Anna Akerman Berman

I attribute my success to hard work and perseverance. When I set my mind to something, I do it. I think it's maybe just a personality trait, but I've always been a very driven person. I'm also, as a psychologist and just as a scholar and an intellectual, I love learning, and I love learning new things. I think one of the beautiful things about my job and what I've been able to do is constantly grow, because things change, and I've had to keep up with changing times. I think there's something really beautiful about growth at any age, and that life is a journey, but continuing to learn every day new things and keep my mind fresh and open has been such a gift. I really feel grateful for being where I am and having that opportunity, and to share what I know with others, because I actually really do believe, and as cheesy as it is, knowledge is power, and I want to empower people.

The best career advice I've ever received is to just go with it. It's okay not to know the ends, but to kind of trust your gut a little bit, take chances, and more than anything, take opportunities. I think a lot of times we don't realize the importance of relationship maintenance with people, and you never know when a relationship here might end up with a job later. I tell my students to keep those lines open, keep lines with me open, because I'm always eager to help anyone I can. I think that's important for the future generation to realize, and when I say relationships, I mean really relationships, like talking to people and engaging with them on a personal level, because that's really what it's about at the end, connectedness.

One of the things I'm starting to realize as a professor is that I'm a role model to young women who are entering the workforce and the real world, and sadly, despite the fact that it's 2026, it's still a man's world. I see that more and more with my interactions, particularly with colleagues. There are things that are expected of women that it doesn't matter for a man. Women are very much still dealing with an appearance issue that men don't have. A man can just put on a suit and talk, but a woman has to kind of present herself in a certain way or strategize her appearance. I think that's unfortunate, but I think that's a reality too. I think it's important to address that women are still paid less than their counterparts at institutions, and I think it's important to arm young girls with that information and let them know that as much as things have changed, a lot has unfortunately stayed the same.

I think there is an increasing awareness of the dangers that cell phones pose for our youth, but not quite enough. I also think that the recommendations that are being made by scholars in the field aren't always actionable or realistic, so my goal is to create more pragmatic solutions to help parents navigate the media space with their kids, because many parents complain about conflicts and arguments and fighting around the phone, and I experience it myself with my own children. I also feel like cell phones are quite dangerous and have been likened to other addictive substances, so I think debunking this idea that it's just normal and fine to have a phone in front of you all the time is really important, because it's actually quite unhealthy and has been linked to withdrawal effects like other addictive substances like tobacco or gambling. The dangers are far and wide, ranging from mental health issues to physical health issues to even longevity issues that we're not even aware of. I feel very passionate about it. I feel like kind of almost like a moral obligation to inform people about what I know, because I have this kind of unique experience having both been in these organizations in the early days when we were trying to get attention, and now all I'm doing is trying to get my kids off screens and reclaim attention. The irony is that I'm in a very unusual situation where I'm watching this kind of devil take over, but I was very much part of creating intentional engagement, but my goal was to educate, it wasn't to monetize.

I think it's important to have integrity, to be accepting, not to judge, and to try to understand where people are coming from. It's really important to me. And to be authentic and real. I think that's something that is very important to me, to present, to be authentic, to really engage on an actual level, not just a performative level.