Ever thought about a career in forensic sciences or criminology? Why not choose both?

Former Murdoch student Elsie Beales tells us about her experience studying both criminology and forensics, including the unique perspective it’s given her, and her advice for future students.

Why I chose to study criminology and forensics

I’ve always had a very broad interest in science and biology. I didn’t really know what particular job I wanted though. I just knew forensics was interesting to me.

The fact that it has such a broad application was attractive to me. When you study forensics, you become a forensic scientist, but you don’t become something so specific that you shoebox yourself in.

There are always opportunities to innovate and develop your career depending what your interests are. 

My experience studying both criminology and forensics

Initially, I was more interested in criminology. I was more interested in the legal aspects behind the crimes and how it goes more into the psychology of the individual and perpetrators.

It was a really good combination to have the criminology background while I was doing the forensics, so you would see the outcome of crimes in the forensics units and you’d learn more about how you got to that point through the criminology units.

Doing the two degrees in combination really gave me a well-rounded approach and good context for understanding both aspects better.

What I enjoyed most about studying at Murdoch

Studying at Murdoch was really great. I enjoyed it because the campus is really beautiful. 

It sounds a little bit cheesy but being connected with nature  is quite important to me. The fact that there is a lot of natural vegetation around helps me to relax and feel more comfortable around campus.

Flexible learning and supportive lecturers

I’ve found that all of the staff that I’ve had to reach out to for support have been very helpful. I’m someone who suffers from quite severe mental health issues and whenever I’ve wanted support with that, I’ve been able to get really solid advice about my current situation and how to move forward, while staying in the program at Murdoch and being able to go at my pace that’s comfortable for me.

How work experience helped prepare me to become job ready

I found the practical activities that we did through the forensics program quite engaging. There are different lab activities that we were involved in. They were quite long but they were good because they gave you a real idea of the sort of work that would be involved if you were to follow that pathway when you graduated. So it gave you that real life experience that you could take into a career.

My advice for future students

Make sure to really get yourself involved at the university.

Engage with your peers, engage with your mentors and talk to your lecturers and tutors, because that’s really the way to get the most out of university.

If you just go to learn the content and then leave, you’ll get a degree but you’ll just have the knowledge and you won’t have the experience and connections that are part of it.

Think a career in criminology and forensics is for you? Find out more about our double degree in Bachelor of Criminology / Bachelor of Science (Forensics Biology and Toxicology).