该计划为学生在学术生活中的职业生涯做准备，这些职业主要是心理学，社会学或人类发展，各级政府机构的研究计划以及社区机构和私营企业的一系列计划。它并没有使学生成为临床心理学家，学校心理学家或家庭生活顾问。学生与他们的特别委员会协商，制定个人研究计划，该委员会由人类发展领域成员担任主席，但可能包括其他领域的教职员工。所有学生都必须完成至少两个学期的研究生级统计学培训和一个学期的教学。该领域还要求学生在参加入学考试之前完成博士前研究项目或硕士学位。
The program prepares students for careers in academic life, primarily in psychology, sociology, or human development, , in research programs of governmental agencies at various levels, and in a range of programs in community agencies and private enterprise. It does not prepare students to be clinical psychologists, school psychologists, or family life counselors. Students develop an individual program of study and research in consultation with their Special Committee, which is chaired by a member of the members Field of Human Development but may include faculty members from other fields. All students are required to complete at least two semesters of graduate-level training in statistics and one semester of teaching. The field also requires that students complete a predoctoral research project or master's degree before taking the Admission to Candidacy examination.