Becoming: The interaction of socialization and identity in organizations over time

This chapter describes two major literatures in organization studies - identity and socialization - that is inherently processual and yet lack a clear articulation of the temporal dynamics involved. It also focuses on the interaction of socialization and identity in organizations over time to develop a more coherent theoretical model of the process of becoming - the dynamics through which newcomers gain a situated sense of self. Socialization dovetails with these processes through sensebreaking and sensegiving. The myriad of major and minor events associated with institutionalized socialization and newcomer pro-activity, coupled with the organization’s efforts at sensebreaking and sensegiving, provide a great deal of information for newcomers to process. Sensemaking refers to the transformation of this information into meaning, into a cognitive framework that confers structure and coherence. A major outcome of sensebreaking-sensegiving-sensemaking is a situated identity, a knowledge of who one is or is becoming in the organizational context.