Christine Coupland | Loughborough University (original) (raw)

Papers by Christine Coupland

Journal of Sports Sciences

Research has previously identified different approaches to a dual career (i.e., the simultaneous ... more Research has previously identified different approaches to a dual career (i.e., the simultaneous development of a vocational career alongside the athletic career): (a) educational/vocational pathway (i.e., a prioritisation of the vocational career), (b) a parallel dual career pathway (i.e., an equal focus on athletic and vocational career), and (c) a sporting pathway (i.e., a prioritisation of the athletic career). Yet, the identity and self-efficacy characteristics of these profiles require further investigation. To address this, the current study collected survey responses from 111 dual career athletes. The survey measured aspects of career identity, athletic identity and self-efficacy and results were analysed via a cluster analysis. The results showed three athlete profiles: (a) student-athletes showing an education or vocation prioritisation; (b) dual career athletes showing an equal balance between vocational career and sporting career; and (c) athlete students indicating a sport prioritisation. The results extend the current literature that understands dual career athletes as a heterogeneous group and establishes identity and self-efficacy as important factors in dual career pathways. This understanding also enables practitioners to take an individualistic approach to supporting dual career athletes.

The Oxford Handbook of Identities in Organizations, 2020

Recent growth in interest in identities is linked to societal changes, including an unprecedented... more Recent growth in interest in identities is linked to societal changes, including an unprecedented degree of freedom in the industrialized West (Bauman, 1988; Ritzer, 1999; Sennett, 1998). Choice suggests autonomy but it also burdens us with responsibility and anxiety. The aim of this chapter is to explore how the ‘capitalistic’ conception of freedom associated with agile identities affects life at work. Agility implies that individuals are able, indeed are deemed responsible for becoming—or failing to become—the ‘right’ type of employee/organization member. The notion of ‘agile identity’ proposed here, with its emphasis on the fragile obverse of the agility coin and its reminder that identity is not simply a linguistic phenomenon, but is fundamentally embodied, allows these tensions to be explored critically. The authors problematize the nature of current demands for agility at work, and invite reflection on issues of power and resistance. They ask, ‘How can the exploitative ideolog...

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2015

Identity as a Foundation for Human Resource Development, 2017

Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in ‘identity’ that springs from its ability to le... more Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in ‘identity’ that springs from its ability to leverage conceptual insight into the intra- and inter- personal dynamics of social settings. Such popularity creates its own problems for those looking to ‘take an identity perspective’ on their research as what might appear a unified field is in actuality a diverse array of semi-distinct theoretical stances. Each has its own distinct voice and an often opaque set of linguistic norms and conventions that suggest different interpretations of where identity ‘is’ and the process, by which it is formed and shaped, regulate what can and cannot be said. The purpose of this workshop is to provide an informed introduction to four social constructionist fields of identity research, namely; social identity theory, discourse, identity work, and sensemaking perspectives. We will examine the ways in which identity is conceptualised in each of these fields and the key terms associated with each. By expl...

Taking the perspective that a professional sports person regards their sport-craft as work, it is... more Taking the perspective that a professional sports person regards their sport-craft as work, it is timely to consider how this embodied, short, publically performance-measured, ultimately degenerative, career is given credibility by those who are engaged in it at an elite level. Drawing on Bourdieu the analysis of ethnographic empirical material from a study of a UK-based rugby league team playing at the Super League level (the highest level in the UK) illustrates how the natural order of things is crafted. Advancing understanding of an embodied-career resonates with contemporary understandings of short-term contracts which require the individual to be flexible and adaptable, be prepared for exit, and yet remain immersed and dedicated to the current sphere of employment. This kind of immersion requires alternatives to be, temporarily at least, silenced and in this context renders the accrual of bodily capital as fit, but only temporarily fit for purpose.

Management Learning, 2021

Within organizations there is reciprocal interplay between identity construction and learning. Pr... more Within organizations there is reciprocal interplay between identity construction and learning. Processes of learning are enabled and constrained by identity practices; concomitantly, the possibilities for learning are shaped by the identity positions available to individuals. There is a dynamic between the impositions of organizations and people’s freedom to shape their identities and learning plays a crucial role in this. Our purpose in this special issue is to contribute to the understanding of the intersection of identity work and learning as a response to experiences of being different. Experiences of difference include moving into a new role, encountering a disjuncture with others while in a role or a difference in broader life which is reacted to as if it were a problem in an organizational setting. Being different produces a variety of challenges and the papers in this special issue trace how people cope with vulnerabilities, develop resilience and often collaborate in their ...

Health Expectations, 2020

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which... more This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Organization Studies, 2015

Elite professionals opportunistically employ threats to their work identities to author preferred... more Elite professionals opportunistically employ threats to their work identities to author preferred selves. Predicated on understandings that identities are subjectively available to people as in-progress narratives, and that these are often insecure fabrications, we investigate the identity work of members of a UK-based professional Rugby League club. The research contribution we make is to demonstrate that professionals use identity threats as flexible resources for working on favoured identities. We show that rugby players authored identity threats centred on the shortness of their careers, injury and performance, and how these were appropriated (made their own) by men to develop desired occupational and masculine identities. In so doing, we also contribute to debates on how professionals’ identity discourse is an expression of agency framed within relations of power.

Organization Studies, 2016

Organization theorists have predominantly studied identity and organizing within the managed work... more Organization theorists have predominantly studied identity and organizing within the managed work organization. This frames organization as a structure within which identity work occurs, often as a means of managerial control. In our paper our contribution is to develop the concept of individuation pursued through prefigurative practices within alternative organizing to reframe this relation. We combine recent scholarship on alternative organizations and new social movements to provide a theoretical grounding for an ethnographic study of the prefigurative organizing practices and related identity work of an alternative group in a UK city. We argue that in such groups, identity, organizing and politics become a purposeful set of integrated processes aimed at the creation of new forms of life in the here and now, thus organizing is politics is identity. Our study presents a number of challenges and possibilities to scholars of organization, enabling them to extend their understanding ...

International Journal of Management Reviews, 2015

As the lead, introductory, contribution to this special issue 'exploring registers of identity re... more As the lead, introductory, contribution to this special issue 'exploring registers of identity research', this paper offers a view of three different "registers" that might be seen to characterize identity research and which feature, to a greater or lesser extent, in the selected papers. First, the paper offers a means to understand the different theoretical traditions used to explain what constitutes identity and how it might be known. Second, it considers the relationship between different levels of identityindividual, group, professional, organizational, and societal. Third, it reviews the methodologies used to understand identities and examines key theoretical assumptions which feature in academic debates, and in the selected papers, around identity theorizing. Drawing on the papers included in this special issue we offer a framework as a heuristic device that might guide scholars looking to enter the field of identity research and enable those already familiar with particular theoretical traditions, levels, or methods to explore possibilities for extending their research. As enticement to tackle the challenges extension across-registers can present, we again turn to the special issue articles to examine-through a series of 'gets'the different tactics authors might use to access the rich potential offered by crossfertilization between registers. Our contribution then lies in advancing the potential for dialogue between registers of identity research.

Information Technology & People, 2016

Purpose – Social media technologies are used by many organizations to project a positive image of... more Purpose – Social media technologies are used by many organizations to project a positive image of their strategies and operations. At the same time, however, there are an increasing number of reports of slip-ups linked to poor situational awareness and flawed self-presentations on social media platforms. The purpose of this paper is to explore the triggers of inappropriate social media posts. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected during a qualitative study of social media use in 31 organizations in the UK and interpreted using concepts from Erving Goffman’s theory of impression management. Findings – The findings point to a series of demanding triggers, which increase the likelihood of insensitive and contextually inappropriate posts and also damage fostered impressions. Originality/value – The authors identify four triggers linked to inappropriate social media posts, namely: speed and spontaneity; informality; blurred boundaries; and the missing audience. The authors al...

Research Handbook of Employment Relations in Sport

Accepted for publication In The Research Handbook of Employment Relations in Sport, Michael Barry... more Accepted for publication In The Research Handbook of Employment Relations in Sport, Michael Barry and James Skinner (Eds.) (Edward Elgar Press) Forthcoming 2015 A review of sports-career oriented scholars' interests Research on career transitions in sport has grown over the last 30 years and themes around; 1) predictors of transition (choice/agency) 2) the quality of the transition (positive or negative and interventions possible) 3) consequences of transitions (i.e. what happened next) 4) types of transitions (e.g. drop out/injury), and 5) models of transitions, have emerged as foci of interest for scholars (Park et al., 2013). Reviews have been carried out of sport career transition research from host disciplines of social gerontology, thanatology and life transition, which, while providing some insight, require further integrative conceptual development and research (e.g.

Perspectives on Contemporary Professional Work, 2016

The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2016

This paper develops a conceptual framework to enhance our understanding of the career challenges ... more This paper develops a conceptual framework to enhance our understanding of the career challenges facing older workers in a global economy. A distinction between 'high' and 'low' career capital of older workers is made. This distinction is then used to highlight potential temporal and spatial challenges for older workers in their later life careers. We draw on empirical evidence from existing studies of older workers and their careers. The contribution of this paper to human resource management debates is threefold. Firstly, we contribute to debates in the HRM literature about intelligent careers and career capital by distinguishing between high and low career capital to explain the polarisation of older workers' careers. Secondly, we synthesise career capital issues with spatial and temporal aspects of international labour-markets to conceptualise the key issues and challenges which create potential boundaries for older workers when navigating later life careers thereby contributing to 'boundary focused scholarship' (Inkson et al., 2012: 332). Finally, we develop a series of propositions to provide a basis for further research into the issues of space and time relevant to older 'high' and 'low' career capital workers, their careers and human resource management.

Organization, 2016

Marshall, J. (1989) ‘Re-visioning Career Concepts: A Feminist Invitation’, in B. Arthur, D. T. Ha... more Marshall, J. (1989) ‘Re-visioning Career Concepts: A Feminist Invitation’, in B. Arthur, D. T. Hall and B. Lawrence (eds) Handbook of Career Theory, pp. 275–291. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. World Economic Forum (WEF). (2014) The Global Gender Gap Index 2014. Geneva: World Economic Forum. Deirdre Hughes, OBE Principal Research Fellow The University of Warwick, Institute for Employment Research (IER),UK