Jephson, N, Cook, H orcid.org/0000-0002-5580-7501 and Charlwood, A orcid.org/0000-0002-5444-194X (2023) Prisoners of Oath: Junior doctors’ professional identities during and after industrial action. Economic and Industrial Democracy. ISSN 0143-831X
Abstract
This article examines the identity (re)work undertaken by junior doctors during the junior doctors’ contract dispute of 2015–16 in the National Health Service (NHS). A qualitative, longitudinal approach was used, consisting of 31 interviews with 18 junior doctors across two time periods. Findings show that the junior doctors’ strike represented a major threat to their professional identities, and that the strike action instigated significant identity (re)work for the doctors. Furthermore, findings reveal three overlapping ‘identity threat alleviation’ strategies that were constructed by striking doctors: reluctant acceptance of their weak bargaining power due to their professional identities; a subsequent reattachment to their normative professional values; and a focus on their future careers. This study examines the effects of a ‘white collar’ industrial dispute through the lens of professional identity, showing how medics employ identity (re)work as a resource to help them cope with perceived assaults on their professional identity.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2023. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
Keywords: | Doctors; identity work; professions; strikes; young professionals |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Business (Leeds) > Management Division (LUBS) (Leeds) > Management Division Organizational Behaviour (LUBS) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 03 May 2023 14:42 |
Last Modified: | 21 Jul 2023 14:22 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | SAGE |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0143831X23117570 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:198805 |