Editor’s Column: Introductions, Gratitude, & Looking Ahead

Adriane M. F. Sanders

Hello dear TIP readers! I am so pleased to introduce myself in my first official issue as the new editor of TIP. I’m still pinching myself a bit. I have loved TIP since I first discovered it in grad school, and though my readership has waxed and waned (and waxed again) over the years as busyness has permitted, my fondness has never changed. In my early readership, it was a way to feel connected to others in training like me and learn about the field. With time, it became an easily accessible way to get a sense of what topics/issues were trending in our field. Later, as I became more interested and active in the SIOP organization, it was a place to stay informed via insider news and reports. And now, as I sit “behind the desk” of the publication, it feels very much like all three of these stages have come together. Once again, I feel that connection that originally drew me in, only now it goes much further, to include such a wide array of people and topics. It feels like new terrain and, yet, home at the same time.

Before getting too far along in this inaugural column, I must give thanks. Our former editor, ./Steven Toaddy, so generously spent the past year training me, gradually letting me take on a more active role in administrative and editing responsibilities, and continues to provide encouragement and support; thank you. I’d also like to thank everyone who contributed to or participated in the chair training sessions held at this year’s annual conference. By the time it rolled around (after the conference closing lunch), I was already in that euphoric-exhausted stage of the conference, but the presenters and facilitators kept it light and relevant; I learned so much! Though it’s not my first time serving on a SIOP committee, it is my first time “chairing” one and thus, participating in the annual chair training sessions. It truly felt like I had been granted a backstage pass to I-Opalooza—mysterious and exciting—and what I found was the most welcoming, supportive group of extended I-O family; thank you. And I can’t miss a chance to profess my unyielding gratitude and love (yeah, I said it!) for my immediate I-O fam. The ones who have been with me since my training at The University of Memphis. I was one of the lucky ones who found a strong network of peers in my PhD program and still count them as colleagues, collaborators, and best of friends to this day. And I absolutely would not be where I am today if it were not for the ongoing guidance, support, and friendship of my mentor, Ron Landis. I also want to give sincere thanks to the outgoing and incoming SIOP Presidents, Steven Rogelberg and Mo Wang, for helping me feel welcomed and empowered in this new role.

As with any leadership transition, one must evaluate the current landscape. In doing so, I’d like to share some immediate and future plans for the publication. First, I’d like to share my vision for TIP—it’s actually the same vision I have for SIOP as an organization and the authority on workplace psychology—to promote and embody a more diverse and inclusive culture in the practice, science, and teaching of industrial and organizational psychology. Adequately representing the full range of humans for whom we, as a discipline, work to support with science is simply best practice. I hope to promote DEI in the broadest sense—certainly in terms of racial and ethnic identity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability, but also for greater levels of program stakeholders (e.g., faculty, including adjuncts; students; and alumni), program types (e.g., master’s level; nontraditional, including online and hybrid; international; and I-O adjacent programs), and our practitioners in the field.  I know that our professional community cares about these issues and wants to see them rise to the forefront of our ideals as a discipline. As such, TIP will be joining the ongoing conversations and actions occurring in various grassroots and official efforts such as the I-O Program Directors Alliance (IOPDA), SIOP’s Anti-Racism Grant program, Diversifying I-O Psychology (DIP), and several of SIOP’s standing and ad hoc committees, just to name a few. The nature of TIP, in terms of mission and quick publishing timeline, puts it in a unique position to promote such efforts in real time. Additionally, TIP has the potential to reach a greater range of readership as it serves a different purpose than other journals in our field. I believe these are the greatest strengths of this publication, which can help to unify the movement towards the change we hope (need) to see. Examples of how we could progress on such a vision include prioritizing submissions by BIPOC and otherwise diverse researchers and practitioners, DEI-forward content, and encouraging non-DEI submission authors to address how their research/content may relate to or impact DEI efforts or marginalized groups within organizations or training programs. These are actions TIP has already begun to set in motion with this issue (see Oki & Johnson and Castille et al. for two excellent examples of these approaches).

In addition to this immediately actionable shift, I’d like us to also consider the future. That is, what is TIP already doing well (e.g., in terms of content, structure, frequency), and what could we do to leverage that goodness into a new era of the publication? What would TIP look like if we were completely open to change? That’s the question I want to pose to you, dear readers, and the SIOP membership. In a near-future issue of TIP, you will be asked to contribute to this new era by sharing your ideas. After all, we know the key to any organizational change is gathering stakeholder input and buy-in. I believe the vision of a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive publication will provide strong scaffolding for any future iteration of TIP. I’m excited to see what we come up with! 

To help realize and enhance these plans, I am fortunate to have an all-star team serving on the TIP Editorial Board. I reached out to my dream contributors and scored big! Thank you so much Lars Johnson, Clair Reynolds Kueny, Ho Kwan Cheung, Katrina Burch, and Jeanie Whinghter for making space for yet another volunteer role in your very full schedules. Every one of these Editorial Board members brings a unique set of experiences, expertise, and perspective to the publication. I look forward to their continued contributions in the coming issues. 

With time and the plans noted above, my goal as editor is threefold: to help our longtime readers continue to feel at home with TIP, while adventuring through new terrain together; for those who have taken a break from TIP to find new reason to travel with us again; and to increase the reach and awareness of TIP for new and yet-to-be readers to discover our publication and find a reason to join our expedition of all things I-O psychology. Let’s go!