Book contents
- Reflections from Pioneering Women in Psychology
- Reflections from Pioneering Women in Psychology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Hardly a Straight Line
- Chapter 2 Challenging Paradigms
- Chapter 3 From Young and Naïve to Old and Experienced
- Chapter 4 Being the Change You Want to See in the World
- Chapter 5 Accidental Professor
- Chapter 6 Finding a Place and Changing the Space
- Chapter 7 The More You Do, the Better It Gets
- Chapter 8 Happily Ever After
- Chapter 9 Love and Work
- Chapter 10 Overcoming Obstacles and Thriving
- Chapter 11 Out of the Box
- Chapter 12 Stress Has Been Good to Me
- Chapter 13 On Pioneering at Northwestern University… With a “Village” of Supports
- Chapter 14 Against All Odds
- Chapter 15 Tricked by Memory
- Chapter 16 Doing Psychology in Unsettled Times
- Chapter 17 Overcoming Obstacles
- Chapter 18 Knocking on Doors that Opened for Me
- Chapter 19 Paths Unexpected, but Rewarding, during an Academic Journey
- Chapter 20 Reflections on an Improbable Journey
- Chapter 21 The Delicate Art of Balancing Serendipity and Planfulness in an Academic Career
- Chapter 22 A “Skin in the Game” Scaffolded Career Path
- Chapter 23 A Wonderful Journey Along an Unforeseen Path
- Chapter 24 Choosing Both
- Chapter 25 Identity and My Life Story in Psychology
- Chapter 26 Doing What Matters: A Framework for Academic Success
- Conclusion
- Index
- References
Chapter 21 - The Delicate Art of Balancing Serendipity and Planfulness in an Academic Career
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 April 2022
Book contents
- Reflections from Pioneering Women in Psychology
- Reflections from Pioneering Women in Psychology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Hardly a Straight Line
- Chapter 2 Challenging Paradigms
- Chapter 3 From Young and Naïve to Old and Experienced
- Chapter 4 Being the Change You Want to See in the World
- Chapter 5 Accidental Professor
- Chapter 6 Finding a Place and Changing the Space
- Chapter 7 The More You Do, the Better It Gets
- Chapter 8 Happily Ever After
- Chapter 9 Love and Work
- Chapter 10 Overcoming Obstacles and Thriving
- Chapter 11 Out of the Box
- Chapter 12 Stress Has Been Good to Me
- Chapter 13 On Pioneering at Northwestern University… With a “Village” of Supports
- Chapter 14 Against All Odds
- Chapter 15 Tricked by Memory
- Chapter 16 Doing Psychology in Unsettled Times
- Chapter 17 Overcoming Obstacles
- Chapter 18 Knocking on Doors that Opened for Me
- Chapter 19 Paths Unexpected, but Rewarding, during an Academic Journey
- Chapter 20 Reflections on an Improbable Journey
- Chapter 21 The Delicate Art of Balancing Serendipity and Planfulness in an Academic Career
- Chapter 22 A “Skin in the Game” Scaffolded Career Path
- Chapter 23 A Wonderful Journey Along an Unforeseen Path
- Chapter 24 Choosing Both
- Chapter 25 Identity and My Life Story in Psychology
- Chapter 26 Doing What Matters: A Framework for Academic Success
- Conclusion
- Index
- References
Summary
Planfulness, goal setting, and hard work determine the course of one’s career, as do accident, opportunity, and luck. Career advancement and satisfaction depend on managing these two apparently opposing forces. Serendipity, seizing unexpected opportunities to initiate a new research pathway, and planfulness, thoughtful mapping out of a research program, are intrinsic to determining one’s professional pathway. In this chapter, I offer thoughts about how to use serendipity wisely, and how not to be paralyzed by planfulness through considering when and why planfulness and serendipity paid off or not. Among my conclusions, (1) serendipity takes one in unexpected directions; and serendipity does not always feel like opportunity; (2) there is no way to predict what exactly will work out or not. As in the stock market, past performance is not an indicator of future performance, and (3) timing is not everything, but it plays an oversized role.
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- Reflections from Pioneering Women in Psychology , pp. 268 - 279Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022
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