Shyness and Social Anxiety
13Education and Career
Signiﬁcant social anxiety can have an impact on a person’s education and career. 
It can affect the types of courses you take in school and the types of jobs you might 
accept. It can also affect job performance as well as your enjoyment of school or work. 
Consider the following case examples:
UÊNaveen turned down a promotion at work that involved signiﬁcant super -
visory responsibilities, including chairing a weekly staff meeting and train -
ing groups of staff. Although the promotion would have provided him with 
a signiﬁcant increase in salary, Naveen was terriﬁed of speaking in front 
of groups, and he couldn’t even imagine being able to lead the weekly 
meetings.
UÊRuth dropped out of college partway through her third year. As a fresh -
man and sophomore, Ruth had been able to be anonymous in her large 
classes. However, when her classes became smaller in her junior year, she 
felt increased pressure to participate in class. She began avoiding her lec -
tures and eventually left school.
UÊLen dreads going into work each day. He is terriﬁed to speak to his cowork -
ers and avoids speaking to his boss at all costs. Although he never misses 
work, Len keeps the time he must talk to others at a minimum. He rarely 
takes a break for fear that others will ask him to have lunch or to spend their 
breaks with him.
UÊCheryl has been out of work for two years. Although she often hears of jobs 
that might be interesting, the thought of having to go through a formal inter -
view is completely overwhelming. On several occasions she has arranged for