Embracing Indeterminacy: On Being a Liminal Professional
| Author | Cara Reed,Robyn Thomas |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12385 |
| Published date | 01 January 2021 |
| Date | 01 January 2021 |
British Journal of Management, Vol. 32, 219–234 (2021)
DOI: 10.1111/1467-8551.12385
Embracing Indeterminacy: On Being
a Liminal Professional
Cara Reed and Robyn Thomas
Cardi University,Cardi Business School, Aberconway Building, Colum Drive, Cardi, CF10 3EU, UK
Corresponding author email: reedcj1@cardi.ac.uk
The rise of the corporate profession has contributed to a more varied and ambiguous
professional terrain that is increasingly seen to be indeterminate and fluid. This paper
advances the current debate around the developmentof corporate professions, exploring
how practitioners respond to this environment.Drawing on research with public relations
practitioners, the paper shows how the idea of being a liminar facilitates the formation of
a professional identity in conditions of high indeterminacy.In taking an individual level of
analysis of professions, the paper suggests that indeterminacy is a more resonant feature
for corporate professionals than previously suggested in the research,b ut that this inde-
terminacy is navigated in professional identity construction through‘being a liminar’, and
thus greater nuance may need to be recognized in the conceptualization of both corporate
professions and corporate professionalization. It also demonstrates the use of liminal-
ity as a discursive resource in identity construction and with it, challenges the common
association of liminality with self-doubt and existential anxiety. In turn, the paper con-
siders the implications of the liminal professional identity for the future of contemporary
professions, and for understanding the liminal experience.
Introduction
Increasingly, the traditional professional model
has been challenged (Freidson, 2001; Macdonald,
2006; Reed, 2007; Savage and Williams, 2008) and
with it a more varied professionalterrain has devel-
oped, particularly with the emergence of corporate
professions (Ackroyd, 2016; Heusinkveld et al.,
2018; Hodgson, Paton and Muzio, 2015; Kipping
and Kirkpatrick, 2013; Kipping, Kirkpatrick
and Muzio, 2006; Paton and Hodgson, 2016;
Paton, Hodgson and Muzio, 2013). Corporate
professions pursue professionalization dierently
to established professions, where the corporation
is considered to be a more dominant stake-
holder (Kipping, Kirkpatrick and Muzio, 2006;
Wegratefully acknowledge the PR practitioners that gave
their time to talk about their experiences as professionals.
Wewould also like to thank the reviewers for their help in
refining the paper.
This research was funded by an ESRCstudentship, refer-
ence number ES/G036268/1.
Muzio et al., 2011). Reflecting the institutional
focus of work in this area so far, the indication
from research into corporate professionalization
suggests that competing ‘collegial’ and ‘corporate’
logics (Hodgson, Paton and Muzio, 2015) have
to be navigated by expert occupations. There
have been calls to explore further corporate
professionalism across a greater range of corpo-
rate professions (Muzio and Kirkpatrick, 2011;
Muzio et al., 2011) and with greater focus on the
consequences of this professionalism for the prac-
titioner (Hodgson, Paton and Muzio, 2015). This
paper adds to this body of knowledge, exploring
aspects of professional practice by public relations
(PR) professionals.
Liminality has become a popular concept in
studies on work organizations as it oers a lens
through which to analyse indeterminacy, precar-
ity and insecurity across dierent employment sec-
tors in contemporary workplaces (S¨
oderlund and
Borg, 2018), serving as ‘a prism through which to
understand transformations in the contemporary
C2019 The Authors.British Journal of Management published by JohnWiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Academy
of Management. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main
Street, Malden, MA, 02148, USA.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,which permits use, distri-
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220 C. Reed and R. Thomas
world’ (Horvath,Thomassen and Wydra, 2015: 1).
One area of liminality receiving recent attention is
that of liminal occupational identities. The ‘sub-
jective state of being on the “threshold” of or be-
twixt and between two dierent existential posi-
tions’ (Ybema, Beech and Ellis, 2011: 21) can be
seen to present a particular challenge for the con-
struction of a coherent and sustainable occupa-
tional identity (Bamber, Allen-Collinson and Mc-
Cormack, 2017; Izak, 2015; S ¨
oderlund and Borg,
2018; Swart and Kinnie, 2014). Some have gone so
far as to suggest that liminality, rather than being
a temporary state, is a more continual state (Czar-
niawska and Mazza, 2003; Johnsen and Sørensen,
2015; Loacker and Sullivan, 2016), resulting in
individuals struggling to resolve on-going experi-
ences of identity incoherence and fragility (Ybema,
Beech and Ellis, 2011). Conceptualizing liminal-
ity as a continual state of ‘becoming’ also corre-
sponds with the imperative for the modern neo-
liberal worker to reinvent themselves constantly
(Sennett, 2006).
This paper brings the concepts of corporate pro-
fessionalism and liminality together, highlighting
how the identity construction of PR practitioners
emphasizes a state of liminality as part of con-
structing a sense of self as ‘professional’. The study
demonstrates how, through crafting a professional
identity that embraces indeterminacy, PR practi-
tioners are ableto construct a sustainable and legit-
imate sense of self as someone who is ableto refor-
mulate identities on a continual basis, in relation
to the social situation.
The paper makes two contributions. Firstly, the
research uses the concept of liminality to high-
light how it serves as a discursive resource to
construct an identity in a more amorphous pro-
fessional environment. Discursive resources are
prevailing norms of understanding, concepts and
ideas that individuals draw on in the crafting and
understanding of their selves (Ahuja, Heizmann
and Clegg, 2018; Clarke, Brown and Hope Hailey,
2009; Kornberger and Brown, 2007; Kuhn et al.,
2008). Discursive resources inform, therefore, an
individual’s ‘identity work’ (Watson, 2008). Pre-
viously, work on liminality indicates that iden-
tity construction can be problematic (S¨
oderlund
and Borg, 2018; Ybema, Beech and Ellis, 2011).
However, this research suggests that liminality can
make a positive contribution to professional iden-
tity construction. Thus, the idea of being liminal
plays the paradoxicalrole of sustaining rather than
disrupting a sense of self.
Secondly,this study advances the debate around
the development of corporate professions (Hodg-
son, Paton and Muzio, 2015), exploring howprac-
titioners construct a professional identity in this
context. Thus far, corporate professionalism has
been explored at the macro and meso level of in-
stitutions and organizations, focusing on profes-
sionalization (Hodgson, Paton and Muzio, 2015;
Kipping, Kirkpatrick and Muzio, 2006; Muzio
et al., 2011). Contrasting with this, the current re-
search takes an inter-relational and interactional
focus, highlighting how individual practitioners
construct a professional identity based on the idea
of being a liminar. In doing so, it responds to
calls for more studies on occupations at this level
(Anteby, Chan and DiBenigno, 2016), demonstrat-
ing a potential for greater indeterminacy to be ex-
perienced by some corporate professionals than so
far considered, and with it, a more nuanced ap-
preciation of corporate professions and corporate
professionalization that could impact the wider
appreciation of the contemporary professional
landscape.
The paper is organized in four sections: the first
examines the literature on contemporary profes-
sions, liminality and liminal identities; the sec-
ond provides details as to how the study was con-
ducted; the third outlines PR practitioners’ talk
around being a liminal professional;and the fourth
considers the implications of a professional liminal
identity, indicating how the research contributes
to an understanding of corporate professionalism
and liminal identities.
Contemporary professionals
Professions in the twenty-first century are seen
to be facing a fundamental decline in status,
power and autonomy, brought about through in-
stitutional and structural changes (Hinings, 2005;
Reed, 2007) that have served to challenge pro-
fessional autonomy, including: the globalization
of professional services; political and economic
deregulation and marketization; the decline in ‘in-
stitutional trust’ (Giddens, 1991) and the rise of
individualized and consumption-driven cultures;
the information and communications technology
revolution; and the rise in managerialism (Reed,
2007). Taken as a package of structural reforms,
C2019 The Authors.British Journal of Management published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British
Academy of Management.
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