February 18, 2021

3:00-4:00 p.m. ET

Open to Consortium members

Anyone interested in attending who have yet to join the Consortium, please contact cpo-consortium@umich.edu for more information.


Mari Kira
Assistant Research Scientist and Lecturer,
Department of Psychology
University of Michigan

About the Session

Psychological growth can take many paths. Positive life experiences tend to strengthen our sense of self and draw the best out of us, while adversarial life experiences require us to stop and rethink our lives, and may eventually bring about transformations in who we are and result in strengthened, enriched selves. In the midst of the various troubles caused by the current pandemic, it may seem premature or insensitive to look for silver linings, but the struggle of making through the losses, upended daily routines, and changed lives may eventually help us grow.

In this webinar, we will consider the process of adversarial psychological growth and recognize individual and collective practices that may support us not only cope with the pandemic related life and organizational changes, but also grow as individuals and communities.

About Kira

Mari Kira’s academic career spans two continents and four countries. Currently, she is an assistant research scientist and lecturer at the Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, where she teaches organizational psychology, and a docent of organizational behavior at the Aalto University School of Science, Finland. Earlier, she worked as a senior researcher in the Work and Organizational Psychology group at Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Germany, and she wrote her PhD thesis at Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. Kira’s research focuses on sustainable work, i.e., on work that promotes the growth of employees’ personal and professional resources.

While adding to individuals’ psychological well-being and resilience, sustainable work also contributes to human development required when facing the present ecological, social, and economic sustainability challenges. In her research, Kira has conceptually modeled sustainability in contemporary work organization and empirically explored the conditions for sustainable work. Her current research focuses on identities at work and how both identity affirming work experiences and adversities challenging identities can foster employees’ psychological growth and sustainability. Mari Kira is a member of the editorial board of Human Resource Management Review.

Interested in attending this webinar and not yet a Consortium member? Contact us to learn more at cpo-consortium@umich.edu.