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In search of the self at work: Young adults’ experiences of a dual identity organization

Both authors contributed equally to this chapter.

Adolescent Experiences and Adult Work Outcomes: Connections and Causes

ISBN: 978-1-78350-571-5, eISBN: 978-1-78350-572-2

Publication date: 12 April 2014

Abstract

Purpose

Multiple forces that shape the identities of adolescents and young adults also influence their subsequent career choices. Early work experiences are key among these forces. Recognizing this, youth service programs have emerged worldwide with the hope of shaping participants’ future trajectories through boosting engagement in civically oriented activities and work. Despite these goals, past research on these programs’ impact has yielded mixed outcomes. Our goal is to understand why this might be the case.

Design/Methodology/Approach

We rely on interview, archival, and longitudinal survey data to examine young adults’ experiences of a European youth service program.

Findings

A core feature of youth service programs, namely their dual identity of helping others (i.e., service beneficiaries) and helping oneself (i.e., participants), might partly explain the program’s mixed outcomes. We find that participants focus on one of the organization’s identities largely to the exclusion of the other, creating a dynamic in which their interactions with members who focus on the other identity create challenges and dominate their program experience, to the detriment of a focus on the organization and its goals. This suggests that a previously overlooked feature of youth service programs (i.e., their dual identity) might prove both a blessing for attracting many diverse members and a curse for achieving desired outcomes.

Originality/Value

More broadly, our results suggest that dual identity organizations might attract members focused on a select identity, but fail to imbue them with a blended identity; thus, limiting the extent to which such organizations can truly “redirect” future career choices.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments

We thank Helping Hands’ founders and members for allowing us to spend time with them, responding to our questions, and accommodating our multiple requests. We also are extremely grateful to Henrich Greve and Marc-David Seidel for their guidance on this chapter, and to Jean Bartunek, Hrach Bedrosian, Shelley Brickson, Art Brief, Israel Drori, Robin Ely, Anne-Laure Fayard, Jeff Polzer, Marya Besharov, Frances Milliken, Greg Northcraft, Anne-Claire Pache, Mike Pratt, Naomi Rothman, and David Whetten for helpful comments on earlier drafts. Many thanks as well to Arielle Lévy and Caroline Longerna for sharing their Helping Hands data with us; to Viviana Jimenez, Graham Jones, Patricia Osborne, and Emily Smith for their translation work; and to Grace Bang and Lisa Riva for research assistance.

Citation

Anteby, M. and Wrzesniewski, A. (2014), "In search of the self at work: Young adults’ experiences of a dual identity organization

Both authors contributed equally to this chapter.

", Adolescent Experiences and Adult Work Outcomes: Connections and Causes (Research in the Sociology of Work, Vol. 25), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 13-50. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0277-283320140000025002

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2014 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited