A story we tell about ourselves - A case study about the development of professional identities in a Swedish consultancy firm

Abstract

This master thesis aims to explore the development of professional identities in a Swedish consultancy firm. First, the concept of professional identity is explained as: ‘a part of the self-identity one possesses. As part of one’s self-identity it provides unconscious interpretations of continuity in the professional role.’ Second, the concept of identification is explained as: ‘the construction of a social identity. It involves an individual seeking meaning to one's membership in a collective by being aware of that membership, valuing that membership and having emotions towards it. Identification is occurring by adopting the attributes of the collective’s identity into one’s self identity.’ These two concepts will, in combination with descriptions of motives towards identification and the explanation of the process of how identification is occurring provide the theoretical framework. Effective leadership in an identity regulation context, is defined by identity researchers, as the management of meaning in the organizations. Thus, managing the meaning one seeks in a membership translates to managing one's identity and identification. Based on that, the purpose of this thesis is to explore and explain how leadership influences the transition that an individual’s professional identity goes through in a trainee program. A case study was carried out in a consultancy firm in Sweden. From the findings of the study, a model was created that explains the identity construction process in a trainee program, in a consultancy firm. This model offers an insight to the process of identity construction and is a contribution towards the understanding of the interplay between the individual and the organization.