The BPS Psychology Careers Festival 2023 starts with a bang
A whole host of psychology experts are taking to the stage online at the sold out week-long festival.
07 November 2023
The BPS Psychology Careers Festival got underway yesterday as a sold out cohort of 1800 delegates were treated to the first day of expert talks, presentations and discussions.
The festival began with an opening ceremony at 10am where BPS Careers Manager Natalie Billing was joined by keynote speaker Dr Marianne Trent speaking about her career journey.
From there delegates on the innovative Remo platform could choose from five different stages – the Main Stage, Pathways Stage (diving deeper into specific psychological professions), Inspirations Stage, Learning Stage and Local Stage. You can view the full programme online here.
Monday's highlights included a workshop on 'The importance of work experience and transferrable skills' hosted by The University of Liverpool, a session on the interaction between psychology and influencer marketing with Dr Alan Gray (pictured), and 'Maths anxiety and women in STEM and scholarship opportunities, with Khudaija Ashfaq Ahmad.
Many delegates are undergraduate or postgraduate students, or early career psychologists, but there are also sessions for those who are considering studying psychology. An event called 'My super mind!', run by the BPS's North West Branch on the Main Stage, was held for GCSE and A-Level/Highers students, helping students think about where studying psychology can lead.
Quotes and highlights from speakers, as well as daily highlights are being tweeted from the @BPSStudent X account – follow their stream to keep up to date with what's happening hour to hour, and tag them in your posts to share your views on what's happening at the festival.
One quote of the day came from Sindi Mvubu (pictured), children's social worker at Shropshire and Frontline, who spoke passionately about psychology and social work on the Inspirations Stage:
"My job is important because we are the voice of the child. In all the busyness and pressure we all face, the child can sometimes be forgotten and ignored. When the above and much more is happening in families we come in to help. To make sure the children are safe and happy."
The BPS Psychology Careers Festival runs until Saturday, and celebrates everything that is great about careers in psychology. It includes talks and presentations, discussions about career paths and access to expert advice on how to kick-start your career.
Tickets on our online platform are sold out, but you can still buy a special price livestream ticket via YouTube Live to get access to all sessions.