IWD2024 Interview with Professor Nadin Beckmann

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Visit Professor Beckmann's University profile here: Professor Nadin Beckmann, Durham University

We are thrilled to chat with Professor Nadin Beckmann, a mid-career researcher working at Durham University. A regular attendee at our bi-annual ISSID Conferences, we want to extend a huge welcome, and thanks to Professor Beckmann for taking part in our interview series of inspiring women in academic in the lead up to International Women's Day 2024.

What inspired you to pursue a career in your specific field of research?

Prof Beckmann: A fascination with our internal world and a strong interest in understanding the mind. I loved reading biographies as a child; psychology allowed me to pursue my interest in the workings of the mind from a scientific perspective.

What role does collaboration play in your work, and can you share an example of a successful collaboration experience?

Prof Beckmann: Collaboration is very important in my work. I particularly enjoy cross-disciplinary work; it can be challenging but also enlightening and inspiring, and ultimately highly rewarding. It is the multidisciplinary collaboration that makes meaningful contributions to our knowledge and understanding possible. The “real life” problems that we aim to address are not of a mono-disciplinary nature, to tackle them requires a multi-disciplinary approach. Much of my past and current work is built on strong collaborations with colleagues working in different fields within academia and beyond, such as management, leadership, education, engineering and system dynamics, statistics, and different subfields of psychology.

How has your background and experiences influenced your approach to research and your work environment?

Prof Beckmann: My early education was science-focussed which suited me and shaped my interests. I grew up in a world and society that was more oriented towards community values which I believe still influences my own approach at work and outside of work.

What is the primary focus of your current research, and why is it significant to your field?

Prof Beckmann: My key research projects focus on the dynamic, process-oriented approaches to personality and individual differences in work and educational contexts. My research investigates the malleable components of personality and cognitive abilities, including their momentary cognitive-affective and behavioural manifestations, and changes therein. I am interested in questions such as how personality and other individual differences should be studied to better understand their dynamic nature, why personality and other attributes vary over time, and how personality dynamics can be evidenced and personality change elicited when desired.

What do you believe are the emerging trends or future directions within your area of research?

Prof Beckmann: The field of personality dynamics is currently a very active area of research; one emerging trend I am interested in concerns the less intrusive, large-scale measurement of personality signatures in daily life, and how to model such data taking account of their complexity and temporal dynamics. Another question is how momentary experiences relate to longer-term changes in personality.

What aspects of your research are you most passionate about?

Prof Beckmann: I am passionate about studying malleability and change as it fundamentally reflects a conception of the person as an adaptable and flexible being who has the potential to develop and grow; it also means a (re)focussing on the person and their experiences as they are studied repeatedly over time taking a within-person perspective. Knowing more about the malleable components of personality and other characteristics affords opportunities to individuals to shape who they are and who they might want to be in the future. 

Can you share a significant challenge you've overcome in your career and how you did it?

Prof Beckmann: Unsurprisingly, one challenge has been balancing responsibilities across different life domains. Both my husband and I are academics, and it was important to us that we would both be able to progress in our careers and share caring responsibilities for our daughter equally. Keeping in mind each other’s interests and goals, an openness to opportunities (including, in our case, three transcontinental moves) and a willingness to adapt plans so that they work for us as a family – all have helped us to achieve a dual career balanced with family life, which I am very proud of.

How do you maintain motivation and enthusiasm for your work amidst challenges and setbacks?

Prof Beckmann: I try to make time for activities and tasks that are meaningful to me and align with what I value and enjoy doing. In the case of setbacks, I may take some time to let the emotions pass and then explore if something can be learned from the experience, rethink my options and plan my next steps. I learned that there are often many alternatives that (sometimes in hindsight) can be even better opportunities.

Looking back, what is one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of your career?

Prof Beckmann: That’s an interesting question. It seems to imply that there is something you could tell your younger self and perhaps things would have been different. My answer would be that careers take many different forms and paths; in my experience, there are no detours or shortcuts (at least not meaningful ones). Not to forget, luck is involved in careers, but also a willingness and courage to take unconventional steps. Having a passion for one’s field and work is important. Curiosity is probably one of the best motivators, as is genuine interest in learning and gaining new insights. This builds on openness, and also benefits from a fair portion of conscientiousness, as you would expect someone who studies personality to say.