From high-powered analytics to mental health services, Careers in Behavioral Sciences supports students interested in careers that analyze and influence human behavior. Students of all majors and class years are encouraged to get involved!
Explore a Diverse and Exciting Career Field
Behavioral science seeks to understand what drives human behavior and how it can be influenced in positive directions. Behavioral science encompasses a diverse and exciting range of career fields across the public and private sectors, including clinical psychology, advertising/marketing, mental health services, human resources, behavioral analytics, and social research.
Everything You Need for Career Success
Careers in Behavioral Science provides expert advising, employer connections, career exploration, and experiential learning opportunities to help students launch successful careers in behavioral science. Program resources include:
Expert Advising
Industry experts provide one-on-one coaching to help students explore their specific interests in behavioral science, prepare application materials for jobs and internships, and design a personalized path to career success. Students can schedule an advising appointment online through UChicago Handshake or e-mail Program Director David Lerner at dlerner@uchicago.edu.
Build Your Skills and Network
Careers in Behavioral Sciences partners with employers, faculty, and alumni to organize workshops and other opportunities that build students’ skills and knowledge. Sample programs and events include:
- Alumni engagement opportunities: previous events have featured alumni working as behavioral scientists, counseling psychologists, clinical psychologists, behavior therapists, licensed clinical social workers, researchers, graduate students, music therapists, and more!
- Employer Coffee Chat Series: sign up to connect with employers to learn about their work and how to build the skills you need to succeed
- Make Your Mark Signature Event: learn about the field of marketing, and how it relates to Behavioral Science, and network with employers!
To prepare students for internships and help them apply their classroom knowledge to workplace scenarios, Careers in Behavioral Sciences also offers a diverse range of experiential learning opportunities, including:
- Job shadowing
- Career treks to visit behavioral science employers
- Case competitions
Behavioral Science Competition
The Behavioral Science Competition develops students’ skills and enables them to find creative solutions to a complex, significant challenge. Following a talk and opening session organized in collaboration with an employer partner, students work in groups to propose solutions to a real-world problem using behavioral science approaches and methodologies. Student teams have the opportunity to engage with and present their designed solutions to leading industry experts.
Dewey Scholars Program
The Dewey Scholars Program is a selective cohort for students who show a strong interest in and exceptional promise for success in behavioral science. Named after prominent philosopher, psychologist, and educator John Dewey, the program provides special professional development programming and intensive advising to help students explore different pathways in behavioral science and achieve their goals. Students are selected and invited to join the cohort at the time of admission.
Gain Hands-on Experience
UChicago’s Jeff Metcalf Internship Program provides 4,000 paid, substantive internships each year across a variety of career fields, and Careers in Behavioral Sciences collaborates with a diverse range of employers to offer behavioral science internships.
Employers that have previously hired UChicago interns include:
- Behavioralize
- BehavioralSight
- BGF Children’s Therapy
- Booth School of Business Center for Decision Research
- Center for Asian Health Equity
- Center for Healthy Minds
- Center for Practical Wisdom
- Chicago Department of Family and Support Services
- Chicago Public Schools Office of Social Emotional Learning
- Clicksuasion Labs
- Digitas
- Evidn
- FCB
- Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN)
- IRI
- Metropolitan Family Services
- Newristics
- Nielsen
Learn More
For more information, please contact David Lerner, Program Director of Careers in Behavioral Sciences, at dlerner@uchicago.edu.