Opening Presidential Plenary Panel Session
Thursday, 28 May 2026, 19:00 – 20:15 (7:00 pm – 8:15 pm)
The Future of Psychological Science and APS
Both the field of psychological science and APS are in flux. In this session, the panelists will confront the profound upheavals reshaping our discipline and outline a strategic vision for the future. Jamie Pennebaker (APS President) will provide a candid overview of the challenges facing the field. Mary Czerwinski, a cognitive psychologist who spent her career at Microsoft Research, will challenge us to rethink professional training to better prepare scientists for the thriving ecosystem of careers beyond academia. Finally, Rachael Jack, a computational neurocognitive psychologist and the new editor of Advances in Psychological Science Open, will detail the urgent need—and the accompanying challenges—of truly internationalizing our science.
Chair: James W. Pennebaker, APS President, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
Speakers:
Adapting to the Shifting Sands of Psychology and APS
James W. Pennebaker, APS President, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
Since the founding of APS in 1988, our methods, publication models, and core research questions have become almost unrecognizable. Today, we face a new reality: The traditional academic job market and funding models are in transition, while artificial intelligence and biotechnology are revolutionizing how we study human behavior. Culturally, the roles of universities and science itself are under scrutiny. Furthermore, academic societies are experiencing a striking paradox—membership and convention attendance are declining even as the public influence of our science grows. In this talk, Pennebaker will outline these systemic challenges and discuss how APS must actively pivot its mission to meet the evolving needs of its members and advocate for the discipline.
Mobilizing Psychological Scientists Outside Academe
Mary Czerwinski, APS Board of Directors Special Liaison, Microsoft Research and University of Washington, USA
Life as an industry psychologist has been far more rewarding than Czerwinski ever expected. She once assumed she would pursue an academic career, but family circumstances pushed her toward industry—and it became the best professional decision she could have made. Today’s job landscape makes this story increasingly common: An estimated 65–75% of PhDs in psychological science ultimately work outside traditional academia, many in research roles across technology, government, health care, and education. Students entering the field want to know what that path entails: which skills and courses matter, how to prepare, whether they can be happy, and what the tradeoffs look like. Industry offers freedom from teaching and grant writing, rapid mobility, and the chance to apply psychological methods that leaders don’t yet realize they need. It’s not without challenges, but for many early career psychologists, it can be a deeply impactful and satisfying direction.
Going Global
Rachael Jack, APS editor of Advances in Psychological Science Open, University of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Psychological science is increasingly global, yet many of the structures that govern how research is produced, evaluated, and disseminated remain regionally anchored. In this opening plenary, Jack will argue that APS now faces a defining opportunity—and responsibility—to support both a more global psychological science and its growing global membership. Drawing on her work with the APS Global Engagement Committee, the Global Psychological Science Summit, and the launch of Advances in Psychological Science Open, Jack will reflect on what meaningful global engagement requires in practice. Moving beyond symbolic inclusion demands sustained institutional commitment, patience, and long-term investment in people, infrastructures, and standards. Going global is not a short-term initiative or a branding exercise; it is a foundational challenge for the future of psychological science—and one that APS is uniquely positioned to lead.
