Answered Questions

Hello! Aside from the obvious commitments of time and money, there are many variables to consider including licensing requirements, scope of practice, potential jobs, personal interest, etc. I would begin with the APA itself. APA has a couple of helpful sites: Graduate and Postgraduate Education, gradPSYCH, an online publication,  and Careers in Psychology. All have useful information. I didn't find anything specifically comparing masters versus doctoral education (although you might!), but you can research information on both and complete you own comparison. In addition to searching masters and doctorate, you should try doctoral. The FAQ's in Graduate and Postgraduate Education might be particularly useful.

I would also check the Psychology literature linked from the Psychology Masters Programs LibGuide. In PsycInfo you can search DE "Graduate Psychology Education" AND doctoral. (The DE is important! Don't leave it out of the search.) Limiting the search to linked full text and the last 5 years yields 52 articles. None are explicitly on the pros and cons of doctoral education, but all are about doctoral education, allowing you to draw your own conclusions. Next you can change doctoral to masters. This change yields an article The delusion of exclusion: Masters psychology as minority which might be useful.

In Academic Search Complete, which is heavy with education literature, a search of DE "UNIVERSITIES & colleges -- Graduate work" AND psychology limited to full text and the last five years yields 137 articles. You will have to wade through educational psychology articles and other unrelated info, but you may also find something there.

Be wary of other websites. Given the topic, there will be bias in those that are trying to sell you an education.

Good luck with your research!