The Identity Work of Professionals Entering Management Roles: A Process Perspective

Abstract

In professional service organizations, tensions may derive from the coexistence of professional and managerial logics. The introduction of professionals into management roles is seen as a potential avenue to bridge these different logics and align professional and managerial interests toward a common goal. However, professionals entering management roles may be subject to pressures from administrators to adhere to the management logic, and from fellow professionals to stay true to the professional logic. Professionals in management roles need to navigate attempts at regulating their identity in different ways. This research project seeks to explore how professionals discursively handle identity tensions over time as they take on management roles. To answer this research question, I analyzed the discourse of 20 professionals who recently became managers within health care organizations. The findings suggest that professionals entering management roles perform five kinds of identity work: constructing conti...