Identity Workspaces: The Case of Business Schools

This article introduces the concept of “identity workspaces,” defined as institutions that provide a holding environment for individuals’ identity work. The authors propose that institutions offering reliable social defenses, sentient communities and vital rites of passage are likely to be experienced as identity workspaces. The fluidity of contemporary corporate environments and the movement toward individually driven careers has generated an increased need for identity work while concurrently rendering corporations less reliable as spaces in which to conduct it. As a result, the authors posit that business schools are increasingly invested with the function of identity workspaces. The conceptual framework presented here provides a lens to better understand how and why business schools are called upon to fulfill a function of growing importance—developing management education that goes beyond influencing what managers know and do, and supports them in understanding and shaping who they are.