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Identity as career capital:
enhancing employability in the
creative industries and beyond
Jina Mao
Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs,
New York, USA, and
Yan Shen
Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to broaden the conversation about the link between identity and
employability by investigating how identity can function as a type of career capital. Drawing on Bourdieu’s
(1990) theory of practice and Côté’s (2016) identity capital model, the authors introduce the concept of identity
capitalization and elaborate on the career practices people engage in to convert identity into career capital
based on studies of careers in the creative industries.
Design/methodology/approach –The conceptual development is based on an examination of studies of
careers in the creative industries. The authors move beyond a single idiosyncratic occupational setting and
offer insights about how individuals acquire, accumulate and deploy identity capital in response to varying
occupational demands and institutional norms.
Findings –The authors identify three patterns of work –display work, authenticity work and personation
work –that creative professionals use to harness identity as career capital to enhance their employability. The
authors find that both the demand for authenticity and the existence of social inequalities in the creative
industries present challenges for the acquisition, accumulation and deployment of identity capital.
Originality/value –The ability to harness one’s identity for career capital has become increasingly
important for career actors in the face of a challenging labor market. This paper provides a conceptual
understanding of the process of identity capitalization and presents concrete career practices in real-world
settings. It also offers practical advice for individuals wishing to capitalize on their identity to maximize
career opportunities.
Keywords Career capital, Identity, Creative industries
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
Due to increasing labor market instability, contemporary careers are marked by more frequent
movement across organizational and/or occupational boundaries (Arthur et al., 1989; DeFillippi
and Arthur, 1996; Greenhaus et al., 2008). The need to maintain employability –defined as a
form of work-specific adaptability that enables workers to create and realize career
opportunities (Forrier and Sels, 2003; Fugate et al., 2004) –has become critical for career actors
wishing to maximize their career chances. Enhancing employability entails the development of
personal and professional capacities which enable individuals to gain an advantage in the labor
market (Smith, 2010). It has been suggested that working on identity may assist with the
acquisition of career-related resources and competencies for enhancing employability (Fugate
et al., 2004; McArdle et al., 2007). Career scholars are, however, generally vague about what they
mean by identity, and how identity can be deployed to improve opportunities for employment.
Career scholars who adopt a psychological perspective focus on the role of identity
development. They associate identity with “knowing-why”(DeFillippi and Arthur, 1994), that
Career Development International
Vol. 25 No. 2, 2020
pp. 186-203
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1362-0436
DOI 10.1108/CDI-01-2019-0025
Received 28 January 2019
Revised 8 May 2019
27 June 2019
7 August 2019
27 November 2019
Accepted 4 December 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1362-0436.htm
The authors sincerely thank their editor and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable and insightful
comments and suggestions throughout the review process. The authors would also like to thank
Douglas T. Hall and Jeff Yip for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.
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is, self-knowledge regarding one’s needs, values, abilities and aspirations, which confers a
sense of purpose, energy and direction, which leads to increased motivation, confidence and
commitment. As people decouple their careers from organizational roles (Pringle and
Mallon, 2003), identity becomes a “meta-competency”(Hall, 2002, p. 32) or “cognitive compass”
(Fugate et al., 2004, p. 17) that provides inner guidance in helping them navigate their
personalized career paths. Empirical studies of career stories have demonstrated that people
who construct a continuous, coherent identity are more capable of coping with employment
uncertainty (Grote and Raeder, 2009; Nazar and van der Heijden, 2012).
In contrast, scholars who adopt a sociological perspective focus on how identity management
may enhance employability, especially during career transitions. This stream of research has
focused on how job seekers manage their presentation of self and interactions with others to
maximize employment opportunities (Sharone, 2007; Smith, 2010). For instance, identity
management was found to be critical for those who are unemployed or underemployed and who
strive for better employment situations (Padavic, 2005; Riach and Loretto, 2009). Such research
has emphasized the social process of identity construction as individuals work to uphold a
positive image while navigating a turbulent labor market.
In this paper, we introduce the concept of identity capitalization as another link between
identity and employability. This link has been underexplored and is seldom discussed in the
career literature. Identity capitalization centers on career actors who use entrepreneurial logic
in the process of shaping their identities (du Gay, 1996; McCabe, 2009). These actors craft a
distinctive identity or image that they use as a career resource in the pursuit of career success,
including engaging in self-branding activities that create and manage demand for their
services (Duffy and Pooley, 2017; Vallas and Christin, 2018; Vallas and Cummins, 2015;
Whitmer, 2019). Drawing on Bourdieu’s (1990) theory of practice and Côté’s (2016) identity
capital model, we frame more precisely the process of identity capitalization as that of
converting one’s identity into a type of capital that can be deployed to broaden career horizons
and create employment opportunities. To shed light on the concrete career practices involved
in identity capitalization, we turn to studies of careers in the creative industries.
The creative industries is an umbrella term used in policy documents, to describe
industries “which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a
potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual
property”(Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, 1998, p. 3). Creative industries
produce goods and services associated with “cultural, artistic, or simply entertainment
value”(Caves 2000, p. 1) and include fields such as art, design, film, music, writing, fashion,
games, architecture and advertising. Investing in one’s employability is crucial to develop
and maintain a career in the creative industries due to labor market uncertainty, flexible
collaboration and the prevalence of project-based work (Hesmondhalgh, 2013). Furthermore,
competitive advantage and profitability in the creative industries depend on harnessing
individual and collective creativity, placing great demand on cultivating an original and
distinctive identity (Florida, 2012; Hesmondhalgh, 2013; Petkus, 1996; Taylor and Littleton,
2012). Thus, a study of the creative careers is most revealing for exploring the process of
identity capitalization. By examining studies that cut across a number of creative
professions, we identify the career practices involved and highlight the challenges people
may face in capitalizing on identity in industries with a range of occupational demands and
institutional norms.
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. First, we offer a conceptual understanding
of identity capitalization within Bourdieu’s (1990) framework, followed by a discussion of the
methods used in our literature search and review. We then present three patterns of career
practices –display work, authenticity work and personation work –that creative professionals
use to enhance their employability. We conclude the paper with a discussion of the implications
for career research and practices as well as future research directions.
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Identity as capital
Bourdieu’s (1990) theory of practice has received increasing attention as an overarching
theoretical framework in career research (Gunz et al., 2011). By practice, Bourdieu (1990)
means concrete activities people engage in to gain or reinforce their positions in a social
field. A field is a socially-structured space that “prescribes its particular values and
possesses its own regulative principles”(Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992, p. 17). A person’s
position in a field depends largely on the type and amount of capital possessed (Bourdieu,
1990, 1998). The possession of capital helps an actor establish his or her position and create
conditions for increasing capital in the future. According to Bourdieu (1986), the capital that
is valued in each field may be composed of any of three elementary forms of capital:
economic, cultural and social. Economic capital consists of material and financial assets.
Cultural capital includes qualifications and skills as well as cultural goods and cultural
knowledge. Social capital is comprised of membership in a group, one’s networks and social
relations. The three forms of capital are interchangeable; one type of capital can be used to
acquire and accumulate another.
From Bourdieu’s (1990) perspective, studying careers means analyzing the ways in which
people use their career capital to maintain or improve their career position based on the
knowledge of what is valued in that specific career field (Chudzikowski and Mayrhofer, 2011;
Iellatchitch et al., 2003). In this paper, we introduce another form of career capital: identity
capital. We argue that identity is turned into career capital when one’s identity becomes both a
resource and a stake for advancing one’s position in a career field while also supporting the
accumulation of more capital. Building on Côté’s (2016) identity capital model of human
development, we describe more precisely the process of identity capitalization.
According to Côté (2016), people are capable of strategically managing elements of their
subjective, interactional, and social lives to develop, organize and execute a portfolio of
identity-based resources that suit various institutional contexts. People can make identity
investments through the strategic development of who they are by utilizing exchangeable
resources, such as money, abilities, appearance and interactional skills. Identity capital can be
used to establish and accumulate certain identity gains –acquisition and/or development of
resources that boost one’s desired social identities. Over time, these gains can become
resources for further change. This requires the individual to be reflexive about what is
“exchangeable”in terms of “who he or she is”in relation to a social status, a goal or a career
(Côté, 2016). For instance, Côté’s (2002, 2006) study of the transition to adulthood suggested
that adolescents who are more agentic in investing in their adult identities are better equipped
to negotiate their passage into adulthood. These investments and identity gains helped them
secure memberships in adult communities and earn recognition as fully responsible adults
who are accorded certain forms of respect and privilege (Côté, 1996).
From the Bourdieusian perspective, Côté’s (2016) model offers valuable insights into the
nature of a contemporary career as a project of the self. For the purpose of enhancing
employability, identity capitalization can be understood as consisting of work-related efforts
to establish who one is and how one is perceived by others to secure recognition, status and
influence. It involves making identity investments to secure a more favorable position in the
labor market. The ability to convert identity into career capital increases a person’s
likelihood of reaching career goals and achieving career success.
To better understand the process of identity capitalization, we draw on studies of careers
in the creative industries. We began our inquiry with a search for studies on careers in the
creative industries that helped us answer the following research questions:
RQ1. What are the characteristics of valued identities in the creative industries?
RQ2. What are the challenges in acquiring and accumulating identity capital in the
creative industries?
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RQ3. Which career practices are involved in building identity capital for the purpose of
enhancing employability in the creative industries?
Our main purpose was to develop a conceptual understanding rather than provide an
exhaustive review of what has already been done. We used a two-stage process in our
literature search. First, we developed a list of creative career-related terms (e.g. creative career,
creative professional, creative identity, career in architecture, writer identity) and identified
relevant articles by searching for those terms and their combinations using Google Scholar,
JSTOR and school library search engines. We focused on articles published in the journals
within the fields of management, cultural studies, sociology, communications and media
studies within the last 20 years. We also used backward snowballing (i.e. references cited in the
articles of interest) and forward citation search (i.e. publications that cite the articles of interest)
to generate more leads. We kept articles that contained description of concrete career practices
by creative professionals and eliminated those that only engaged in conceptual/theoretical
discussions. Gradually, we narrowed down the list to 38 journal articles and 5 book/chapters
(see references with asterisks in the reference section). Second, we read the 43 publications
closely and identified statements that illustrate career practices relevant to our research
questions. We examined similarities and differences of these career practices within and across
professions, from which three patterns emerged. We went back and forth between the
emerging patterns and the original studies until we reached consensus. We named these three
patterns, namely, display work, authenticity work and personation work, to best capture the
essence of the career practices we identified. We found that studies of creative professionals
engaged in highly individualized work, such as those in architecture, advertising and visual
arts, provided the greatest insights into the identity capitalization process.
Identity capitalization in the creative industries: practices that convert identity into
career capital
In the creative industries, a creative identity is a highly valued form of career capital that
requires recognition and validation from peers, consumers, critics and other stakeholders
(Delmestri et al., 2005; Reckwitz, 2018). Recognition of an individual’s creative identity
within a community or circle signals one’s credibility and future potential (Fuchs, 2001;
Rindova et al., 2005). The ability to produce something novel or to find original solutions to
problems is integral to a creative identity, which, in turn, is critical in achieving distinction
within “reputation markets”(Menger, 2006). Thus, comprehending identity capitalization in
the creative industries means analyzing those activities that people engage in to establish
and signal their creative identity.
Several factors contribute to the demand for a creative identity in the creative industries.
The first is that products of creative work tend to be symbolic, experiential goods that serve
expressive or aesthetic rather than utilitarian needs. The criteria used in judging creative work
is often ambiguous and subjected to volatility in taste. There is an “inherent unknowability”
(Caves, 2000) about the likely reception and demand in the market. Hence, the identity of a
creative professional is often the primary criterion when judging the work products.
In addition, although there are differences among professions, the labor markets for
creative industries are characterized by flexible work arrangements, irregular contracts,
heightened competition and transitory forms of social relations (Caves, 2000; Hesmondhalgh,
2013). Creative professionals frequently build “portfolio careers”(Cohen and Mallon, 1999) or
“nomadic careers”(Tremblay, 2003) out of a self-constructed and continually evolving
patchwork of jobs and projects (Menger, 2006). One’s creative identity provides continuity and
works as a type of currency for weathering employment risks and uncertainties.
Finally, the creative industries follow a system in which only a selected few become
“stars”and “celebrities”who achieve fame, characterized by intense and enduring public
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attention and recognition (Caves, 2000; Reckwitz, 2018). This winner-take-all model is the
norm, with only a small fraction of the workforce employed in the type and number of
projects that generate a full-time income (Christopherson, 2008). A creative identity is often
the deciding factor that distinguishes those who thrive from those who struggle.
Upon examining the selected studies, we identified two challenges –establishing visibility
and credibility –in converting one’s identity into career capital in the creative industries.
The widespread recognition of one’s creative identity requires building a marketable and
trustworthy reputation within the community. We then analyzed the career practices that
creative professionals utilized to establish visibility and credibility to capitalize on their
identity. Below, we elaborate three patterns of career practices –display work, authenticity
work and personation work –that creative professionals use to acquire, accumulate and
deploy identity as capital. We also offer insights into why some creative professionals may
find identity capitalization more difficult to achieve than others do. Table I provides a list of
the creative professions covered by the focused studies and the patterns of career practices we
identified in these studies. Figure 1 presents a visual representation of the patterns of career
practices and the link between identity capitalization and employability.
Display work. Display work comprises the career practices a creative professional
engages in to create a perception of being creative, artistic and distinctive with the intention
of securing others’recognition of his/her creative identity. More specifically, investment in
the display of a personal signature style that elicits the desired professional image (Goffman,
1959, 1963) and affirms one’s creative identity is paramount. The goal is to amass the
reputational resources that help establish status, influence, and prestige which translate into
identity gains and future employment. Creative professionals accomplish this in one of two
ways: by showcasing a personal signature style through their work products to influence
the judgement of peers, critics and other gatekeepers; and by reinforcing a personal
signature style through lifestyle choices to win the recognition of a wider audience.
Showing a personal signature style through work products speaks directly about the
creative actor’s creativity and originality. For example, in Elsbach’s (2009) study of toy
designers, the designers differentiated themselves by incorporating their personal signature
style into their toys. Even though such style might be hidden from customers’view, it
was recognized by peers and helped gain professional recognition from other experts. In
Patterns of career practices identified in focused
studies
Professions No. of publications examined Display work Authenticity work Personation work
Advertising 5 ++ +
Architecture 7 ++ +
Creative writing 1 +
Entertainment media 4 ++
Fashion 2 ++
Film 3 ++
Floral design 1 +
Game design 1 +
Music 2 +
Performing arts 7 ++
Product design 3 ++
Visual arts 2 ++ +
Mixed
a
5++ +
Note:
a
Including fashion, visual arts, publishing, design, advertising, media, film, performing arts, architecture,
advertising and music
Table I.
Creative professions
and patterns of career
practices in
focused studies
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architectural work, the essence of a creative reputation shows up in an architect’s aesthetic
sensibility and skills embedded in a unique set of values –sense of space, aesthetics, beauty
and feeling for the built environment (Cohen et al., 2005). Architects showcase their creative
talent through publications, awards, design competitions, lectures, nominations to juries in
awards programs and faculty appointments at renowned schools (Brown et al., 2010). These
are institutionally-recognized venues for acquiring reputational resources, where reputation
owes far more to peer review than to judgements by clients (Boutinot, 2012). Additionally,
creative professionals who freelance are increasingly utilizing self-presentations through
social media (e.g. blogs, Facebook posts, tweets, videos) to craft a self-brand (e.g. Eikhof and
Chudzikowski, 2019) in order to market their “creative persona”(Bain, 2005).
Display work also goes beyond the work products and revolves around the
creative professional’s personal lifestyle. Lifestyle choices are signals, or “cues, tests,
hints, expressive gestures, status symbols”(Goffman, 1959, p. 249), to communicate
expected behaviors, qualities or values ( Jones, 2002). The aim is to reach a broader
audience, not just peers and critics, to attain wider recognition. Lifestyle choice is a more
complex signal that is often embedded within broader cultural environment. For example,
Nixon and Crewe’s (2004) study of creative workers in advertising and magazine
publishing detailed the investments that the creative professionals made in how they
dressed and what they consumed to enhance their professional standing. Elsbach and
Kramer’s (2003) study examined how studio executives and producers in Hollywood
judged screenwriters’pitches. A lack of social grace –displayed through wild hair and a
dull personality –was judged to be nonconformist, edgy, and indicative of a rich inner
world, characteristics associated with distinguished screenwriters. Yagoubi and
Tremblay (2016) found that for fashion designers, the geographic location where they
built their careers was important; cities like New York, Paris and Milan convey an image
of distinction. Artists chose to adopt a bohemian lifestyle (Eikhof and Haunschild, 2006)
characterized by high regard for spontaneity, living hand-to-mouth and living in the
moment. Such a lifestyle showcases artistic expression and participation in the art world
for art’s sake (Becker, 2008; Caves, 2000).
Identity is converted
to career capital
through increased
• Visibility
• Credibility
Enhanced
Employability
P1
P2
P3a–P3b
Three Patterns of Career Practices
Display Work
• Showcasing a personal signature
style through work products
• Reinforcing a personal signature
style through lifestyle choices
Authenticity Work
• Achieving a true-to-self image
• Strategically balancing the
tension between being unique
while remaining connected to the
field’s traditions
Personation Work
• Portraying or making adjustment
to enactment of privileged
identities in an authentic way
Figure 1.
A model of identity
capitalization in the
creative industries
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Display work is a type of strategic action to build reputational resources by increasing
the visibility of one’s unique style and gaining status and prestige. It is usually more intense
in early stages of a career in which the establishment of creative reputation opens doors to
new employment opportunities and expands one’s career horizon. Nevertheless, it remains
important throughout one’s career:
P1. Career practices aimed at increasing visibility of one’s personal signature style
increases identity capital, which, in turn, enhances employability.
Authenticity work. Authenticity work involves career practices aimed at presenting a creative
identity that is perceived as genuine and true-to-self. Svejenova’s (2005, p. 947) study of the
renowned Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar begins with the quotation “[…] experience
has taught me that the more honest and personal my work is, the more successful I am.”
Authenticity has a powerful pull on audiences and markets (Lehman et al., 2019, p. 31) and is
key to establishing credibility. For example, Peterson’s (1997) study of musicians showed that
authenticity was a renewable resource for securing audiences, performance venues and
relationships with key brokers. The success of a cultural product such as music, and its
acceptance by audiences, often depends on the appearance of authenticity.
Authenticity is a multifaceted concept (Lehman et al., 2019; Taylor, 1991). Above all, it is
about conveying a credible image of genuineness and sincerity. It also suggests continuity
and consistency across time and space. A personal signature style that maintains its unique
qualities over time is perceived as more authentic ( Jones, 2002). In addition, authenticity is
associated with having a signature style that is true to the institutional categories and
genres in a career field (Lehman et al., 2019). Because a creative identity is embedded in
“social codes, or sets of rules”(Hsu and Hannan, 2005, p. 475), recognition of these codes or
rules is important for sustaining credibility.
Authenticity work is “the set of actions and interactions, which the creative individual
undertakes to achieve a true-to-self image over time and across audiences”(Svejenova, 2005,
p. 947). Studies have shown that creative professionals develop an authentic image by
strategically balancing the tension between being unique while remaining connected to the
field’s traditions. Jones et al. (2005) summarized two sets of practices for claiming authenticity:
subjecting one’s creative voice to the perpetuation of tradition; and offering an original and
distinctive approach. There is a dynamic tension between authenticity seen as an individual’s
creative voice and as claims that are carefully crafted ( Jones et al., 2005, pp. 893–4).
Both creative professionals and external observers tend to reject the idea of extensive and
dramatic redefinitions of their field that would threaten its authenticity (Glynn and Lounsbury,
2005). For example, Sagiv’s (2014) study of choreographers working in Israeli contemporary
dance companies showed that the choreographers innovated their dances progressively.
Choreographers usedclassical ballet and modern dance as the foundation to which more novel
artistic forms and techniques were added. Such a balancing act allows creative professionals to
maintain a distinctive creative style without sacrificing credibility.
In sum, deploying a creative identity requires investments in managing its reception by
the audience to be genuine and sincere. Authenticity work enables creative professionals
to shape a creative identity that is both distinctive and credible to help guarantee future
career opportunities:
P2. Career practices aimed at improving the perceived authenticity of one’s creative
identity increases identity capital, which, in turn, enhances one’s employability.
Personation work. Personation work involves career practices intended to portray or make
adjustments to enactment of privileged identities for the purpose of establishing a credible
creative image. The word “personation”means to portray, assume the character of or to
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represent with or without fraudulent intent. Personation work is needed in response to the
social inequalities that exist within the creative industries. Research has demonstrated
substantial inequalities in job opportunities based on gender (Eikhof and York, 2016),
race/ethnicity (Maxwell, 2004) and class (Allen and Hollingworth, 2013) in the creative
industries. In part, these inequalities result from the identity disparity between stereotypes
of certain social groups and the idealized image of the individual creative genius.
Idealized professional images in the creative industries are often gendered to justify the
unsuitability of women for creative work. Female creatives are likely to be ascribed a deficit
identity (Taylor and Littleton, 2013), which makes it more difficult for them to acquire a
reputation as a credible creative. McRobbie (2002) argued that being a creative and being a
woman involve fundamentally conflicting orientations. Creative work demands the masculine
selfishness of the traditional creative artist which clashes with the long-established gendered
positioning of women as other-oriented, attending to the needs of others and heeding their
preferences (Taylor, 2011, pp. 367-368). Thus, the acquisition and accumulation of identity
capital are likely to be undermined by the feminine identity of being “self-less”(Taylor, 2011).
For example, in architectural work, the image of a “good architect”is incompatible with the
image of a “good”mother (Stratigakos, 2008); the attribution of creativity is largely limited to
senior male architects (Fowler and Wilson, 2004). In the art world, the traditional association of
artistic roles with men and the corresponding devaluation of women’s creativity (Brooks and
Daniluk, 1998) make it more difficult for female artists to accumulate creative reputation. Even
in a highly feminized occupation such as floral arrangement, masculinity is strongly associated
with creativity (Zinn, 2019). Furthermore, in the fields of advertising (Windels and Lee, 2012)
and music (Scharff, 2015), performing gendered roles impeded career progress for women who
were held accountable both to the masculine norms of the field as well as to the norms of
femininity, such as to be self-effacing which prevented them from promoting their own work.
When they did promote themselves or show confidence, their behaviors contravened gendered
norms and the women were thus perceived as less credible and authentic.
Social class also erects barriers to creative reputation building. Morgan and Nelligan’s
(2015) study of Australia creatives showed that young men from working-class
backgrounds, who were deeply rooted in traditions that emphasized solidarity within a
community, were less able to “sell themselves.”Working-class actors also experienced
barriers to reputation building when embodied identity signifiers –such as speech, accent,
mannerisms and dress –differentiated them as outsiders (Friedman et al., 2017).
Personation work can take different forms depending on what is valued in a career field.
For example, male advertising agents bolstered their masculinity to increase professional
standing (Nixon and Crewe, 2004). In a study of creatives with an ethnic minority background,
Zanoni et al. (2017) found that participants leveraged their ethnic background to capitalize on
an “hybrid, exotic or liminal”identity. Rogan’s (2016) study of women working in film and TV
industries showed that they were often pressured to diminish or alter their femininity by
changing the way they interacted. Scharff’s (2015) study suggested that female musicians
engaged in self-promotion in ways that did not go against gendered norms such as being
modest and reactive. One’s personation work, however, is sometimes perceived by others as
inauthentic, undermining the credibility of the individual’s creative identity (Rogan, 2016):
P3a. Social identities that create gap or deficiency from the privileged identity in a career
field make it more difficult for individuals to convert identity into capital, which,
in turn, undermines employability.
P3b. Career practices aimed at assuming the characteristics of privileged identity in a
career field increases one’s identity capital and enhances employability, but only
when such efforts are deemed authentic.
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Table II summarizes the three patterns of career practices with examples from representative
studies. We also provide examples from studies of well-known creatives (Frank Lloyd Wright,
Frida Kahlo and Coco Chanel) that demonstrate the importance of these practices in successful
creative careers.
Discussion
Although it is widely recognized in career research that working on one’s identity enhances
employability, not much has been said about how identity can be harnessed as a type of
career capital. This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion about the link between
identity and employability by introducing the notion of identity capitalization. Drawing on
Bourdieu’s (1990) theory of practice and Côté’s (2016) identity capital model, we develop a
conceptual understanding of how identity may function as a type of career capital for
enhancing employability. Based on studies of careers in the creative industries, we illustrate
the process of identity capitalization by detailing three patterns of career practices –display
work, authenticity work and personation work –that creative professionals engage in to
enhance employability. As shown in studies of knowledge work (Gandini, 2016), the “gig”
economy (Ashford et al., 2018), personal branding among professional workers (Pagis and
Ailon, 2017; Vallas and Cummins, 2015), as well as Florida’s influential work on the “creative
class”(Florida, 2012), the need for identity capitalization is becoming more of the
norm rather than the exception for contemporary workers who face a challenging labor
market (du Gay, 1996; Gershon, 2016). In the following, we discuss how the insights
generated from the creative industries have broad implications for contemporary career
research and practice.
Implications for career research
First, an important question in career research is how context matters (Gunz et al., 2011).
From a Bourdieusian perspective, each career field is based on rules of the game prescribed
by a historically-generated system of shared meaning (Bourdieu, 1986; Iellatchitch et al.,
2003). Our study shows that the type of identity and how it may function as capital in a
career field is deeply embedded in that meaning system (Chudzikowski and Mayrhofer,
2011; Gunz et al., 2007; Iellatchitch et al., 2003; Mayrhofer et al., 2007; Sullivan and Baruch,
2009; Tams and Arthur, 2010). In addition, as seen in our discussion of the impact of social
inequalities, one’s ability to acquire and deploy identity capital can be severely constrained
by the broader social and political environment. Certain social groups (e.g. women) tend to
struggle more because of the mismatch between the stereotypes of those groups and the
privileged identity valued in the specific career field.
Second, our study suggests that the acquisition and accumulation of identity capital
presuppose the support of social, economic and cultural capital. For example, initial
investment of economic capital is needed for building a valued identity, especially in the
early stages of one’s career. Building one’s identity capital may also necessitate the support
of the esteemed occupational community that bestows professional status and honor upon
its members (Mainemelis et al., 2016). Once acquired, identity capital may enhance access to
and further upgrade these types of career capital. For example, a valued identity creates
opportunities to accumulate more economic capital. Having identity capital also opens up
access to new social circles and subsequently to more social capital (Townley et al., 2009).
In addition, deploying identity capital requires the support of cultural capital (also see
Koppman, 2015), such as specialized skills, knowledge, intangible traits and subtle cultural
demeanors (Lareau, 2015).
Third, identity capital differs from the other types of career capital in that it depends
more on the collective perception of others and requires validation from an external
audience. While other types of career capital can often function as individually-owned
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Patterns Examples of career practices Examples of well-known creatives
Display work
Career practices aimed at creating a
perception as being creative, artistic and
distinctive with the intention of securing
others’recognition of one’s creative identity
Developing and displaying a signature style (e.g. Elsbach, 2009)
Maintaining continuity in a signature style and high-quality work
(e.g. Cohen et al., 2005)
Marketing and branding self (e.g. Storey et al., 2005)
Signaling prestige through awards in competitions (e.g. Hackley and
Kover, 2007)
Making lifestyle choices that fit with the artistic image (e.g. Eikhof and
Haunschild, 2006)
Frank Lloyd Wright (an American architect)
a
Wright developed a distinctive and
revolutionary signature style of architecture
that emphasized simplicity and harmony
between buildings and their surroundings
This philosophy of “organic architecture”
guided his work and exemplified in his
numerous iconic and widely
acclaimed buildings
He wrote and published An Autobiography
and The Disappearing City to disseminate his
design ideas. He founded an architecture
school and taught there
He received much recognition for his lifetime
achievements, including Gold Medal awards
from the Royal Institute of British Architects
and the American Institute of Architects as well
as honorary degrees from several universities
Authenticity work
Career practices aimed at presenting a
creative identity that is perceived as
genuine and true-to-self
Demonstrating authenticity in presentations to customers
(e.g. Nixon and Crewe, 2004)
Maintaining consistency in style throughout creative career
(e.g. Jones, 2002)
Staying connected to the field’s traditions and genres while innovating
(e.g. Sagiv, 2014)
Exude sense of being genuine in interactions with others
(e.g. Svejenova, 2005)
Frida Kahlo (a Mexican artist)
b
Frida translated her physical challenges after
the bus accident at the age of 18 into her art.
As Herrera (2002) stated, “painting herself
breeding, weeping, cracked open, she
transmuted her pain into art with remarkable
frankness tempered by humor and fantasy”
(Preface xii)
She derived inspirations from her Mexican
(continued )
Table II.
Patterns of career
practices and
examples of well-
known creatives
195
Identity as
career capital
Patterns Examples of career practices Examples of well-known creatives
Establishing work as expression of authentic self (e.g. Day, 2002)
Maintaining continuity and coherence in creative self (e.g. Bain, 2005)
Leveraging one’s ethnic/cultural background as part of one’s creative
identity (e.g. McLeod et al., 2009)
roots. She developed a style that mixed reality
with fantasy, which pleased the Surrealists
Personation work
Career practices aimed at portraying or
making adjustments to enactment of
privileged identities for the purpose of
establishing a credible creative image
Men adopting speech style and style of dress that affirm masculinity
(e.g. Nixon and Crewe, 2004)
Adopting middle-class mannerism in social interactions (e.g. Morgan and
Nelligan, 2015)
Women holding back self-promotion (e.g. Scharff, 2015)
Presenting ethnic identity as exotic/distinctive (e.g. Zanoni et al., 2017)
Showing commitment to work at the expense of family
(e.g. Stratigakos, 2008)
Coco Chanel (a French fashion designer)
c
Chanel transformed women fashion in the era
of wars by moving away from the “corseted
silhouette”to a sporty, casual and active style
Chanel was adaptable and mixed the
influences of various social classes in her work
[…] Despite climbing the social ladder, Coco
was somehow an interloper in high society, so
when she made encounters, friends and
enemies (sometimes both) referred to her social
origins (Riot, 2013, p. 298) in which she was
sent away to an orphanage, and worked
as a seamstress
Chanel leveraged her relationships with
influential actors in the society –wealthy elites
and celebrated artists –to spread her style and
obtain recognition (Cattani et al., 2016, p. 123;
also see Riot, 2013).
Sources:
a
Information about Frank Lloyd Wright is from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright, Biography.com Editors: Frank Lloyd Wright Biography: www.
biography.com/artist/frank-lloyd-wright, Stott (2019), Jones (2011);
b
information about Frida Kahlo is from: www.fridakahlo.org/frida-kahlo-biography.jsp; https://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Frida_Kahlo, Herrera (2002);
c
informationaboutCocoChanelisbasedonthefollowing resources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_Chanel, Biography.com Editors:
Coco Chanel Biography: www.biography.com/fashion-designer/coco-chanel; www.businessoffashion.com/articles/education/gabrielle-coco-chanel-1883-1971, Riot (2013), Cat
tani et al. (2016)
Table II.
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resources or competencies, identity capital is rooted in communities, institutions and the
larger base of consumers, peers and other gatekeepers, with individuals having limited
control over quality and amount.
Implications for career practice
Based on our findings, we offer practical advice for individuals who seek to capitalize on
their identity to enhance employability. Identity capital is becoming an important type of
career capital that one could leverage to maximize employment opportunities. An important
consideration for career actors is how best to mobilize their personal resources to find the
most suitable person-context fit in their careers. Each career field comes with its own
prescribed values, rules, and privileged identities. The knowledge of one’s own strengths
and weaknesses, and how it fits within the cultural and institutional context of the specific
industries/occupations, is critical to the design of best career strategies in identity
capitalization.
Our study also suggests that the process of identity capitalization is often paradoxical in
nature and creates dilemmas for career actors. For example, the need for individualization
and distinction is intertwined with the need to comply with social norms and traditions. The
demand for authenticity is also paradoxical in that the mere presentation of “authenticity”
can be perceived as “inauthentic.”Furthermore, when career actors are engaging in
authenticity and personation work to build their reputation, their public image may be
inconsistent with their private beliefs. Such misalignment may have long-term
consequences on their psychological well-being (Goh et al., 2016). Therefore, balancing
internal authenticity with external validation goes a long way to ensuring personal
well-being and long-term career success.
Future research
Future research could examine additional individual and contextual factors that may affect
people’s ability to capitalize on their identity. Individual factors such as personality, career
orientation/identification and career stage may shed light on the differences in when, how
and the degree to which identity is capitalized for career pursuit. For example, what makes
some women more successful in overcoming barriers to become a recognized creative
while others struggle? What other types of career capital are needed to enable those in
marginalized groups to overcome these barriers? We also need more in-depth understanding
of how contextual factors such as labor market characteristics, organizational support, and
national culture affect the way in which identity capitalization plays out differently in each
career field.
Another direction worth considering is the work/family interface. As identity
capitalization tends to blur the boundary between personal and work-related identities, to
what extent does the identity capitalization process encroach on personal and family life?
What consequences will it have for the individuals and their families?
This paper only takes a first step in explaining how identity capital can interchange with
other types of career capital. Future research could explore more deeply the role and impact
of social networks in facilitating identity capitalization. For example, how do network
characteristics (e.g. size, density, embeddedness) affect people’s ability to acquire and deploy
identity capital? Moreover, what sorts of cultural capital are the most conducive to the
process of identity capitalization? Much more remains to be learned about how social and
cultural capital help people convert their identity into career capital.
Future research may also consider the potential dark sides of identity capitalization efforts
similar to those portrayed in Mehrpouya and Willmott’s (2018) critique of knowledge branding
in management research. Does the general acceptance of identity capitalization practices create
an aura of “style over substance”in the creative industries and produce more celebrities than
197
Identity as
career capital
artists? Does the prevalence of such practices diminish the overall creative capacity of the fields
in the long term? And for the individual creative professional, what consequences will it have
when he/she is constantly subjected to the demands of capitalizing on his/her identity?
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Further reading
*Abfalter, D. (2013), “Authenticity and respect: leading creative teams in the performing arts”,
Creativity and Innovation Management, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 295-306.
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*Beech, N., Gilmore, C., Cochrane, E. and Greig, G. (2012), “Identity work as a response to tensions: a
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*Bridgstock, R. (2013), “Professional capabilities for twenty-first century creative careers: lessons from
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Design Education, Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 176-189.
*Carey, C. (2015), “The careers of fine artists and the embedded creative”,Journal of Education and
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*Deuze, M., Martin, C.B. and Allen, C. (2007), “The professional identity of gameworkers”,
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*Eikhof, D.R. and Haunschild, A. (2007), “For art’s sake! Artistic and economic logics in creative
production”,Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 523-538.
*Ensher, E.A., Murphy, S.E. and Sullivan, S.E. (2002), “Boundaryless careers in entertainment: executive
women’s experiences”, in Peiperl, M.A., Arthur, M.B. and Anand, N. (Eds), Career Creativity:
Explorations in the Remaking of Work, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, pp. 229-253.
*Hesmondhalgh, D. and Baker, S. (2008), “Creative work and emotional labour in the television
industry”,Theory, Culture & Society, Vol. 25 Nos 7-8, pp. 97-118.
*Jones, C. (1996), “Careers in project networks: the case of the film industry”, in Arthur, M.B. and
Rousseau, D.M. (Eds), The Boundaryless Career, Oxford University Press, New York, NY,
pp. 58-75.
*Jones, C. and Livne-tarandach, R. (2008), “Designing a frame: rhetorical strateiges of architects”,
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*Kirschbaum, C. (2007), “Careers in the right beat: US jazz musicians’typical and non-typical
trajectories”,Career Development International, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 187-201.
*Lindgren, M., Packendorff, J. and Sergi, V. (2014), “Thrilled by the discourse, suffering through the
experience: emotions in project-based work”,Human Relations, Vol. 67 No. 11, pp. 1383-1412.
*McLeod, C., O’Donohoe, S. and Townley, B. (2011), “Pot noodles, placements and peer regard: creative
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*Mallett, O. and Wapshott, R. (2012), “Mediating ambiguity: narrative identity and knowledge
workers”,Scandinavian Journal of Management, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 16-26.
*Moeran, B. (2005), “Tricks of the trade: the performance and interpretation of authenticity”,Journal of
Management Studies, Vol. 42 No. 5, pp. 901-922.
*Roca, D., Wilson, B., Barrios, A. and Muñoz-Sánchez, O. (2017), “Creativity identity in Colombia:
the advertising creatives’perspective”,International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 36 No. 6,
pp. 831-851.
*Sang, K., Dainty, A. and Ison, S.G. (2014), “Gender in the UK architectural profession: (Re)producing
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*Skov, L. (2002), “Hong Kong fashion designers as cultural intermediaries: out of global garment
production”,Cultural Studies, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 553-69.
*Wei, J. (2012), “Dealing with reality: market demands, artistic integrity, and identity work in reality
television production”,Poetics, Vol. 40 No. 5, pp. 444-66.
Corresponding author
Jina Mao can be contacted at: jmao@skidmore.edu
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