Professional agency, identity, and emotions while leaving one’s work organization
Vähäsantanen, K., & Eteläpelto, A. (2015). Professional agency, identity, and emotions while leaving one’s work organization. Professions and Professionalism, 5 (3). doi:10.7577/pp.1394
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Professions and ProfessionalismDate
2015Discipline
AikuiskasvatustiedeCopyright
© 2015 Katja Vähäsantanen, Anneli Eteläpelto. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This study investigated the enactment of professional agency in an emotionally
troubled work context emerging from a conflicted relationship between the
professional and the work organization. Narrative interviews with Finnish educators
were utilized. The findings indicate that the enactment of agency was in part framed
by the educators’ rational interpretations of the relationship between themselves and
their employer, plus their work history and future prospects. However, it was simultaneously
embedded with contradictory emotions, such as a sense of being undervalued,
fear, and a sense of empowerment. Within this framework, multifaceted professional
agency was enacted particularly via leaving the organization. This was also
a means of upholding one’s professional identity and resisting the organization’s
work practices. The paper contributes to the theorizing of professional agency, particularly
regarding its emotional dimension, and elaborates the significance of an
emotional relationship between professionals and their organizations.
...


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Hoegskolen i Oslo og AkershusISSN Search the Publication Forum
1893-1049Keywords
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as © 2015 Katja Vähäsantanen, Anneli Eteläpelto. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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