Editor’s Column: On the Cusp of Activism—and, Now, Empowered

./Steven Toaddy

Forgive my propensity to wax poetic. Not just here, but in general. Please.

But for here, specifically: It seems that circumstances both within and without SIOP have conspired to make it possible for everyone who wants to get involved in changing our society and/or our Society to, indeed, and perhaps finally, do so. From the leadership of, particularly, Eden and Georgia, to the expansion of the Portfolio Officers to include a new and (presently) rather tall one, to the timely and forward-thinking work of our Foundation and the donors that support it, to articles about opportunities to improve the world and/or the experience of newcomers to SIOP Annual, to (two!) data-driven calls to be more accepting of different forms of I-O instruction (this one and this one), to recent demonstrations and the murders and unrest that preceded them, to a (literally) teeny tiny little virus that seems to be causing (as an understatement) a bit of a stir, I cannot recall a time at which I felt more informed, motivated, and—and this is, I think, crucial—actually able to do something about this hot mess that we call 2020. Some of those things seem small, and others seem largely symbolic, and others seem difficult and scary, but they’re all right there in the open for me to try out. I would that you feel similarly—and do something with it.

As always, I’m grateful to the many contributors who, depending on their personal circumstances, either meliorated their newfound isolation and boredom or pulled themselves away from their unexpectedly, suddenly overwhelming and chaotic lives to generate content for this issue of TIP. Along with other efforts of SIOP volunteers and Administrative Office personnel, you have available a great deal of information about what your colleagues and SIOP are doing in this time of separation, uncertainty, and exciting potential. In these (web) pages, you’ll receive tips on how to peer review better; to search for a job; or to absolutely destroy as a practitioner, cross-cultural researcher, or clever methodologist. If you’re hurting for a summary of and links to the content from the annual conference this past year, we’ve got that too (and see, again, this).

Another exciting development—starting this issue, the Administrative Office and a kind volunteer have collaborated to bring you the five focal articles as podcast episodes! There aren’t as many commutes today as there were a year ago, I think, but there sure is plenty of screen time; so why not take a break (and a jog or a stroll or, heck, a relaxing bath) and tune in to some nice TIP content?

You (and I, I’m sure) may think of SIOP predominantly as the sessions at Annual, but this issue particularly demonstrates that there is so much more to SIOP—and so much more that each of us, as a member of SIOP and of society at large, can be. I look forward to seeing what you make of all of this.

Until then,

./

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