Working Identities: Individual and Organizational Identities in Women’s Narrative Identity Work

Abstract

Work is an important setting for individuals’ identity work. As plural institutional contexts provide many possible courses of action, the organizational identity of one’s employer can be a means for people to express their identity. However, research on narrative identity work has so far neglected the role of organizational identity. This paper explores how individual and organizational identities are constructed in narrative identity work. Drawing on qualitative data from focus groups with women who pursue careers in technical fields, we find participants utilizing three key identities to make sense of employment and that organizational experiences as well as societal beliefs are used as resources to negotiate these identities. We also show how four forms of interrelations between organizational identities and individual identities are constructed through narrative identity work. Our study elaborates the concept of narrative identity work, and deepens our understanding of organizational identities and o...