Virtual Workshop: "Is passion a trap? Avoiding pitfalls and empowering employees across a range of work motivations" with Erin Cech

The career advice to “do what you love” is everywhere. Preferring colleagues and employees who are passionate about their work seems obvious and unproblematic. Yet using passion as a basis for finding jobs and evaluating workers isn’t all it's cracked up to be. Sociologist Erin Cech will draw on her research on “the passion principle” to lead a dynamic workshop for the Lab, exploring why employers and employees are so drawn to the idea of “following your passion” and the insidious ways the passion principle can marginalize and exclude many workers, especially first-generation professionals. Employees who pursue jobs or advancement out of economic necessity may be shamed for lacking passion. And, for passionate workers, prioritizing passion can be accompanied by existential risks to a core part of their sense of self. The workshop will help participants identify places where the passion principle creates trouble for workers, and actions their organizations can take to address them.

This workshop will provide research data, reflection exercises, and discussion opportunities to bring back to your organization to diversify hiring practices and reward/incentivization norms.

EVENT DETAILS

Event: Virtual Workshop: "Is passion a trap? Avoiding pitfalls and empowering employees across a range of work motivations" with Erin Cech

Date: Tuesday, October 1st, 2024

Time: 9:00 -10:00 am PST (12pm EST)

If you need a disability-related accommodation, such as live captioning, please contact us at email: womensleadership [at] stanford.edu (womensleadership[at]stanford[dot]edu). Requests should be made by Monday, September 16th.