"Identity, Nonconformity, and Careers in Organizations"

While scholars have long recognized individuals’ identities in labor markets are socially constructed (Merton, 1968; Rao, 1994), and that rewards ensue for conforming to audience expectations, less attention has been paid to the myriad of ways individuals deviate, and the varying effects this has on inter and intra- organizational careers (Leung, 2014). This symposium brings together four papers together toward this end. In a paper on screenwriters in the movie industry, Patterson investigates how time gaps in career histories influence the significance of writers’ prior work. In another paper, Galperin et al. examine how a “quality paradox,” where individuals are penalized for being ‘over’ qualified, results from perceptions of commitment. Zhang and Aven examine how one’s identity with respect to group dynamics affects a behavior that notably affects careers - networking. Finally, a paper by Merluzzi and Phillips indicates that a well- studied social category - gender - needs greater refinement if we are...