Career change: The Role of Transition Narratives in Alternative Identity Constructions
ISBN
9781786431714
Type
book section
Date Issued
2016-12
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This chapter addresses the question of why some people may be more successful than others at creating an alternative identity in the course of a career change. Taking a narrative perspective, the author draws particular attention to a variety of transition narratives which function as legitimizing resources for people to distance
themselves from previous self-concepts, while at the same time allowing them to experiment with new sources of meaning and to create alternative identities.
The analysis, of how former management consultants narrated the story of their career shift, focuses on four particular transition narratives(re-invention, alteration, re-enactment and stagnation) which help to account for some of the variation observed in career change experiences. The analysis also reveals a good indicator of how successful speakers will be in achieving alternative identity constructions in a new work environment: the radicalness of the career change and the contextual resources those speakers can call on to tell more or less compelling transition narratives. Thus we see that choices around a career change are dynamic and
relational, as they are socially constructed in dialogue with others.
themselves from previous self-concepts, while at the same time allowing them to experiment with new sources of meaning and to create alternative identities.
The analysis, of how former management consultants narrated the story of their career shift, focuses on four particular transition narratives(re-invention, alteration, re-enactment and stagnation) which help to account for some of the variation observed in career change experiences. The analysis also reveals a good indicator of how successful speakers will be in achieving alternative identity constructions in a new work environment: the radicalness of the career change and the contextual resources those speakers can call on to tell more or less compelling transition narratives. Thus we see that choices around a career change are dynamic and
relational, as they are socially constructed in dialogue with others.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
SHSS - Kulturen, Institutionen, Maerkte (KIM)
Book title
A Guide to Discursive Organizational Psychology
Publisher
Edward Elgar
Publisher place
Cheltenham
Start page
239
End page
262
Pages
23
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
250496
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
open.access
Name
Discourse book.jpg
Size
91.78 KB
Format
JPEG
Checksum (MD5)
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