Academic Identity Formation and Motivation Among Ethnic Minority Adolescents: The Role of the “Self” Between Internal and External Perceptions of Identity

Academic identity is an important aspect of organizing an academic career. An academic identity is distinct and unique and can be defined as the core attitudes that determine how individuals approach the concept of work. In the current era of neoliberalism, changes to university governance in Taiwan have transformed working conditions and hiring practices in academia. Inevitably, role conflicts have emerged, and work stress within higher education institutions has increased. The current study summarizes the narratives of nine academics from the social sciences. The study is anchored in the concept that academic identity formation is rooted in the doctoral education stage. Using a qualitative narrative inquiry lens, interactions between different communities of practice during the doctoral education stage are analyzed, along with later career decisions and the role communities of practice play in those decisions. The findings show that doctoral mentors and fellows all contributed to the formation of a core academic identity, while later career decisions were equally affected by neoliberal policies. It is hoped that by recognizing the role of academic identity, administrators may be able to influence how academics adapt amidst the competing pressures within the academe.

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“Incompleteness” and the Quest for Multiple Identities in South Africa

Africa Spectrum ◽

10.1177/000203971505000304 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 50 (3) ◽

pp. 81-107 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bernard C. Lategan

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Cultural Diversity ◽

Identity Formation ◽

Social Cohesion ◽

Historical Memory ◽

Multiple Identities ◽

The Self ◽

Important Goal ◽

Alternative Approach

The article explores the contours of multiple identities in contrast to singular identities in situations of social complexity and cultural diversity. Nyamnjoh's concepts of “incompleteness” and “frontier Africans” imply an alternative approach to identity formation. Although the formation of one's own, singular identity is a necessary stage in the development of each individual, it has specific limitations. This is especially true in situations of complexity and diversity and where the achievement of social cohesion is an important goal. With reference to existing theories of identity formation, an alternative framework is proposed that is more appropriate for the dynamic, open-ended nature of identity and better suited to encourage the enrichment of identity. The role of imagination, a strategy for crossing borders (with reference to Clingman's concept of a “grammar of identity”), the search for commonality, and the effect of historical memory are discussed. Enriched and multiple identities are not achieved by replacement or exchange, but by widening (existing) singular identities into a more inclusive and diverse understanding of the self.

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The Effects of Ethnic Minority Adolescents' Ethnic Self-Identification on Friendship Selection

Journal of Research on Adolescence ◽

10.1111/jora.12337 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 379-395 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Philipp Jugert ◽

Lars Leszczensky ◽

Sebastian Pink

Keyword(s):

Ethnic Minority ◽

Minority Adolescents ◽

Ethnic Minority Adolescents ◽

Friendship Selection

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Worn Shoes: Identity, Memory and Footwear

Sociological Research Online ◽

10.5153/sro.2897 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 128-142 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Jenny Hockey ◽

Rachel Dilley ◽

Victoria Robinson ◽

Alexandra Sherlock

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Identity Formation ◽

Personal Transformation ◽

The Self ◽

Theoretical Understanding ◽

Ongoing Research ◽

Men And Women ◽

The North ◽

The Way

This article raises questions about the role of footwear within contemporary processes of identity formation and presents ongoing research into perceptions, experiences and memories of shoes among men and women in the North of England. In a series of linked theoretical discussions it argues that a focus on women, fashion and shoe consumption as a feature of a modern, western ‘project of the self’ obscures a more revealing line of inquiry where footwear can be used to explore the way men and women live out their identities as fluid, embodied processes. In a bid to deepen theoretical understanding of such processes, it takes account of historical and contemporary representations of shoes as a symbolically efficacious vehicle for personal transformation, asking how the idea and experience of transformation informs everyday and life course experiences of transition, as individuals put on and take off particular pairs of shoes. In so doing, the article addresses the methodological and analytic challenges of accessing experience that is both fluid and embodied.

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