Holding on to let go: Identity work in discontinuous and involuntary career transitions. (October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kulkarni, Mukta
• Is Part Of: Human relations. Volume 73:Number 10(2020)
• Page Start: 1415
• Page End: 1438
• Publication Date: 2020-10
• Subjects: Career discontinuity -- career transition -- disability -- identity -- identity work -- liminality; Social sciences -- Periodicals; 302
• DOI: 10.1177/0018726719871087
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0018-7267

Abstract

This study examined the identity work processes of severely disabled soldiers who faced discontinuous and involuntary career transitions. As these individuals engaged in rehabilitation and vocational training at a military-affiliated facility, their identity transitions were not marked by deletions of past identity elements or reference groups. Instead, their transitions involved collectively and contextually edited imaginations of the future that allowed for continuity of their foundational self-narratives. The findings extend past research by identifying why the forging of continuity is generative during certain identity transitions. The findings also show that when similar others contribute to the script of one's identity narrative within a familiar liminal context, maintaining a semblance of the status quo is construed as change.