Moving beyond stereotypes. Constructing and negotiating identities at work

This chapter explores the topic of identity construction. It closely examines some of the discursive processes through which Susan and others enact and negotiate their various professional and social identities in their workplace interactions. The chapter explores some of the processes through which questions of identity are linked to first- and second-order notions of culture – both in participants' interviews and in their actual workplace interactions. It describes three aspects of identity construction that emerged in the data. The first aspect referred to how interlocutors mobilise and orient to cultural₁ categories – both in the interviews when positioning themselves in relation in their actual workplace interactions. The second aspect of identity construction referred to those instances where participants mentioned membership in a particular company as a relevant aspect of their professional identity. The third aspect referred to the ways in which interlocutors constantly orient to the interactional context in which an encounter takes place.