Erin Cech used to be a passion evangelist and tell people to follow their passion when choosing work—that is, until she studied it.

She defines the Passion Principle as “prioritizing finding work that’s meaningful and self-expressive to you.” It includes an intellectual connection to work (a sense of finding it interesting); an emotional connection (a sense of finding happiness through work); and a personal connection (a sense of fit with one’s unique sense of identity).

In this myth-busting and enlightening talk, Erin Cech summarizes the results of her interviews, experiments, and surveys. She doesn’t conclude that caring about work is unimportant, but rather that we need to be very aware of the pitfalls of passion, such as burnout, overwork, self-exploitation and vulnerability.

Watch this compelling WFRN Big Ideas Talk with Erin Cech to learn about The Problems With Following Your Passion to figure out what YOU want your own relationship to work to be.

About Erin Cech

Dr. Erin Cech (she/her) is Associate Professor of Sociology and Mechanical Engineering (by courtesy) at the University of Michigan. Her research examines cultural mechanisms of inequality in the US workforce. Cech’s work includes The Trouble with Passion: How Searching for Fulfillment at Work Fosters Inequality (2021) and Misconceiving Merit: Paradoxes of Excellence and Devotion in Academic Science and Engineering (with M. Blair-Loy; 2022). Her research has been covered in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Time and has written for The Atlantic and Harvard Business Review. She was named one of Business Equality Magazine’s “40 LGBTQ+ Leaders Under 40.”