Fostering Generativity Across Your “Career Course”

GSA’s Generativity and Aging Interest Group (one of our newest) recently hosted a webinar titled “Generativity in a Gerontological Context.” It’s available for viewing on our GSA Enrich learning platform and I encourage everyone to check it out.

Given the nature of gerontological research, practice, and education, it’s my feeling that every GSA member should be interested in generativity, both professionally across their career course and personally across their life course. When I think about the role of professional membership societies, I see generativity at the core of everything we do.

Broadly defined, generativity is the concern for establishing and guiding the next generation. You are building a bridge to the future when you help the next generation of scholars who will carry the field of gerontology forward.

I’ve witnessed firsthand how meaningful it is when members of GSA’s Emerging Scholar and Professional Organization work to help fellow junior scholars get established in the field. And we regularly see GSA members, throughout their careers, take on leadership and mentoring roles at their institutions and in the Society.

These are vital roles and the new webinar touches on how generativity manifests in our professional and personal lives. If mentors and colleagues have made a difference in your career, you can be generative by “paying it forward” through support for the next generation.

Take a look at the volunteer opportunities currently open to GSA members. And consider meeting the needs of our emerging scholars through a contribution to a GSA Section Emerging Scholars Fund dedicated solely to travel grants to participate in the GSA Annual Scientific Meeting. Consider what a difference this can make in the career course of both you and those who follow you!