Title: A discursive approach to the identity work of highly skilled transnational professionals in ambivalent contexts

Authors: Mette Zoelner

Addresses: School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

Abstract: The paper investigates how a discursive approach can contribute to contextual comprehension of the identities of transnational professionals, in the sense of both entrepreneurs and employees. A discursive approach allows for conceptualising the transnational societal and historical context in which the careers of transnational professionals unfold and it also gives insight into how transnational professionals invest, compose and/or resist identities that are available in a given particular discursive landscape. The argument is illustrated by an empirical analysis of a pilot study of engineers of Moroccan origin in Denmark. The paper also contributes to the ongoing discussion of how a social constructionist epistemology raises complementary questions and produces insights that are new to the extant IHRM literature.

Keywords: discursive approach; discursive landscape; transnational context; social constructionist epistemology; transnational professionals; entrepreneurs and engineers; identity work; Denmark; Morocco.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2025.144641

European Journal of International Management, 2025 Vol.25 No.3/4, pp.625 - 644

Received: 07 Jun 2023
Accepted: 04 Apr 2024
Published online: 25 Feb 2025 *

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