Research Summary
Research Summary
Managing Multiple Identities at Work
Description
Peoples’ work identities, which are often a deep source of meaning for them, may conflict with or complement cultural, familial, or personal identities they value. A central focus of Professor Ramarajan’s work is understanding, on the individual level, how these conflicts and complementarities influence the way people engage with their work roles, relate to co-workers and clients, and ultimately perform in their jobs. Additionally, her research investigates how organizational, occupational, and societal norms about identity expression and disparities such as gender, racial, or economic inequality shape employees’ identities at work, with the goal of helping organizations harness their employees’ multiple identities to improve employees’ effectiveness in their work roles. She has found that conflict among identities harms, while enhancement among identities helps, intrinsic motivation, perspective taking, work performance and prosocial behavior. In her recent work she has examined the challenges of integrating -- personal and professional identities when connecting as friends with colleagues online; race and class identities as authority figures in demographically diverse educational organizations; prosocial and professional identities in contexts that face commercial pressures such as architecture and journalism; and gender and national identities among leaders in global organizations. Overall, Professor Ramarajan’s research finds that when people can leverage and embrace their multiple identities, and when their organizations support them in doing so, they can improve their individual well-being, find more meaningful work and relationships, and engage in their work in more innovative ways that can spark organizational and social change.