Befragung von Mitarbeitenden in Firmen mit Arbeitsflexibilisierung - 2000
The objective of this project (part of the National Research Programme 43, "Education and Employment") is to shed light on the relationship between work and identity under the condition of current changes in labour relations. On the one hand, it examines how identities change when continuity in employment in a profession is no longer given and learning becomes a permanent requirement for people. On the other hand, it must be determined what role identity plays in the process of acquiring new qualifications in in-company training or as a formal qualification, embarking on a new professional direction or opening up a new field within the current occupation.
In this context, education is addressed through personal educational history, job-related qualification requirements and further professional training. The project proceeds in three methodological steps. In the first phase, biographical interviews will be conducted with 59 people who have had a continuous or discontinuous career. The analysis focuses on the individual constructions of professional biography and identity. In the second stage, expert interviews and document analyses on personnel policy, further training and work organisation will be conducted in 14 companies, which provide varying degrees of flexibility in their work. In addition, employees are interviewed in writing; the questions are derived from the types established in the first phase and the organization-specific conditions. The evaluations serve to examine types of interrelationships between professional development and identity development and to concretise company measures to support an identity-promoting approach to work flexibilisation. In the third phase, measures are developed in cooperation with the studied companies with the aim of negotiating a fair "psychological contract". In the interest of active knowledge transfer, contact with educational institutions is sought at an early stage so that possible consequences can be discussed with them on an ongoing basis. In addition to practical orientation, the theoretical goal is to discuss the existing criticism of the research area of work and identity, e.g. the assumption of the stability of both work and identity as well as the neglect of the ecological perspective, and to integrate it into an expanded concept.