Life continually presents people with opportunities to make decisions that influence “where we are” and “where we’re going.” When combined with external forces such as how we are viewed by peers, the workplace structure, and gender or racial bias, a sense of “fit” emerges.
LSA Psychology Professor Jacquelynne Eccles researches these processes through subject interviews, longitudinal studies and interdisciplinary projects. She will present “Right Where I Belong,” the 29th annual Distinguished LSA Senior Faculty Lecture, at 4:10 p.m. April 2 in Rackham Amphitheatre.
Eccles’ interest in gender and achievement studies began early in her career, and by the 1970s she was researching why girls weren’t going into math and science. During this time, she developed the Expectancy-Value Model and uses it today as a basis for her expanded research into developmental and socialization studies. She says about her own “fit” in life, “This lecture comes at a perfect time for me as a way to thank the University for the opportunities I have had. The work I do is a great journey, and one of the best things about it is it’s a work in progress and I can continue to learn and grow while experiencing great contentment at the same time.”
Eccles also has other projects on the horizon. “This research area keeps growing. The thing that surprises me is how strong our findings are. We keep expanding our model and, in doing so, create other avenues for research. For instance, we are now looking into ways to incorporate Eastern philosophy into the equation.”
Eccles says she is excited about her collaboration with the Mind & Life Institute, which has as its honorary chairman the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. Eccles says she looks forward to meeting the Dalai Lama next month when he is in Ann Arbor.
“We are looking for ways to incorporate a secular approach to a meditative contemplation of self-assessment,” she says. “People who meditate, pray, practice yoga — whatever produces that contemplative calm or present-mindedness within — tend to be happier and feel more at peace with their fit. If we can bring this into education, at all levels, it will go a long way toward happier and more peaceful people.”
Eccles is the Wilbert McKeachie Collegiate Professor of Psychology, Women’s Studies and Education at LSA, as well as a research scientist at the Institute for Social Research.
Presenting the Distinguished Senior Faculty Lecture is an honor bestowed upon a faculty member at LSA who is recognized as an accomplished scholar in his or her discipline. The lecture also seeks to highlight the strengths of a liberal arts education and to allow the chosen lecturer to highlight his or her own research. Traditionally, the Distinguished Senior Faculty Awards rotate between one of the three divisions of the college: humanities, natural sciences and social sciences.
For more information on the lecture, contact Anne Hart, senior events manager at LSA, at (734) 615-6449 or e-mail [email protected].
