We usually think that when we are faced with a dramatic and unexpected event that severs all ties with one’s profession, our past professional networks, values, and skills may not be the ones that are most helpful in our next professional avatar.
Professor Mukta Kulkarni’s research published in the journal, Human Relations, suggests that such is not always the case. Indeed, in some cases, holding on to the past is the best way to move forward.
Professor Kulkarni, who holds the Mphasis Chair for Digital Accessibility and Inclusion at IIMB, spoke with Indian frontline soldiers and paramilitary personnel who had been severely disabled during military operations. These individuals had gone from being extremely able-bodied to being severely disabled. At the time of her study, these individuals were engaged in rehabilitation and vocational training at a military-affiliated facility (Queen Mary's Technical Institute in Pune) to move toward civilian careers. They were, at this stage, neither soldiers serving in the armed forces nor were they in civilian jobs.
Most of these individuals came from a modest background and had always dreamed of a military job which they saw as a gateway to a life of respect and dignity. The loss of limbs or other severe health setbacks during their military career had meant the end of not only a profession, but also of a coveted lifestyle.
As these individuals attempted the move to a new career, they held on to the military-afforded (and self-defining) values (e.g., discipline, endurance) and goals (e.g., serving the nation not as a soldier but as a government clerk). Indeed, they selectively interpreted their present self in a manner that allowed them to distance themselves from their bodily struggles caused by their profession while holding on to their identity-narratives based on their profession.
Taken together, her findings show that when self-defining careers are terminated, continued fidelity to the past professional identity is generative in the move toward a new professional identity. As some of her respondents seemed to suggest, ‘once a soldier, always a soldier.’ Holding on, then, can help one move forward.
We usually think that when we are faced with a dramatic and unexpected event that severs all ties with one’s profession, our past professional networks, values, and skills may not be the ones that are most helpful in our next professional avatar.
Professor Mukta Kulkarni’s research published in the journal, Human Relations, suggests that such is not always the case. Indeed, in some cases, holding on to the past is the best way to move forward.
Professor Kulkarni, who holds the Mphasis Chair for Digital Accessibility and Inclusion at IIMB, spoke with Indian frontline soldiers and paramilitary personnel who had been severely disabled during military operations. These individuals had gone from being extremely able-bodied to being severely disabled. At the time of her study, these individuals were engaged in rehabilitation and vocational training at a military-affiliated facility (Queen Mary's Technical Institute in Pune) to move toward civilian careers. They were, at this stage, neither soldiers serving in the armed forces nor were they in civilian jobs.
Most of these individuals came from a modest background and had always dreamed of a military job which they saw as a gateway to a life of respect and dignity. The loss of limbs or other severe health setbacks during their military career had meant the end of not only a profession, but also of a coveted lifestyle.
As these individuals attempted the move to a new career, they held on to the military-afforded (and self-defining) values (e.g., discipline, endurance) and goals (e.g., serving the nation not as a soldier but as a government clerk). Indeed, they selectively interpreted their present self in a manner that allowed them to distance themselves from their bodily struggles caused by their profession while holding on to their identity-narratives based on their profession.
Taken together, her findings show that when self-defining careers are terminated, continued fidelity to the past professional identity is generative in the move toward a new professional identity. As some of her respondents seemed to suggest, ‘once a soldier, always a soldier.’ Holding on, then, can help one move forward.