Dear Careers (CAR) Division Members and Friends,
I am honored to serve as the Careers Division Chair in 2020-2021! When I was elected into the leadership track four years ago, I would never have guessed that I’d be taking on the role during a global pandemic that has challenged all of us professionally and personally. Over the past years, I have been grateful to work with an exceptional team that carries on the valued aspects of our Division, while evolving to meet the needs of our membership.
In 2019, Division Chair Jamie Ladge and Past Chair Scott Seibert identified goals from our recent Five Year Review – a periodic check-in with our membership to better understand gaps and priorities.
Goal 1: Improve Productive Interaction among junior and senior scholars
Goal 2: Improve Opportunities for Research Collaboration among Members
Goal 3: Provide Value to the Membership beyond the AOM Conference
Goal 4: Raise the Scholarly Prestige of the Division
Goal 5: Continued Efforts to Recruit, Engage and Sustain Membership & Sponsorship
Most of these goals have to do with building our Careers research community. Addressing several of these goals, we held our first Careers Community Conference in February 2020, graciously hosted by WU Vienna. The conference was a great way to bring together our community outside of the annual August conference in a location that is more easily accessible for many of our members (and attractive to many others…). Given the success of that conference, we intend to hold a similar conference in 2022 (let me know if your school wants to host!). Other initiatives included revising our award structure to better reflect the scholarly priorities of the Division, working on a mentoring program, and continuing our popular Careers in the Rough paper development workshops both at the annual meeting and also at mid-year.
In my tenure as Division Chair, I intend to retain these goals and their emphasis on community building. As a growing division, we need to make sure that we’re organized to implement our new programs, so I will work with the Executive Committee (EC) on an organizational design that will enable continued growth. I will also prioritize global inclusion with plans for a Regional Ambassador program, which will provide leadership opportunities for our many members around the world. Our highly global membership is one of our strengths as a Division; one that we can leverage for building an inclusive community.
I feel especially fortunate to look back at a distinguished line of past Chairs and to look forward to the energetic scholars and community-builders who will follow me on the leadership track. I hope that you will think about joining us, as a volunteer or by running for a place on our EC. You can always contact me or anyone one the EC if you would like to serve the Division or just have questions.
Thank you all for you do to keep our Division active and vibrant! I look forward to a great year ahead.
Gina Dokko
Division Chair, Careers Division