ABSTRACT This study explores how English as a foreign language (EFL) tutors in China's competitive and challenging shadow education sector (re)construct their professional identities in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Drawing on semi‐structured interviews and reflective teaching journals, the study investigates Chinese EFL tutors' identity work in AI‐mediated tutoring contexts. The findings reveal three interrelated identity shifts. First, tutors reconstruct themselves from knowledge and skill providers to learning facilitators who guide students in analysing and refining AI‐generated materials for exam‐oriented tasks. Second, emotional and motivational support becomes a central dimension of tutor identity, as tutors respond to students' discouragement and uncertainty triggered by AI‐generated feedback. Third, tutors construct themselves as interpreters and evaluators of AI‐generated content, exercising pedagogical judgement to assess relevance, accuracy and alignment with assessment requirements. Across these dimensions, identity construction emerges as a key site of professional learning through which EFL tutors renegotiate expertise and sustain professional legitimacy amid technological disruption and market competition. The study contributes to research on language teacher identity and AI in education by highlighting how EFL tutors maintain epistemic authority in AI‐mediated shadow education.

ABSTRACT While existing research has examined bilinguals' language practices and cultural identities, less attention has been paid to how heritage language engagement develops across the life course, particularly in intra-Asian contexts. Addressing this gap, this study investigates identity negotiation and heritage language engagement among adolescents from Chinese-Korean multicultural families. Drawing on qualitative interview data, the analysis shows that heritage language engagement is a dynamic, socially mediated process shaped by developmental transitions, changing conditions of social recognition and key life events. The findings indicate that heritage language engagement and transcultural identity development are mutually constitutive, with language practices embedded in broader identity work. Multicultural settings supported hybrid identification and sustained engagement, whereas monolingual settings intensified identity tensions and emotional distancing. Mobility and educational transitions emerged as key turning points in how the heritage language was valued and enacted. Based on these findings, the study advances a Critical Life Course Perspective to explain how developmental trajectories, agency and structural conditions shape heritage language engagement over time. It highlights the importance of inclusive multilingual environments in supporting positive identity development among multilingual youth.

Purpose: This qualitative study examined the co-constructed mentoring stories of women administrators in K–12 public schools in New Jersey. Using a feminist lens, we explored how women in mentoring relationships experience, navigate, and make sense of their leadership and identity work within gendered systems. Design and Methods: Using narrative inquiry to capture the temporal, social, and contextual nature of experience, we co-constructed mentoring stories with participants through telling, listening, and restorying. Four dyads participated in the study; three were informal partnerships and one was district-assigned. All eight participants served in curriculum and instruction roles. Findings: Most women developed informal, bidirectional mentoring partnerships that created spaces for authenticity and identity work. Within these partnerships, women connected personally and professionally, generated innovative programs, and supported one another's growth. Mentors helped protégés navigate invisibility, embody leadership, and strengthen women's leadership presence in K–12 education. Implications for Research and Practice: Women need mentors who understand the realities of leading within gendered systems and who can also act as sponsors for career advancement. Because women's pathways often run through curriculum and instruction, providing formal mentorship for those entering supervisory roles is essential. Expanding supportive spaces to include male allies is also important for making structural barriers visible.

Historical sociolinguistic studies of the Irish abroad have examined both anglophone (Amador-Moreno, 2019; Amador-Moreno & Ávila-Ledesma, 2020) and non-anglophone contexts, including the Caribbean region (Brehony & Finnegan, 2019; González García, 2020). In the latter, however, most research has been conducted within the field of migration history, with little attention to language use. This paper builds on this scholarship by analysing the correspondence of Dublin-born enslaver and slave-trader, James Jenkinson Wright (1788-1845), who emigrated with his family from Ireland to the United States but spent most of his adult life in Santiago de Cuba. In the Caribbean country, James Wright became a leading coffee planter and merchant. His 37 surviving letters, written between 1833 and 1845, offer a rare insight into the discourse style, stance taking and identity work of this Irish English speaker. This study applies the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC-22) tool, specifically the Cognition category, to uncover patterns of linguistic involvement and assess how these contribute to the construction of Wright’s Irish diasporic identity. The findings show that Wright’s use of personal pronouns, mental verbs and memory-related lexis functions as a key resource for negotiating belonging and diasporic identity formation in his letters. By focusing on a non-anglophone setting, the chapter extends the scope of historical sociolinguistic research on Irish English and provides new perspectives on how identity is negotiated in Irish emigrants’ letters.

Capital and the disposable nature of the manufacturing industry drive the expropriation of artisanal labor, reshaping production relations tied to technique and the development of craftsmanship. These relations are transformed into fragmented technical roles, where workers lack holistic knowledge of what they produce. Against this backdrop, this study examines the process of labor expropriation among carpenters over recent decades. It identifies shifts in labor relations, manufacturing practices, and urban craftwork, as well as how these processes manifest in the city of Muzambinho, Minas Gerais. The analysis highlights the role of planned obsolescence and the erosion of artisanal worker identity, ultimately degrading the profession within a techno-scientific framework.

ABSTRACT An identity transition refers to changes in self‐concept that can result from professional or personal shifts. Although organizations increasingly support institutionally legible and culturally normative nonwork transitions, others remain professionally stigmatized or culturally unspeakable. This raises important questions about how employees navigate institutionally unrecognized nonwork transitions—such as reproductive loss—amid organizational silence. To investigate this question, I draw on 3 years of autoethnographic data spanning multiple losses and organizations. I find that organizational silence not only produces cross‐domain identity dissonance— a type of identity strain that arises when continuity is required in one domain despite profound disruption in another—but also creates conditions for agency to emerge. Embodied experience provides a channel for this identity work by drawing an anticipated self into the present and making the end of an anticipated transition difficult to contain across domains. This study advances identity transition research by offering new insights into how employees manage profound personal disruption in the workplace.

ABSTRACT Twenty years ago, Professor Beth Gaze exposed the failure of Australia's industrial and anti-discrimination laws to guarantee working parents access to quality part-time work. In the intervening two decades, we have seen significant legislative change and greater policy focus on the importance of advancing gender equality at work. Despite this shift, work-care pathways for parents in Australia continue to be highly gendered, with mothers overrepresented in casual and part-time work and often forced to trade job security, decent remuneration and status to access reduced working hours. Through an analysis of statutory entitlements and caselaw, this article examines the effectiveness of current legal avenues available to parents seeking to access quality part-time work. I argue that, despite reform, neither industrial law nor anti-discrimination law has managed to dislodge the primacy of the ideal worker norm or significantly improve conditions for mothers in part-time employment. The article concludes with an examination of why quality part-time work remains unattainable for many parents and the persistent barriers that law reform will need to address if it is to be effective.

ABSTRACT Incarceration presents numerous complications for identity management and interpersonal connection, though some digital platforms help negotiatethese challenges. Drawing from the retrospective heuristic of Communicated Narrative Sense-Making Theory, this study explores how incarcerated men use the romantic pen-pal website LoveAPrisoner.com to negotiate their identity, resist stigma, and construct resilient narratives. Through a thematic analysis of 125 male biographies containing self-authored identity descriptions, this study revealed three strategies of narrative identity construction: omitting, disavowing, and transcending. Findings revealed LoveAPrisoner.com’s utility for stigma-free narrative construction within incarceration. Practical implications highlight pen-pal and narrative platforms as low-cost, nonclinical opportunities to support identity work, rehabilitation, and stigma resistance. Theoretically, this work underscores the importance of narrative control for incarcerated individuals and the potential consequences of policies which restrict such platforms. Findings may guide practitioners, reentry organizations, and advocacy groups in understanding barriers to stigmatized disclosure and the narrative strategies used to manage stigma.

Purpose This study aims to examine how organisational socialisation unfolds for women seafarers within a male-dominated maritime industry. It explores how women navigate exclusionary conditions, adapt to organisational realities and sustain participation through identity work over time. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on Feldman’s (1976) stage-based organisational socialisation model, the study adopts a qualitative approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 18 women seafarers across ten districts of Gujarat. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to interpret experiences across anticipatory, encounter and adaptation stages. Findings Women’s socialisation in maritime work is a negotiation influenced by organisational unreadiness, gendered expectations and surveillance. It begins with recruitment expectations, involves scrutiny, emotional regulation and isolation. Adjustment encompasses behavioural changes and the redefinition of success. Identity work – through endurance, autonomy and informal recognition – is vital to persist despite structural exclusion. Research limitations/implications The study’s findings are based on qualitative interviews with a limited sample of women seafarers in Gujarat, India and may not be generalisable to all maritime contexts. Future research should adopt longitudinal and comparative designs, including multiple organisational perspectives, to examine how socialisation and identity work evolve across career trajectories and cultural contexts. Practical implications Maritime organisations should address gendered conditions by investing in gender-responsive infrastructure, transparent recruitment and inclusive leadership training to reduce women’s conditional acceptance. Ongoing inclusion practices will boost retention and diversify participation. Originality/value This research extends Feldman’s organisational socialisation framework to a gendered occupational context by reconceptualising adjustment as adaptation and highlighting identity work as a crucial outcome. It adds to organisational analysis by demonstrating how women maintain their involvement in exclusionary maritime environments.

Purpose More employees are pursuing education for career growth, yet research on the emotional impact of engaging in education while working full time is limited. Applying conservation of resources theory, we examine how the pursuit of education to progress one’s career affects stress. Design/methodology/approach Using longitudinal survey data from working adults pursuing education, we statistically test how educational engagement impacts stress. Findings The effect of pursuing education on stress was mediated by the acquisition of new resources (resilience) but not by the protection against resource loss (psychological detachment from work). We find that work identity plays a moderating role in this relationship. Originality/value This study advances research on career development by examining the mechanisms through which simultaneous engagement in the complementary roles of work and education impact employee well-being.

Abstract The rise of online multimedia resources in formal and informal learning offers new opportunities for language education and a new site for applied linguistics research. Rich data from Indonesian ‘teacher-YouTubers’ indicate their videos address symbolic language freed from the formal setting of a physical classroom, though shaped by the online environment. Teacher-YouTubers in this study take on the identity work of self and addressee reference in all sorts of ways; using standard forms which draw on the symbolic power of national policy, forms with regional, cosmopolitan stereotypic meaning, through to (awkwardly) humorous forms targeting student engagement. Statistical description of the corpus and qualitative analysis of stance-taking behaviours reveal that teacher-YouTubers model pronoun use beyond standard language forms and explore how pronoun choices impact meaning in different contexts. The pedagogical practices examined address the imperative of developing intercultural awareness while empowering students to both understand and negotiate the construction of stance to express their own identity. Results suggest the diverse identities and competencies of teachers may broaden and enliven the Indonesian language teaching space, from the classroom to curriculum development. This study also indicates that the stance framework combined with statistical analysis of language has potential to enable rich description of how language teaching, variation, multilingualism, and identity work interact in applied linguistics more broadly.

Abstract Whilst universities have long needed to balance competing demands, the situation seems to have been exacerbated in recent years, particularly in relation to funding, digital disruption and political interference. This article explores implications for the recruitment and development of higher-education leaders. Building on the concept of the ‘leadership pipeline’ we consider the passages that must be navigated on the way to becoming an effective academic leader, alongside associated (often competing) logics and identities. Through vignettes from an empirical study in a Danish university we illustrate the complexities of leadership transitions, leadership disconnections and logic misalignment in educational leadership. The discussion presents an ecosystems model that shows the interdependencies and interconnections between core functions of higher education and the internal and external context. The article concludes by considering implications for leadership recruitment and development, with a particular focus on identity work(spaces) and the need to embrace multiple logics. Through such interventions, it is suggested, it may be possible to foster the required levels of inclusion, collaboration and resilience in higher-education leadership to navigate the challenging path(s) ahead.

The contemporary higher education sector is increasingly characterised by escalating administrative workloads and psychological demands, particularly for sport lecturers who must navigate the unique dual pressures of practical physical instruction and rigorous academic scholarship. This research specifically addresses the critical objective of delineating the psychological mechanisms that precipitate or prevent job burnout within this highly specialised demographic of sports science academia. Utilising a quantitative, cross-sectional methodological framework, empirical data were gathered from a purposive stratified sample of 551 sport lecturers across multiple institutions, employing validated psychometric instruments including the Professional Identity Scale, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory, with subsequent analysis conducted via advanced structural equation modelling. The primary results unequivocally emphasise that a robust professional identity significantly and negatively predicts job burnout, whilst crucial findings confirm that work engagement operates as a substantial partial mediator, effectively translating the latent resource of professional identity into an active psychological buffer against emotional exhaustion. In summary, the conclusions strongly suggest that higher education institutions must strategically intervene to cultivate professional identity and foster work engagement to mitigate the specific "delayed detonation" of psychological exhaustion prevalent among sport lecturers.

This qualitative study examines the under‑researched intersection between workplace policies and the sandwich generation’s work‑life collision and associated mental health/productivity challenges among those simultaneously caring for children and aging parents. Using in‑depth interviews and organizational case study analysis, the study explores how current corporate well‑being initiatives often fail to address structural caregiving burdens. The study conceptualizes these experiences as a form of work‑life collision, highlighting how caregiver strain is shaped by organizational accountability systems (e.g., flexibility, leave, and disclosure practices). Thematic analysis reveals three critical gaps: (i) the mismatch between performative wellness programs and structural caregiving needs, (ii) corporate blind spots in recognizing non‑visible caregiver stressors, and (iii) uneven corporate accountability mechanisms that leave sandwich‑generation workers at heightened risk. Findings demonstrate that organizations that prioritize genuine flexibility (e.g., caregiver ERGs, subsidized eldercare) experience significantly lower turnover among mid‑career professionals. The study contributes to the HR policy and corporate accountability literatures by proposing a framework for caregiver‑inclusive workplace design and challenging the “ideal worker” paradigm that dominates corporate culture.

The work of Samad Vurgun, one of the prominent representatives of Azerbaijani literature, is of particular importance in terms of promoting national-spiritual values, patriotic ideas and humanistic principles. Not only artistic-aesthetic features, but also pedagogical content and educational ideas are widely reflected in his works. The spiritual formation of the younger generation, the promotion of values such as love of homeland, hard work, humanism and national identity are one of the main themes in the poet's poetry. From this point of view, Samad Vurgun's work is considered an important source that needs to be studied from both a literary and pedagogical perspective. The article analyzes pedagogical motifs in Samad Vurgun's poetry and dramaturgy, identifies ideas aimed at educating the younger generation in his works. Issues such as the image of a teacher, ideas of education and enlightenment, the spirit of patriotism and the protection of national values are widely explored in the poet's works. At the same time, the possibilities of applying these ideas in the modern pedagogical process are also considered.

ABSTRACT This article investigates how ideal worker norms were sustained and reshaped in a Big4 consulting firm during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on 25 longitudinal narrative interviews – conducted across three waves between 2020 and 2021 with partners, directors, managers, and analysts – the study examines how organizational actors experienced the shift to remote and hybrid work arrangements. While the firm’s ‘official message’ emphasized flexibility, inclusion, and work-life balance, interviewees described intensified project deadlines, heightened digital visibility, and expectations of constant responsiveness. By distinguishing between manifest narratives articulated in corporate communications and latent narratives embedded in everyday work practices, the analysis reveals how pandemic-induced digitalization reconfigured instead of disrupted ideal worker assumptions. Career progression continued to reward ‘hyper-availability’, informal network access, and participation in high-profile projects, disproportionately disadvantaging women, younger professionals, and employees in lower hierarchical positions. Integrating Acker’s theory of inequality regimes with scholarship on project-based organizing and intersectionality, the article demonstrates how project temporalities and client-driven demands create ‘exceptional’ spaces in which equality commitments are symbolically affirmed nonetheless practically suspended. The study contributes empirically by providing rare qualitative longitudinal evidence from an elite consulting context and advances theoretical debates on how inequality regimes are discursively sustained through narrative contradictions.

ABSTRACT The feminization of primary school has reshaped the professional norms and produced distinct tensions for male practitioners. In this single-case narrative inquiry based on interviews, participant observation and reflexive autobiographical material, the career of a Chinese male primary teacher is shown from initial training, examined via Connell’s theory of masculinity. The teacher’s account shows how his professional well-being is shaped by ongoing renegotiation between hegemonic masculine norms and the affective demands of pedagogy. To reconcile these demands, he strategically employed relational competencies and blended authoritative and nurturing roles, performing recursive identity work and emotional labour. His reconfiguration of masculinity eased some role conflicts but created new pressures on status and domestic responsibilities. These gendered practices are developed under structural constraints (e.g. credentialing requirements and institutional routines) that limit male teachers’ recognition. By centring the teacher’s lived narrative, the study highlights his agency in reshaping gendered norms in feminized workplace. Discussion emphasizes the need for organizational reforms and support for teachers’ emotional labour to foster gender-inclusive practices. Overall, the Chinese case echoes global patterns of occupational gendered segregation and suggests that recognizing masculinity as fluid and relational can advance gender equity in education.

A meta-analysis of parental burnout interventions.

Dynamic distance trajectory correlation for associating unsafe behavior with worker identity: A multimodal CV–RFID integration approach

Memorializes Anand C. Paranjpe (1936-2025). Anand was best known for his rigorous scholarship connecting and contrasting India's philosophical treatise on human nature with Western psychology. His excellence in articulating common themes between Indian and Western psychologies remains unparalleled. In 1967, Anand joined the psychology department at Simon Fraser University, Canada, as an associate professor. His 30-plus years at the university were marked by publications of several books, book chapters, and journal articles. Anand's 1984 groundbreaking book Theoretical Psychology: The Meeting of the East and West was followed by his seminal work Self and Identity in Modern Psychology and Indian Thought (1998), which is considered a gold standard for psychology curriculum in India's universities. He coedited The Handbook of Indian Psychology (2008) and later published Yoga and Psychoanalysis (2022). His last book Understanding Yoga Psychology: Indigenous Psychology With Global Perspective was published in 2024, a year before his death. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).