Making sense of professional identities: Stories of medical professionals and new technologies
In: Human relations: towards the integration of the social sciences, Band 63, Heft 12, S. 1879-1901
ISSN: 1573-9716, 1741-282X
This article presents an exploratory account of how medical professionals understand the relationship between new technology and their professional identities. Drawing on interview data with senior surgeons from a variety of surgical disciplines, the article draws attention to how new technologies provide occasions for the evaluation of existing intra- and inter-professional relationships, and professional identity as a whole. In particular, the role of changing insider/outsider dynamics is emphasized, as is the importance of recognizing professional identity as in constant flux at micro-, meta- and macro-levels. The implications for existing theory are discussed, and further research questions identified.