30: Steven O. Roberts, PhD – Recently Promoted and Tenured Associate Professor of Psychology Shares his Journey, Experiences, and Advice

Masters in Psychology Podcast

Imagine folding clothes in your New York apartment anxiously awaiting the vote regarding your promotion and tenure at Stanford University. Dr. Steven O. Roberts was on sabbatical this past year and recalls seeing a missed call from the Chair of the department of psychology. In this podcast, Dr. Roberts shares his academic and professional journey leading up to the point where he recently received the news that he was granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. When recalling how he found the field of psychology, Dr. Roberts states “the field of psychology just resonated with me” and “I’ve always loved just human behavior and, you know, why people do the things they do? Why do I do the things that I do?” During our discussion, Dr. Roberts shares his experiences at Borough of Manhattan Community College and how he received a scholarship to attend New York University where he received his bachelor's degree in applied psychology. Interestingly, he wasn’t planning on applying for the scholarship, however, a good mentor of his kept encouraging him to apply. Throughout this podcast interview, Dr. Roberts reveals that if it wasn’t for all of his friends and mentors, he wouldn’t be where he is now. During his senior year at NYU, he participated in a research program at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill called Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (MURAP) which gave him an opportunity to work with Enrique Neblett who received his PhD from Michigan. He explains that while he was working with Dr. Neblett for 2-3 months, he had a taste of the “Blue Michigan Kool-Aid” and realized that all of the research he wanted to do was coming out of Michigan. He also recalls that Michigan produces more black PhDs than any university in the country, except for Howard University, which is an HBCU. Therefore, our discussion transitioned to how he ended up at the University of Michigan. After sharing some fond memories of attending the University of Michigan and advice for those interested in the field of psychology, he shares how he found the opportunity to work as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Stanford University immediately following graduation. Among other things, he shared a resource that he looked at and refreshed every day called Psychology Job Wiki which is a crowdsourced site that provides information to potential applicants about the open academic job opportunities in the field of psychology. Throughout our discussion, Dr. Roberts shared useful suggestions and advice for students interested in psychology and as well as advice for those beginning their professional career in the field of psychology including making it a priority to spend time writing every day. He also shares what a “typical” day looks like as an Associate Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Though his days may vary, he admits that the thing that is consistent across all of his days is that he writes every day, typically in the morning. He states “before all the other stuff that I have to do that’s going to take away my time, I know that for me, writing is the most important, and my favorite part of the job.” When asked what his favorite term, principle, or theory was, he stated that the fundamental attribution error, which was coined by Lee Ross who was in his department and who passed away last year, applies to many aspects of life. Later in the podcast, Dr. Roberts also said that he enjoys and values a principle called “The Overview Effect” which is the phenomenon which describes the psychological effects astronauts experience after traveling in space. Dr. Roberts is a unique individual with an interesting journey to share. I hope you enjoy the podcast and I can’t help but think that the world would be a better place if all of us experienced “The Overview Effect.” Connect with Dr. Steven O. Roberts: Faculty PageConnect with the Show: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn