Artikkelissa tarkastellaan positiointiteorian pohjalta kehiteltyä narratiivista positiointianalyysia pienten kertomusten analyysissa. Käytämme esimerkkinä nuorten aikuisten työpajakontekstissa tuottamia pieniä kertomuksia koulutusvalinnoista ja koulutus- ja työpajakokemuksista. Pohdimme, millaisia mahdollisuuksia narratiivinen positiointianalyysi tarjoaa erityisesti marginaaliin asetettujen nuorten aikuisten toimijuuden ja identiteetin tutkimukseen, ja kuinka sen avulla voidaan analysoida identiteetin ja toimijuuden rakentumista suhteessa kulttuurisiin mallitarinoihin.
In this methodological chapter, narrative positioning analysis in qualitative follow-up research is developed to analyse continuity and change of (employable) graduate identity through time. The analysis is illustrated with one business graduate’s example that was chosen as the educational and working life trajectory consists of breaks that require identity negotiation in relation to the normative ideals of employability. Narrative analysis permits the reading of graduate identity as an emergent phenomenon, making diverse positionings in relation to employability visible. Continuous negotiation of graduate identity implies that there is no single end-point in employability, but instead employability is a socially constructed process in which identity work has become salient to pursuing opportunities in working life. Moreover, our study shows that the normative employable ideal of an enterprising graduate identity is not equally available for those coming from a working-class background.
The chapter focuses on self-branding as situated employable identity performance in terms of difference and sameness at the time of labour market entry. The chapter provides rarely adopted critical approach to self-branding and contributes to new theoretical-methodological understandings of current manifestations of employability by introducing an interaction-oriented narrative approach to identities. Drawing from detailed analysis of 27 interviews with Finnish business degree graduates, the study shows the various ways graduates strive to accomplish, reaffirm or contest specific versions of themselves in relation to the ideals around employability and the discourse of self-branding. As the graduates present themselves as credible labour market actors, they also strive to solve the moral dilemmas associated with self-branding, that is, authenticity versus fabrication, in the context of Finnish working life.
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