Identity Aspirations Research Articles

The motivations and identity aspirations of university students of German: a case study in Australia

Abstract In the English-dominated field of L2 motivation, there is a need for more research on learners of languages other than English. This is particularly important in English-speaking countries, where issues involving the recruitment and retention of language students are pressing. This study discusses the main qualitative findings of a study on the motivations and identity aspirations of university students of German in Australia. The findings obtained through a questionnaire (n = 86) are complemented by in-depth interviews conducted with a small sample of respondents (n = 5). The study shows that learners of German are instrumentally, integratively and intrinsically motivated and wish to shape identities as international professionals with unique linguistic skills (Exotenmotiv, see Riemer 2006), tourists and anti-tourists, bilingual speakers in a monolingual Anglophone context and educated individuals (Bildungs-Selbst, see Busse 2015). This research furthers our knowledge on this learner population in Australia and, more broadly, on Anglophone elective language learners, as well as students of German as a foreign language in other contexts. It also contributes to our understanding of the link between motivation and processes of identity creation and development.

Tracking Physical Literacy in Aotearoa New Zealand: concerns of narrowed curriculum and colonisation

ABSTRACT The concept of physical literacy (PL) has increasingly drawn global interest from practitioners, academics and policymakers within the fields of sport, health and physical education. Its value and appeal appear to lie in its potential to help refocus attention on the importance of human physicality and movement in enabling individuals to flourish and lead fulfilling lives Whitehead, M. (Ed.). (2010). Physical literacy: Through the life-course. International studies in physical education and youth sport. Routledge. In this sense, it overlaps with the aims of physical education (PE) and has increasingly been seen as having an influence on future curriculum development in many Western countries. In our view, there is a need to critically question this influence, particularly in the sense that the concept is not just redefining the nomenclature of the subject area; but also its nature, focus and outcomes. This need to critically question has also become more prevalent as neoliberal technocratic agendas have pushed for clearer measures of the impact associated with government expenditure, increased individual responsibility for health outcomes and the subsequent development of measurement tools and standards. The concern here, particularly for a country like Aotearoa New Zealand, is that the current curriculum risks becoming colonised by a concept, that fails to adequately address its national values, cultural identity and broad educative aspirations.

To leave or not to leave? Understanding the support for the United Kingdom membership in the European Union: Identity, attitudes towards the political system and socio-economic status

This article proposes a decision model of the British support for leaving the European Union (EU) that includes both identity aspirations, attitudes towards the political system and economic interest and test it on the Understanding Society 6th, 7th and 8th surveys. Current studies tend to interpret the British Euroscepticism as a combination of attachment to British identity, lack of economic opportunities and dissatisfaction with the political class. Using this approach where factors are additive, it is not possible to account for the substantial portion of socio-economically advantaged individuals which prefer to leave the EU, and for those who, despite their low attachment to their British identity, the relatively high educational level and satisfaction with domestic democracy, prefer to leave the EU. I use a theoretical approach which considers both economic and cultural considerations as rational considerations and conceptualise their interaction in terms of trade off. I use classification tree analysis to evaluate the relative importance of the main explanatory factors and of their interaction. The results show that the negative evaluation of the political system makes certain groups, which otherwise tend to support European integration, lean towards Euroscepticism. It helps to explain the Euroscepticism of those who are less attached to their British identity and of advantaged classes. The results have also showed that anti-establishment attitudes are not associated with disadvantaged socio-economic groups. The dissatisfaction with domestic democracy is relevant mostly for the advantaged classes, and the lack of political efficacy affects equally the attitudes of advantaged and disadvantaged groups. Last, disadvantaged groups’ support for European integration is driven by identity aspirations not by economic interest.

The route to your roots: New ethnic symbols in the age of the genome

AbstractThis study assesses the recent surge in popularity for genetic “ancestry” testing in the United States and what significance this has for Americans' use of symbolic ethnicities. Specifically, this study evaluates how commercial genetic tests allow for new engagement with a symbolic ethnicity and ethnic symbols (Gans, 1979). This study draws upon interviews, attendance of a genealogical conference and a virtual ethnography to support its arguments. The possibility of reification of ethnic, national and racial categories is discussed, alongside a discussion of the way genetic populations are technologically produced. This study draws upon the concepts of affiliative ethnicity (Jimenez, 2010); affiliative self‐fashioning (Nelson, 2008); geneticized identities (Roth & Ivemark, 2018) and Waters' Ethnic Options to argue that DTC genetic ancestry tests allow for a new type of play with ethnic symbols, resulting in cognizant engagement with symbolic ethnicities among Americans who take a genetic test with identity aspirations.

Construct Validity and Reliability of Human Capital Self-Assessment Questionnaires Instrument

This study was conducted to obtain the construct validity and reliability of Human Capital Self-Assessment questionnaires instrument among thirteen years old male and female students in Perak, Malaysia. Eighty students from the secondary schools in Kinta Utara and Perak Tengah districts were involved in this study. 100 questionnaire items were built that represent six constructs that are knowledge, thinking skills, leadership skills, bi-languange skills, ethics and spirituality, and national identity aspirations. Factor analysis showed only 83 items that’s represented the six constructs were accepted. The Cronbach-Alpha showed reliability coefficient for all constructs were between ? = .73 to ? = .92 with the total Cronbach-Alpha value of ? = 89.thus, findings showed that the Human Capital Self-Assessment questionnaires instrument have validity and realibility among the studied population.

Organizational identity threats and aspirations in reputation management

ABSTRACT Reputational threats are key to understanding public services’ behaviour. Previous research has viewed external performance assessments as an unwelcome imposition on public managers and a threat to organizational identity. Analysing the adoption of a self-imposed process of peer-led assessment by public managers in UK local government we show how the absence of performance assessment was seen as a reputational threat. Engaging proactively with the new voluntary assessments becomes an essential tool for active reputation management. We find that reputation does not only shape the responses to external performance assessment but the external performance assessment itself.

University entrepreneurship: how to trigger entrepreneurial intent of undergraduate students

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the elements and relationships that explain the entrepreneurial intent in university students, evaluating possible gender and degree differences. Design/methodology/approach The study is of quantitative approach, survey research design and cross-sectional method. The instrument used was a self-administered questionnaire answered by undergraduate university students enrolled in a public university. The sampling was stratified random, with a representative sample size of 734 cases. For data analysis and hypothesis testing, a confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model were made. Findings The results show that the entrepreneurial self-efficacy attribute largely explains the entrepreneurial intent, while all other variables, such as entrepreneurial identity aspirations and outcome expectations, play a less important role but maintain some influence. Research limitations/implications According to the findings of this research, institutions of higher education should direct efforts to improve the entrepreneurial skills of students, especially for women. And the creation of an institutional entrepreneurial culture should also be emphasized so that the university students are able to build an entrepreneurial identity. Originality/value The value of the research is the proposed integrative model that explains how to trigger entrepreneurial intent, shows the prominent role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a predictor variable of entrepreneurial intent and the role of entrepreneur identity aspirations and entrepreneurial self-efficacy as mediating variables. Additionally, this research identifies differences in the model of entrepreneurial intent derived from the variables of gender and degrees.

Becoming through doing: How experimental spaces enable organizational identity work

This qualitative study of a magazine publishing incumbent shows how organizational identity work can be triggered when organizational members engage in business model experimentation within the bounded social setting of experimental space. The study adds to the understanding of the strategy-identity nexus by expanding on the view of business models as cognitive tools to business models as tools for becoming and by understanding the role of experimental spaces as holding environments for organizational identity work. We show how an experimental space engages organizational members in experimental practices (e.g. cognitive, material, and experiential). As firms experiment with “what they do,” organizational members progressively confront the existing organizational identity in the following ways: they engage in practices of organizational identity work by coping with the loss of the old identity, they play with possible organizational identities, and they allow new organizational identity aspirations to emerge. In these ways, experimental spaces act as an organizational identity work space that eventually enables organizational identity change. We identify two mechanisms (i.e. grounding and releasing) by which an organizational identity work space emerges and leads to the establishment of a renewed organizational identity.

Practicing identity in emergent firms: How practices shape founders’ organizational identity claims

Establishing a new firm presents a variety of challenges to organizational founders. An important concern is the development of a set of clear and coherent organizational identity claims that can inform future strategic decision-making. While practices have been identified as important resources that individuals draw on during organizational identity change and formation, their role in initiating shifts in organizational identity claims has not been examined. In this longitudinal study of seven de novo organizations, we develop a process model showing how practices engaged in by founders when establishing their firms cue sensemaking about the organization’s identity by identifying identity voids, generating identity insights through interactions with outsiders, and identifying identity discrepancies through interactions with insiders. Founders interpret these sensemaking triggers as either opportunities or threats to their identity aspirations for their firms, leading to organizational identity work that generates new identity claims. We discuss implications of our model for scholars of organizational identity emergence and practice, as well as for founders of new organizations.

Blended Colors or Black and White? Avoiding Dichotomous Thinking in Identity and Entrepreneurship

Academy of Management ReviewVol. 44, No. 1 DialogueBlended Colors or Black and White? Avoiding Dichotomous Thinking in Identity and EntrepreneurshipTyler Wry and Jeffrey G. YorkTyler Wry() University of Pennsylvania and Jeffrey G. York() University of Colorado BoulderPublished Online:3 Jan 2019https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2018.0111AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsDownload CitationsAdd to favoritesTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail View articleREFERENCESAlvarez, S. A., & Barney, J. B. 2007. Discovery and creation: Alternative theories of entrepreneurial action. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 1: 11–26. Google ScholarBattilana, J., & Dorado, S. 2010. Building sustainable hybrid organizations: The case of commercial microfinance organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 53: 1419–1440.Link , Google ScholarBrewer, M. B., & Gardner, W. 1996. Who is this “we”? Levels of collective identity and self representations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71: 83–93. Google ScholarBurke, P. J. 2007. Identity control theory. In G. Ritzer (Ed.), The Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology: 1–5. Malden, MA: Blackwell. Google ScholarCardon, M. S., Wincent, J., Singh, J., & Drnovsek, M. 2009. The nature and experience of entrepreneurial passion. Academy of Management Review, 34: 511–532.Link , Google ScholarConger, M., McMullen, J. S., Bergman, B. J., & York, J. G. 2018. Category membership, identity control, and the reevaluation of prosocial opportunities. Journal of Business Venturing, 33: 179–206. Google ScholarFarmer, S. M., Yao, X., & Kung-McIntyre, K. 2011. The behavioral impact of entrepreneur identity aspiration and prior entrepreneurial experience. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35: 245–273. Google ScholarFauchart, E., & Gruber, M. 2011. Darwinians, communitarians, and missionaries: The role of founder identity in entrepreneurship. Academy of Management Journal, 54: 935–957.Link , Google ScholarGruber, M., & MacMillan, I. C. 2017. Entrepreneurial behavior: A reconceptualization and extension based on identity theory. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 11: 271–286. Google ScholarHitlin, S. 2003. Values as the core of personal identity: Drawing links between two theories of self. Social Psychology Quarterly, 66: 118–137. Google ScholarHitlin, S. 2011. Values, personal identity, and the moral self. In S. J. SchwartzK. LuyckxV. L. Vignoles (Eds.), Handbook of identity theory and research: 515–529: New York: Springer. Google ScholarHoang, H., & Gimeno, J. 2010. Becoming a founder: How founder role identity affects entrepreneurial transitions and persistence in founding. Journal of Business Venturing, 25: 41–53. Google ScholarIbarra, H. 1999. Provisional selves: Experimenting with image and identity in professional adaptation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44: 764–791. Google ScholarMiller, T. L., Grimes, M. G., McMullen, J. S., & Vogus, T. J. 2012. Venturing for others with heart and head: How compassion encourages social entrepreneurship. Academy of Management Review, 37: 616–640.Link , Google ScholarO’Neil, I., & Ucbasaran, D. 2016. Balancing “what matters to me” with “what matters to them”: Exploring the legitimation process of environmental entrepreneurs. Journal of Business Venturing, 31: 133–152. Google ScholarPan, N. D., Gruber, M., & Binder, J. 2018. Painting with all the colors: The value of social identity theory for understanding social entrepreneurship. Academy of Management Review, 44:213–215. Google ScholarPowell, E. E., & Baker, T. 2014. It’s what you make of it: Founder identity and enacting strategic responses to adversity. Academy of Management Journal, 57: 1406–1433.Link , Google ScholarStets, J. E., & Biga, C. F. 2003. Bringing identity theory into environmental sociology. Sociological Theory, 21: 398–423. Google ScholarStets, J. E., & Burke, P. J. 2000. Identity theory and social identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 63: 224–237. Google ScholarStets, J. E., & Carter, M. J. 2012. A theory of the self for the sociology of morality. American Sociological Review, 77: 120–140. Google ScholarStryker, S., & Burke, P. J. 2000. The past, present, and future of an identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 63: 284–297. Google ScholarThornton, P. H., Ocasio, W., & Lounsbury, M. 2012. The institutional logics perspective: A new approach to culture, structure, and process. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google ScholarWry, T., & York, J. G. 2017. An identity-based approach to social enterprise. Academy of Management Review, 42: 437–460.Link , Google ScholarZott, C., & Amit, R. 2007. Business model design and the performance of entrepreneurial firms. Organization Science, 18: 181–199. Google ScholarFiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 44, No. 1 Permissions Metrics in the past 12 months History Published online 3 January 2019 Published in print 1 January 2019 Information© Academy of Management ReviewDownload PDF

Future Direction of Identity Research in a Context of Political Struggle: A Critical Appraisal of Erikson

ABSTRACT Identity research has become a prominent field of study in the social sciences, but the conceptualization and measurement of the construct of identity remains contested. Although Erikson’s theoretical work has been extremely influential in directing theory and research over the past 50 years, the theory has elicited a variety of criticisms. In this article, we critically reflect on the application of Erikson’s theory in contexts of social and political struggle. We engage with Eriksonian theory in terms of the debate regarding the relationship between society and the individual. We develop a view of identities as historically contingent contextual discursive performances. Empirical material from two South African studies is presented to illustrate our argument about how the sociopolitical context of struggle and threat shapes and structures the identity aspirations and decisions of young people.

The Link Between Role Identity Aspirations And Opportunity Exploration And Exploitation

This study puts forward a nascent entrepreneur’s different role identity aspirations as drivers of specific new venture creation activities. In particular, we argue that nascent entrepreneurs’ inventor, founder, and developer role identity aspirations are linked to the degree to which they undertake opportunity exploration and opportunity exploitation activities to start their venture. A Poisson model with sample selection correction, performed on a random sample of 716 inhabitants of Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, largely confirms our hypotheses. As a result, this study has important implications for the literature on new venture creation, the literature on entrepreneurial opportunities and the identity literature, as well as for nascent entrepreneurs wanting to start a venture.

Genetic Options: The Impact of Genetic Ancestry Testing on Consumers’ Racial and Ethnic Identities

The rapid growth of genetic ancestry testing has brought concerns that these tests will transform consumers’ racial and ethnic identities, producing “geneticized” identities determined by genetic knowledge. Drawing on 100 qualitative interviews with white, black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, and Native Americans, the authors develop the genetic options theory to account for how genetic ancestry tests influence consumers’ ethnic and racial identities. The theory maintains that consumers do not accept the tests’ results as given but choose selectively from the estimates according to two mechanisms: their identity aspirations and social appraisals. Yet consumers’ prior racialization also influences their identity aspirations; white respondents aspired to new identities more readily and in substantively different ways. The authors’ findings suggest that genetic ancestry testing can reinforce race privilege among those who already experience it.

Erratum to: The impact of various entrepreneurial interventions during the business plan competition on the entrepreneur identity aspirations of participants

Erratum to: The impact of various entrepreneurial interventions during the business plan competition on the entrepreneur identity aspirations of participants

The impact of various entrepreneurial interventions during the business plan competition on the entrepreneur identity aspirations of participants

We intend to see how interventions during a business plan competition workshop impact the relationship between the personality, intellectual capital, entrepreneurial skills of the participants and their entrepreneur identity aspiration. INVENT is a nation-wide business plan competition in which university students from all over Pakistan (around 3000) participate. This is a 5 month process which involves a lot of training and mentoring during the various rounds. The interventions to promote entrepreneurship take place in the form of lectures, workshops, case studies, and mentoring sessions. The survey was conducted in two phases; the baseline survey was conducted during the initial workshops and the second survey was conducted towards the end of the competition and finals. In this paper, we evaluate the results of the baseline survey conducted during the initial workshops. To test the model, the constructs of entrepreneurial personality, intellectual capital, entrepreneurial skills and business program inputs were validated followed by factor analysis and structural equation modeling. We found out that the entrepreneurial interventions carried out in the workshops led to positive relationships between the variables and had a positive impact on the Entrepreneur Identity Aspiration of the participants.

Aspirations identitaires, complexité institutionnelle et légitimité

Le processus de concrétisation d’une aspiration identitaire dans les environnements complexes restant largement méconnu, les auteurs étudient ici le rôle de la légitimité dans ledit processus. Cette recherche s’appuie sur une étude de cas comparative de trois centres de culture scientifique, technologique et industrielle (CCSTI) qui partagent une aspiration commune à devenir des intermédiaires de l’innovation au sein de leurs territoires. Les résultats montrent que la construction d’une nouvelle identité organisationnelle oblige ces organisations à s’engager dans des activités de légitimation envers leurs parties prenantes. Ils permettent de mieux comprendre la manière dont les organisations gèrent la complexité institutionnelle.

Events Really Matter: Understanding How and Why Events Impact Organizational Behavior

The past 20 years has witnessed growing interest in studying discrete events. From early “diary” studies to theoretical models focusing on specific types of events (e.g., turnover, Lee & Mitchell, 1994; affective events, Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996) to more recent experience sampling-oriented methodologies, a variety of conceptual and methodological research have explored how events can impact individual and collective functioning. Recently, Morgeson, Mitchell, and Liu (2015) developed Event System Theory (EST), an overarching theoretical perspective which describes how and why events impact individuals and collectives. This symposium seeks to build upon EST and the growing body of event-oriented research and theory by gathering scholars from a number of different topic areas that are all studying event-oriented phenomena in different ways. In so doing, we hope to highlight the potential of an event-oriented perspective and advance research and theory in this domain. The Role of Displacing Work Events and Entrepreneurial Identity Aspiration Presenter: Scott Seibert; U. of Iowa Presenter: Jordan Nielsen; U. of Iowa Presenter: Maria Kraimer; U. of Iowa Adverse Events and Emotional Exhaustion Presenter: Timothy J. Vogus; Vanderbilt U. Presenter: Rangaraj Ramanujam; Vanderbilt U. Serving Proactively but Not Drained: The Energy Building Function of Positive Interactional Events Presenter: Nan Wang; National U. of Singapore Presenter: Zhaoli Song; National U. of Singapore Presenter: Jinlong Zhu; National U. of Singapore

Quand la droite nationaliste montre les minarets :la médiatisation ambiguë d’une initiative populaire en Suisse

This contribution addresses the anti-minaret referendum accepted by the Swiss people in 2009, using data drawn from the main television news program in French-speaking Switzerland. The analysis tries to point out ambiguities in the media coverage of this referendum and to show how increasing the Muslims’ visibility worked against their public recognition. The clarification of the concept of visibility pays attention to the ways in which certain actors (politicians of the nationalist right) force others (the Muslims of Switzerland) to appear in the public sphere, creating controversy and publicizing their identity aspirations. This investigation leads to an inquiry on the normative conditions necessary for democratic debate.

Finding Your Passion: Work and the Authentic Self

Finding Your Passion: Work and the Authentic Self

Young people's societal belonging and perception of social status within networks

The research explored young people's social status identification within social networks and how it influenced societal belonging, self-perception and future aspirations. The focus was on social status identity as it is anticipated that a person's social status identity affects an individual's perception of their social status to a greater extent than an actual socio-economic classification. Social status perception is created within the family's social and cultural capital, but also by agency in directing engagement in societal activities, social identity and future aspirations. Findings from the survey of 751 Australian high-school students living in geographically isolated and sparsely populated residential areas indicated strong relationships between social status identification and sense of societal belonging, involvement in community events and confidence in achieving future aspirations. The students who classified themselves as having a high social status identity felt more at home and engaged in the community and confident to express independent views.