The trouble with passion: how searching for fulfillment at work fosters inequality (2021)
Probing the ominous side of career advice to "follow your passion," this data-driven study explains how the passion principle fails us and perpetuates inequality by class, gender, and race; and it suggests how we can reconfigure our relationships to paid work.
- One of Financial Times’ Best Business Books of 2021
Reviewed in Financial Times, Forbes, Administrative Science Quarterly,
Teaching Sociology, and College & Research Libraries
BUYING OPTIONS
Amazon.com (and Amazon.ca; Amazon.com.br; Amazon.de; Amazon.co.jp)
UK: Blackwell’s; Amazon.co.uk;
Australia: Booktopia; Amazon.com.au
New Zealand: MightyApe
PODCASTS & INTERVIEWS
🔈NPR: “It’s OK not to be passionate about your job” [19 min]
& Our most valuable lessons from 2 pandemic years [21 min]
🔈ABC Australia: “Love What you Do: The Problem with Passion at Work” [17 min]
🔈The Professor is In Podcast: “Ep 2:32 The Problem With Passion – Interview with Dr. Erin Cech” [34 min]
🔈Radio New Zealand - Sunday Morning: “Why Passion can be a dangerous thing” [24 min]
🔈The Zero Hour Podcast with RJ Eskow: Prof. Erin A. Cech: "The Trouble With Passion" [35 min]
🔈THINK - NPR Kera Radio Interview: "How Employers Prey on your Passion” [31 min]
🔈New Books Network: “The Trouble with Passion” [41 min]
🔈Science for the People: “The Trouble with Passion” [65 min]
🔈The Curiosity Hour Podcast: “Ep 202: Dr. Erin A. Cech” [51 min]
🔈Stateside, Michigan NPR Radio Interview: “Stateside March 29, 2022” [12 min]
🔈Building Psychological Strength Podcast: “Ep 333: The Trouble with Passion” [59 min]
🔈Woke AF Podcast: “The Trouble with Passion” [46 min]
🔈Your Working Life Podcast: “Your Working Life with Erin Cech” [21 min]
OP-EDS
The Atlantic: Loving Your Job is a Capitalist Trap
Harvard Business Review: Striking a Balance Between Your Passion and Your Paycheck
Nature: How a passion for research could hinder your career and exacerbate inequities in science
The Conversation: 5 Drawbacks to Following your Passion
MarketWatch: Opinion: Follow your passion is standard career advice. It can also threaten your financial security.
PRESS COVERAGE
Financial Times: Life, Work, and the Pursuit of Happiness
The Globe and Mail (Canada): Beware of the Passion Principle
Forbes: What’s the Trouble with Passion in Your Life and Career?
Insider: Anti-capitalism is flooding TikTok as young people question a life that prioritizes productivity over well-being
Business Insider: How Hustle Culture got America Addicted to Work
Fast Company: This is when the advice to follow your passion can backfire
Folha de S.Paulo (Brazil, em Português): Empresas nos EUA pagam até US$ 10 mil para conseguir contratar
Globes (Israel, בעברית): במרדף אחרי עבודה שממש תאהבו? זה המחיר שאתם עלולים לשלם
Yahoo! Finanzas (Spain, en español): Cuidado con caer en la peligrosa trampa de enamorarte de tu trabajo
stuff (New Zealand): Should we work for society’s benefit and follow our passions elsewhere?
Refinery29: The Dream Job is Dead. Long Live the Good Enough Job
To book Erin for a television or radio show, interview, podcast, talk, or book reading, please email Leah at Press Shop PR: leah@pressshoppr.com