Business Studies and Psychology

Business studies and psychology is a degree that brings together two disciplines which illuminate each other in productive ways. Business studies provides the analytical frameworks for understanding how organisations function, develop strategy, manage people and create value in commercial and non-commercial contexts. Psychology provides the scientific understanding of why people think, feel and behave as they do, individually and collectively.

The combination is particularly powerful because so much of business ultimately rests on understanding human behaviour: consumers decide what to buy, employees decide how hard to work, leaders decide how to motivate teams, and negotiators decide how to reach agreement, all of which are fundamentally psychological as well as commercial questions.

At the University of Stirling, this four-year degree with a year abroad combines rigorous business study with a thorough grounding in psychological science. You will study strategic management, marketing, organisational behaviour, finance and entrepreneurship alongside cognitive, social, biological, developmental and clinical psychology, building the quantitative skills, research methods and conceptual frameworks that both disciplines require. A year abroad gives you the opportunity to study at a partner institution overseas and to develop an international perspective on both business and human behaviour in different cultural and commercial contexts.

Stirling's environment, with its strong research cultures in both business and psychology, means you will engage with live research questions rather than only settled knowledge, and the combination develops both analytical and interpersonal capabilities that are valued across many sectors.

Graduates go on to careers in human resources, organisational development, consumer behaviour analysis, market research, management, recruitment, business psychology (with further training), the civil service, health and social care management, and many other fields where understanding people and managing organisations are both relevant. Further study in psychology, business psychology or management is also a common route.