tilburg in this regard. Well, as for me, a long time ago I got used to communicating with people by the means of a computer, so I also did not experience any serious problems.
What are you doing professionally now? What are your plans for the future? Will you continue to develop further in the field of social psychology?
Since the end of my undergraduate studies, I got a job in a consulting company, and I continue to work there. I study employee involvement, burnout, and interaction, and work with those issues. I like that feeling that my work (studying and measuring these things in different companies, making recommendations for changing situations) can improve the quality of life of not just one particular employee, but a group of employees in one company at once. I continue to develop in this area, now I am getting more experience already from the “field”.
Maybe when I understand what exactly I want to study in social psychology from the academic perspective (and not from the practical one), then I will return to academic activities, but for now I am completely satisfied with where I am and what I do.
Gleb, did you initially want to go to Tilburg (before the enrollment), or did you feel the urge when you were already studying at the HSE program? Please tell us how it happened and why you decided to go.
Well, before the enrollment I had a plan to try to go to TiU, but in the middle of the year I’ve almost changed my mind due to personal circumstances. A couple of weeks before the deadline I decided to send documents to TiU anyway.
What is your most vivid impression of studying in Tilburg? Maybe something related to the culture or student life?
I liked our group assignments. They were challenging and practical. For example, once we had a task to make a viral marketing strategy. Among the others I made an Instagram* mask which was opened around 1.5k times without any promotion, and my groupmate wrote a small videogame at Python.
As far as I know, in Tilburg you have to choose between the tracks of "Organizational Psychology" and "Economic Psychology". Which track have you chosen and why? Was it hard to study?
I chose "Economic Psychology" because I was more interested in decision-making studies and stuff like that. There were difficulties like frequent quizzes or group assignments, but nothing outstanding.
Do you think the knowledge you gained during your first year at HSE was useful for you while studying in Tilburg? Have your expectations from studying in Tilburg matched the reality?
I’m pretty sure that the first year at HSE helped a lot. Despite the fact my bachelor was in psychology, I used to have a lot of gaps in knowledge of research methods, contemporary social psychology studies and many others. During the first year at HSE I have also boosted my skills in working with data and academic English. So I think in some sense the first year was even more beneficial for me.
In your opinion, what is the biggest difference between the tracks in Tilburg and HSE? And in what ways are they similar?
I don’t know much about the "Organizational Psychology" track, but I think the biggest difference is that "Organizational Psychology" gives you knowledge to work “inside the company”. For example to increase employees' productivity and job satisfaction, help them avoid burnout, etc. "Economic Psychology" is more about working “outside” the company (even if you work in front of your computer all the time). For example, investigating how people perceive a brand, conducting consumer studies, etc.
Your first year training was partially conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and classes were held online. Was it difficult to adapt to the new format? What was especially difficult and how did you deal with it?
The most difficult part was not having social contacts with other students. I don’t know how it can be compensated, honestly.
What are you doing professionally now? What are your plans for the future? Will you continue to develop further in the field of social psychology?
I am currently working in the marketing department. I do research on social media Influencers, different kinds of analytics and so on. I want to continue my academic career, so I’m looking forward to going for a PhD in psychology next year.
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