The Development of Identification with an Occupation

Author(s): Howard S. Becker and James W. Carper

Source: American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 61, No. 4 (Jan., 1956), pp. 289-298
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
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THE AMERICAN

JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
VolumeLXI JANUARY 1956 Number4

THE DEVELOPMENT OF IDENTIFICATION WITH AN OCCUPATION

HOWARD S. BECKER AND JAMES W. CARPER1

ABSTRACT
Interviews with graduate students in physiology, philosophy, and mechanical engineering indicate
that changes in social participation in the course of graduate work lead to the acquisition or main-
tenance of specific kinds of occupational identities. Such participation affects identity through the
operation of the social-psychological mechanisms of development of interest in problems and pride in
skills, acquisition of ideologies, investment, the internalization of motives, and sponsorship. This mode
of analysis may have more general utility in the understanding of changes in individual identity in the
course of experience in groups.

One of the most compelling instances of to the way in which these depend (at least
personal change and development in adult in part) on the evaluative responses of
life in our society is to be found in the important persons and groups.2 The sub-
typical growth of an "occupational per- jective aspects of such movement are
sonality" in the young adult male who, as treated in terms of the concepts of self,
he matures, takes over an image of himself identity, and transformation, which direct
as the holder of a particular specialized attention to the way in which situations
position in the division of labor. This paper present the person with experiences with
is an attempt to specify the processes by objects and people out of which may come
which such occupational identifications are stabilization of self-conceptions into lasting
internalized by the individual in the course identities, on the one hand, and their trans-
of his entrance into and passage through 2 The concept of career has been treated ex-
a set of training institutions and thus to tensively in the sociological literature. See par-
provide an example of a mode of analysis ticularly H. H. Gerth and C. W. Mills, From
suitable for the study of adult socialization. Max Weber: Essays in Sociology (New York:
We make tise of two complementarysets Oxford University Press, 1946), chap. iv, "Sci-
ence as a Vocation"; Oswald Hall, "The Stages
of concepts in dealing with the develop- of a Medical Career," American Journal of So-
ment of identification. Changes in institu- ciology, LIII (March, 1948), 327-37, and "Types
tional participation and the contingencies of Medical Careers," ibid., LV (November, 1937),
on whch these depend are analyzed in terms 404-13; Melville Dalton, "Informal Factors in
Career Achievement," American Journal of So-
of the notion of career, which directs atten- ciology, LVI (March, 1951), 407-15; Howard S.
tion to typical sequences of movement and Becker, "The Career of the Chicago Public School
Teacher,"American Journal of Sociology, LVII
1 We wish to thank the Committee on the Ford (March, 1952), 470-77, and "Some Contingencies
Grant of the University of Illinois, which pro- of the Professional Dance Musician's Career,"
vided funds for clerical assistance. Human Organization, XII (Spring, 1953), 22-26.
289

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290 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF SOCIOLOGY
formationinto new identities, on the other.3 identity, or does not know what to want,
The analysis is based on interviews with and so ends up with an identity in some
graduate students in three departments in respects incongruent with his others. We
a large state university: physiology, me- have left considerationof such conflicts for
chanical engineering,and philosophy.4 The later analysis.5
interviews ranged in length from one-half Descriptions of the types of change
to two hours, were tape-recorded, covered which occur in the three groups and the
students at all stages in graduate work, conditions under which they change are
and were centered around the individual's presented first, indicating the general type
feeling of work identity and the changes of change illustrated by each and thus the
taking place in it. Analysis proceeded in way each training institution operates to
terms of stages of development, looking in produce specific kinds of occupational iden-
each case for the ways in which career tities. The physiology students are a group
movements into new situations made pos- in which originally strong preferences for
sible new experiences, transforming the other fields are transformed by the grad-
self-image and thus creating the conditions uate departmentinto a well-developediden-
for further movement. tification with physiology. In the case of
It is clear that tension may arise where the philosophers, the experiences provided
the newly acquired work identity fails to by their graduate training allow for a
mesh with or to meet the specifications of kind of moratorium in which a broad and
other strongly held identifications, such as unspecialized intellectual commitment can
be maintained, being replaced only partial-
those growing out of participation in the
ly by a specialized work identification. For
family of orientation. The person finds it the engineers, graduate school serves to
expedient to acquire a work identity, since maintain a work identity already strongly
general cultural emphases require some oc- established in college, little further change
cupational attachment, some answer to the taking place.6
ubiquitous question, "What's your line?" Viewed comparatively, as involving dif-
But this may also produce conflict, as the ferent degrees of change in identity, the
individual is unable to achieve a desired three cases serve to locate some general
3 On the self see George Herbert Mead, Mind,
mechanisms through which such change
Self, and Society (Chicago: University of Chicago occurs, at least in those occupations whose
Press, 1934). On identity see Nelson N. Foote, recruits are trained in graduate schools
"Identification as the Basis for a Theory of Mo-
tivation," American Sociological Review, XVI
and perhaps are also to be found in less
(February, 1951), 14-22; and Anselm Strauss, pretentious settings. Taken singly, they ex-
"Identification" (unpublished manuscript). On emplify various problems and sequences
transformation see Anselm Strauss, "The Devel- of development which no doubt have their
opment and Transformation of Monetary Mean-
ings in the Child," American Sociological Re- analogues both within and beyond academic
view, XVII (June, 1952), 275-86. confines. Our discussion, while focused on
4Female and foreign students were not inter- the three cases at hand, may thus be
viewed, to avoid the complications introduced by thought of as raising questioss and sug-
the variant career patterns and ambitions of these gesting answers outside these limits.
groups. Three philosophy students were excluded
from the analysis when interviews showed they 5 James Carper and Howard S. Becker, "Con-
had no serious intentions of doing work in the
flicts in the Development of Occupational Identi-
field but were simply taking courses as a hobby.
fication" (unpublished manuscript).
With these exceptions, we interviewed all the
remaining students in philosophy (eleven) and 6 The characteristics of the identities found in
mechanical engineering (twenty-two), and a ran- these groups are described in Howard S. Becker
domly selected 50 per cent sample of those in and James Carper, "The Elements of Occupation-
physiology (eighteen), a total of fifty-one. al Identification" (unpublished manuscript).

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 IDENTIFICATION WITH AN OCCUPATION 291

THE PHYSIOLOGISTS to the late college years.) They view their

Students typically begin graduate work task as students as one of acquiring the
in physiology without having done their vast body of certified knowledge in the field
undergraduate work in the field. This is and thus earning good marks and, perhaps,
true partly because the department faculty degrees, a perspective created by their
prefers students with a firm background in undergraduate experience. They are com-
one of the sciences physiology draws on, mitted through their enrolment as students
such as chemistry or zoblogy, to those who in the departmentto at least a year of such
would have to unlearn painfully the half- activity.
truths necessarily taught in undergraduate As the year progresses, the student is
courses. It is true more importantly because taught in a new way, with a tremendous
these students had not intended to study stress on the many problems yet to be
physiology until shortly before entering solved, on the research that needs to be
graduate school. Twelve of the eighteen done, and on the essentially problematic
had instead fastened their hopes on the character of the "facts" so laboriously ac-
medical profession, eight of them turning quired as an undergraduate. At first dis-
to physiology only when they were not illusioned, he becomes excited at the
accepted into medical school. At this point thought that all the great work has not
they decide to spend a year in physiology, been done, that he too may make funda-
on the premise that when they do enter mental and important discoveries, and he
medical school the training will prove valu- begins to realize the value of small, care-
able; they do not give up the notion of fully done studies. This interest in the
becoming physicians but see physiology as specific problems of the field is enhanced
the best available stopgap. The others have by casual conversationswith other students.
either had an early interest in biological Likewise, he begins to learn the techniques
science or acquired such an interest in the of research and to acquire a pride in his
course of their premedical program. After technical abilities through the evaluations
receiving the B.S. degree, they feel that of his instructors and comparisons of his
real professional success depends on higher own work with that of others. And, finally,
degrees, and they enter physiology, perhaps he begins to take over an ideology which
out of an interest developed in undergrad- identifies physiology for him as the most
uate work, perhaps at the suggestion of an comprehensive and important of the life-
interested teacher. sciences, including medicine.
In any case, no student enters the de- At the end of the first year the student
partment irrevocably committed to the no- may again apply for admission to medical
tion of becoming a physiologist; most, in school. Those who do and are rejected do
not immediately give up all hope but do
fact, are still committed to medicine, and
the others feel it quite possible that they decide that they might as well continue
until they get the Master's degree and per-
may later want to switch fields. Further,
haps beyond that the Ph.D. As medicine
they are vague as to the real nature of the
becomes more unattainable, their very real
field and the kinds of experiences they are interest in physiology takes on new mean-
likely to have in it, possessing not even the ing as they come to consider it as the basis
kind of unrealistic picture which may be for an alternative career; those whose in-
provided by public stereotypes, such as are terests always lay in science begin to real-
attached to other, more well-known occu- ize that unless they remain for a Ph.D. they
pations like law or medicine. (The ab- will be doomed to careers as laboratory
sence of such stereotypes or public knowl- technicians.
edge of the field is no doubt important in No later than the end of the second year
restricting occupational choices in the area (and often earlier for those who hold assist-

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292 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF SOCIOLOGY
antships) the student finds himself spend- At the end of the second year he is think-
ing a great deal of time in the department ing quite seriously of staying in physiology
laboratories,working on his own or his pro- and can even envision turning down a
fessors' research, and is thrown into con- place in medical school if one materializes
tinual day-and-night contact with "the (if, indeed, he has even bothered to apply
clique." This is a loosely organized group a third time). He feels not only that physi-
of those whose work is centered around the ology has something to offer him but that
laboratory; in no way exclusive, entrance it would be a terrible waste of time to
into it is accomplished simply by being "start over," to give up what he has learned
around and is an automatic accompaniment and begin again in a new field. Also, his
of the laboratory work of the advanced newly acquired ideology gives him reasons
student. Conversations with third- and to discount the prestige of the medical pro-
fourth-year students in this group take fession, a profession he now sees in terms
place at work and during "coffee breaks," of an invidious comparison between "art"
and the student thus becomes integrated and "science"; this ideology also serves to
into a group whose major concerns are the insulate him against the appeals of other
problems and techniques of physiological sciences whose importance is deprecated.
research and the job and career prospects All these elements combine to produce in
of the young physiologist. His interest in these students an identification with the
the science is reinforced, and he begins to field of physiology and to lessen identifica-
develop specific notions as to the kind of tion with other possible work statuses. At
occupational future he might expect as a some point (for the medically oriented, the
physiologist, the kinds of jobs available, point at which they must decide whether to
and the ways in which one gets them. try for medical school again) they become
These changes are strengthened in the aware of the new identity and accept it,
informal apprenticeship in which he now perhaps with the proviso that this accept-
gets involved with professors in the course ance is only temporary and that after the
of beginning his thesis or working on their Ph.D. they will again pursue the medical
projects. He is told more of the beauties degree. Behavior is now reorientedin terms
of physiological research and is often able of what is proper and desirable for the
to model his behavior after that of a pro- bearer of such an identity, in terms of the
fessor or of an ideal constructed of the motives they consider appropriate for the
characteristics of several professors, learn- kind of persons they have become. Whereas
ing through observation of them the kind first-year students are unable to under-
of tasks which physiologists in fact per- stand, for example, the reasons why some
form. He learns the facts of their careers of their seniors choose an academic career
and becomes aware of the jobs for which while others turn to a career in commercial
he will qualify as a physiologist in univer- research, the older student has acquired in
sities, government, and the research de- interaction with teachers and still older
partments of pharmaceuticalconcerns. Fre- students a set of explanations (motives) to
quently, he is deliberately groomed by the be attached to such behavior, and it is in
professor for some particular kind of job, terms of these that he now orients his own
either because it is felt that he "has what behavior. He perceives his own dispositions
it takes" or because it is felt necessary to in terms of these group-assigned motives
point him toward a less difficult job but and makes his choices accordingly, choos-
one which he will be able to handle. (Some ing the academic life if he feels himself
students are thus encouraged to take tech- more interested in "science," commercial
nician jobs after the M.S. rather than try research if he is more interested in
for the Ph.D.) C"money."

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 IDENTIFICATION WITH AN OCCUPATION 293
In these later years of graduate work the have additional training and/or an M.S.
professorsbegin to worry about placing the degree. The choice of graduate training is
student, who comes himself (a consequence thus realistically oriented to a specific and
of his new identification) to take the prob- limited goal.
lem seriously. It is probable (although we The pattern for the younger group be-
do not know this) that the seriousness of gins with a year of courses devoted to im-
the student's attachment to his new iden- proving one's market price. Many students
tity influences the degree to which his hold research or teaching assistantships,
teachers work on placing him satisfactorily. which do not begin to match financially
Sponsorship activities by professors obli- what they might have had had they left
gate the student to do well in the position school. The assistantships prevent them
he will be put into, thus further strengthen- from finishing work for the M.S. in one
ing the new identity as it relates to position year, and most require a second. But they
in the formal and informal arrangements leave as an open question whether they will
of the occupational world. continue work for the degree or move on
The man who wanted to become a doc- (or back) to the far greater financial re-
tor is now the man who is a physiologist. wards of industry, for they will have lost
Even in those few cases in which the M.D. no time by spending the year in school
is still desired, there is no thought of enter- without completing the degree and so feel
ing medical practice; rather, it is seen as a free to leave without doing so. They tend
necessary preparation for research in hu- to reckon the benefits of their graduate
man, as well as animal, physiology. work in terms of courses finished and new
knowledge gained rather than degrees. New
THE ENGINEERS
problems and skills interest them only to
The engineers have made a firm choice the extent that they are seen as useful in
of occupation long before reachinggraduate the pursuit of their basic aims.
school; college and, in some cases, indus- In short, this move does not commit
trial experiences attendant on this choice them to anything beyond a semester or
have produced a very strong identification year of school, which they expect will have
with engineering. They have acquired a immediate practical results; when the re-
characteristic ideology, centering around sults are unsatisfactory, or the immediate
the notion of the engineer as a logical goal is achieved, they leave. Most leave at
thinker, and have internalized the typical the end of a year, having accomplished
motives of the group, primarily "making their purposes; this is suggested by the
money" and "getting opportunity for ad- fact that, although there are thirteen first-
vancement." They expect to spend their year students, there are none at all in the
careers in the field, with the qualification second year. A few who have comparative-
that they may move, as engineers, into the ly well-paying researchjobs stay on, taking
higher ranks of industrial management; a a minimal amount of course work. They
few older men are teachers of engineering are interested, although not greatly, in get-
who have found a Ph.D. necessary for fur- ting a degree; more importantly, they like
ther academic promotion. The others either their jobs and feel that they offer as much
are just out of college or have had a year in money and in opportunity to meet im-
or two in industry beyond this when they portant people in industry and become
enter graduate school, feeling on the basis known through publication as does an in-
of knowledge of the job market (derived dustrial position. So they keep making
from work experience or interviews with these short-term commitments year after
employer representatives) that they will be year without feeling constrained to do so,
able to command a higher salary if they for it would cost them nothing to leave.

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294 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF SOCIOLOGY
When they get the degree, they have be- THE PHILOSOPHERS
come specialists in some particular area, The philosophy students typically
know the people in it, and get jobs as tech- choose their field of graduate work as being
nical experts. the least bad among a set of undesirable
A few others are tempted by the aca- possibilities. Sometime during college, and
demic life sufficiently to continue as teach- in some cases even earlier, they have chosen
ing assistants until they finish their Mas- as an important basic identification that of
ter's work, at which time they may well be the "intellectual." From the perspective of
offered faculty positions, since engineering this identity their task is to be aware of
schools find it difficult to keep younger and interested in the whole field of human
faculty, not being able to match the sal- intellectual endeavor, from science through
aries common in industry. They appear aesthetics to metaphysics and ethics, to
during this period to have come to like the keep an open and inquiring mind, and to
relatively relaxed atmosphere of the cam- avoid the dangers and rigidities of speciali-
pus and to have taken over the lower finan- zation. Philosophy seems to offer the great-
cial and class-mobility goals of academic est opportunity to maintain such a stance
life, so that industry no longer appears as vis-a-vis the world of knowledge.
attractive. And, in any case, if they find Although they profess to be uninterested
that academic life is not so desirable as in jobs and financial matters, and do in
they had imagined it, they can easily find fact show little apparent interest, they
an industrial position at an appropriate seem to consider a higher degree necessary.
level. Thus the choice of fields is, they feel,
There appears to be little in the way of forced on them by the organization of uni-
organized peer relations, perhaps because versities into departments, in one of which
the conditions of their work do not draw they must take their Ph.D. (They differ in
them into touch with one another. The stu- this from intellectuals of earlier periods,
dents are typically employed on semiauton- who might as easily have gravitated toward
omous kinds of projects which do not pro- the then socially acceptable role of the un-
vide situations in which they might meet attached intellectual.)
and become friendly. It may also be true They enter graduate work with back-
that the fact that they feel themselves to grounds ranging from the natural sciences
be in school only temporarily and always to the arts and retain interests in these
have an eye on the outside world mitigates fields along with others they have become
against the development of such groups. aware of since their commitment to the in-
The engineers, then, maintain their basic tellectual life. Some made this commitment
identification with engineering,simply add- early enough to escape ever having special-
ing to their abilities during their further ized at all. Their course work can easily
schooling in order that they may have a cover an equally wide range, so that they
greater range of better jobs available to are not constrained by departmental re-
them as engineers, in industry and possibly
quirements to narrow the focus of their
in universities. Relations with professors
intellectual activity and concentrate on
are friendly but not close; where a close
relation exists, it is one between younger some particular specialty. They thus are
and older professionals rather than between able to maintain the over-all intellectual
teacher and student. The older man's spon- identification and avoid being shunted into
sorship is consideredhelpful but not in any activities which might have as their conse-
way essential to getting a good job. The quence the development of a specialized
students' identification and goals do not identity.
change much and can be maintained in The formal and informal relationshipsof
school or out. faculty and students, and of students with

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 IDENTIFICATION WITH AN OCCUPATION 295

one another, do not operate to make a co- of intellectual activity across which they
hesive group of the department but rather may spread themselves.
to provide conditions under which little Because philosophy suits the purpose of
essential change in identification will occur. avoiding specialization so well, the students
Student-faculty relations are largely con- come increasinglyto identify with it as they
fined to the classroom and office consulta- continue graduate work, viewing it as the
tions over classwork, and the student sees academic identity which least constrains
little and learns little of his professors'pro- their intellectual pursuits; for this reason
fessional aims and activities; the professor, they do not switch fields as one might ex-
likewise, does not come to know students pect, given their wide-ranging interests. In
well enough to take a realistically active addition, like the physiologists, they have
role in the shaping of their interests, even after a few years made a sizable investment
if he should so desire. Students do not in of time, if nothing else, in a philosophy de-
these circumstances develop any picture of gree and feel that it would be wasteful to
their probable future as philosophers; nor begin again on a degree in another field;
does this trouble them, for they are deter- they do not question, however, the neces-
mined resolutely to avoid the effects of sity of getting the degree, as well they
such institutional commitments as jobs. might, given their views on jobs and spe-
They expect to have them, probably in col- cialization.
lege teaching, but consider such details un- As they approach graduation, it becomes
important. In the same way, they do not clear that they will have to get jobs some-
see their teachers at work and thus never where and engage in some kind of work.
learn in the detail that is crucial just what This comes as something of a surprise, for
it is that a philosopher does and so do neither faculty nor student associates talk
not come to identify themselves with any about such things, and the matter has
particular set of tasks. never before been brought forcibly to their
Their student work does not provide the attention. Their professors provide rela-
conditions in which they must come to- tively little sponsorship, and so they are
gether in continuous association-the not constrained to remain in the field be-
equivalent of the physiologist's laboratory cause of obligations to such sponsors.
is missing-and there is in fact on cohesive Faced with the problem of getting jobs,
student grouping into which younger stu- they do realize that their work futures
dents are systematically recruited by older must be seen in terms of their identification
ones. Instead, they tend to find their by others as philosophers,and they tend to
friends scattered through the university, on accept this fact and incorporate it into
the basis of those interests which override their own self-images. In looking for jobs,
the boundaries of academic specialties: they become aware of a number of kinds
political and social ethics, art and music, of positions besides that of member of a
the philosophy of science, and so on. Their college philosophy faculty which they
primary group participation thus does not might hold; for example, depending on
channel interest into the confines of a spe- their other interests, they may find it pos-
cialized occupational identity but rather re- sible to compete for teaching posts in tan-
inforces its flowing into areas which cut gential fields such as literature, research
across the traditional dividing lines be- jobs as specialists in logic, and so on. They
tween disciplines and academic identities, are thus able to maintain a nonspecialized
reinforces their concern with maintaining a task orientation even upon entering the
"balanced" as opposed to a "specialized" labor market.
approach to knowledge. If anything, these These heavily intellectually oriented stu-
associations (as well as the professors' dents become Ph.D.'s with a less special-
example) help them to discover new areas ized job potential than most but, except in

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296 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF SOCIOLOGY
this respect, do not change their basic Movement into the academic structure,
identification much during their graduate through matriculation as a graduate stu-
training, rather deepening their commit- dent, sets the investment mechanism go-
ment to the intellectual life and incorporat- ing.8 Such a move is an investment of an
ing consciously more of the implications of irreplaceable quantum of time in a partic-
this commitment. The attachment to the ular career, and not to follow that career
identity is built from this commitment and means a loss of the investment. It is a first
from the recognition that their jobs, what- step up a ladder, and a misstep necessitates
ever they may be, will be gotten as a result a new start and thus a falling-behindin the
of their academic work in the field of phi- competition. Such a mechanism works only
losophy. where general cultural expectations empha-
size age-gradedmobility (as they do in this
DISCUSSION country) and where movement out of the
Our analysis suggests the operation of academic structure entirely or into some
certain specific mechanisms producing other specialty would actually prove costly
changes in identity. These mechanisms, as in this respect. The case of the engineers is
our introductory statements indicate, con- instructive, for leaving graduate school
sist of ways in which participation in or- costs them nothing, and they feel free to
ganized groups of various kinds affects ex- leave at any time; they show little change
perience and, through this, self-image. in their occupational identification. The
Among the mechanisms operating in the opposite is true of the philosophers and
cases under consideration are the develop- physiologists who, in differing degree, do
ment of problem interest and pride in new make this kind of investment. Once in the
skills, the acquisition of professional ideol- graduate program, they must continue
ogy, investment, the internalization of mo- through until the degree if they are not to
tives, and sponsorship. lose precious time by having to "start
Among graduate students changes in over"; and, once they have the degree,
participation are the result of movement they must remain what they have become
into the orbits of three kinds of groups: in order to cash in on their investment. To
the informal peer group or student clique, the extent that this is true changes take
the apprentice relationship with profes- place in their identification, particularly in
sors, and the formal academic structure of the area of identification with particular
work institutions and positions within
the university, involving courses, grades,
them.
credits, and degrees. Each such movement
Movement into the formal academic
generates characteristic kinds of experi-
structure places the person in classroom
ences for the person and consequently cre-
contact with men teaching materials new
ates a potential for change in or develop-
to him and teaching them, owing to the
ment of occupational identification. Com-
different aims of graduate training, in a
parison of our three cases indicates the
quite different way. Matters presented to
conditions under which these mechanisms
undergraduatesas fact are now interpreted
come into play and the way they produce
as problematic, as requiring further re-
work identification in three of the areas
search, and the person's interest in these
outlined elsewhere: attachment to occupa-
problems is aroused. New work techniques
tional title, task commitment, and commit-
are presented, and the student is faced
ment to particularwork organizationsand/
or positions in them.7 8 See the discussion by Eli Ginzberg and as-
sociates in Occupational Choice: An Approach to
7 These are discussed by Becker and Carper a General Theory (New York: Columbia Univer-
(ibid.). sity Press, 1951), pp. 193-96.

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 IDENTIFICATION WITH AN OCCUPATION 297

with the challenge of mastering them. Thus over for his own use. Thus armed, he is
constrained by the school situation, per- able to say why one should be interested
haps with the opportunity to observe his in his field rather than others and why it is
professors making use of these skills, he the best of all possible pursuits. Both the
acquires them and the interests they pre- physiologists and the engineers have this
suppose and so becomes associated in the strongly, the former acquiring it in their
eyes of others with the particular work intensive interaction with students and
identity they symbolize. Since his future faculty, the latter having already developed
depends in part on how others identify him, it in their undergraduatework. The philos-
he is pushed in the direction of assuming ophers have no such specialized ideology
the identity that goes with his new inter- tying them to the field of philosophy and
ests and skills in order that he may satis- correspondingly little attachment to occu-
factorily meet the expectations of others in pational title, a consequence of the fact
the work world. This kind of identification that they do not participate in cliques of
process occurs most strongly where tech- fellow-philosophersand have relatively lit-
niques are highly specialized and there is tle informal interaction with teachers.
opportunity to see professors using them The internalization of motives,9 most
and where the graduate program keeps in- effective in producing attachment to insti-
terests clearly pointed in one direction, tutional positions associated with a given
both being the case with the physiologists work identity, seems to operate primarily
and to a smaller degree with the philos- in clique and apprenticeship relations. As
ophers, whose graduate program does not the person learns about the kinds of posi-
so direct their interests and who have no tions he may expect after finishing his
techniques to learn and no chance to watch schooling, he also learns why people want
their professors at work. (The engineers these things. The gossip of the student
simply maintain and deepen previous inter- clique, as well as the talk of his teachers
ests and skills, and there is little change in about "placing" him, provides him with a
identification, except in the case of those set of reasons for wanting the things which
who become teachers, where the interest will be available to him and for making
aroused by teaching experience is influen- choices between them, in the terms of the
tial.) This mechanism of development of professional identity he is assuming. He
interest and acquisition of skill thus oper- becomes able to explain and understand
ates to produce identification in the area of the choices and acts of others and thus ac-
task commitment. quires the means of developing impulses
The mechanism of acquisitian of ideol- and translating them into socialized action
ogy, which operates to produce commit- in the sphere of work. Among the groups
ment to occupational title, appears to be studied this is clearest for the physiologists,
closely related to participation in informal who have the greatest degree of clique in-
student groups and, secondarily, to class- teraction and apprenticeship.
room and informalparticipationwith teach- The structural functions of the sponsor-
ers. It comes into operation when the per- ship10pattern have been explored in many
son begins to raise questions, or have them studies, in which it has been described as a
raised for him, about the worth of the ac- means by which persons low in an occupa-
tivity he is engaged in, when he asks him- tional hierarchy are recommendedby more
self why he is doing this rather than some- highly placed persons for better positions;
thing else. He looks for answers, finds them 9 Foote, op. cit.
in the developed professional ideology he
10 Hall, "The Stages of the Medical Career,"
becomes aware of in interaction with older op. cit., and Becker, "Some Contingencies of the
students and professors, and takes them Professional Dance Musician's Career," op. cit.

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298 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF SOCIOLOGY
it is seen as functional for the organization state of today's job market in their field,
in recruiting able and loyal people and for need much sponsorship from their profes-
the individual in achieving upward mobil- sors, and there is thus little opportunity
ity. We wish here to call attention to its for the mechanism to operate; there is con-
social-psychological functions, to the way sequently little change in their identifica-
it operates in the process of change and tions in graduate school (except among the
development in identification. Sponsorship teachers, where this may be a factor).
involves a complex net of responsibilities. It is through the operation of mecha-
The sponsor is responsible to his colleagues nisms such as those we have described,
for the performanceof the person he spon- made up of changes in participation in or-
sors, who is in turn responsible to him for ganized groups and transformationsof vari-
his behavior. When a person is sponsored ous aspects of the self-image, that occupa-
into a first position in the work world after tional identifications develop and change.
leaving graduate school, he feels obligated Our comparisonof the three cases indicates
to act as a true member of the occupation that change in identity, occurring in differ-
and to remain within it, because of the ent degree in each, may be explained in
trust placed in him by his sponsor. The terms of the coming-into-play of these
creation of this obligation solidifies occupa- mechanisms and that lack of change is un-
tional attitudes and loyalties-the individ- derstandablein terms of the failure of such
ual feels that he must remain what he has mechanisms to operate because of the ab-
become in order not to let down his spon- sence of the necessary structural conditions
sor-and thus strengthens the identifica- and appropriate individual perspectives.
tion with occupational title and ideology. This being so, it constitutes in some sense
The physiologists benefit from - a fairly a validation of our original model and sug-
well-operating sponsorship system and ex-
gests that a similar mode of analysis may
hibit correspondinglystrong identification,
prove generally useful in the understand-
while the philosophersdo not get such ener-
getic sponsorship, operating much more on ing of changes in individual identity in
their own in the search for jobs, and show the course of group experience.
as a result much weaker identification with COMMUNITYSTUDIES, INC., KANSAS CITY
their field. The engineers do not, in the CHICAGO

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