This paper studies how certified nursing assistants (CNAs), as members of a low-status occupational group, engage in identity reconstruction as they attempt to alter their marginalized position within long-term care organizations. Micro-level process data consist of 160 hours of participant observations of a professional development programme for CNAs and 130 in-depth interviews with participants and members of their adjacent occupational groups. The findings show that the identity reconstruction process involved four micro-processes: 1) recognizing the dominance of marginalized identity narrative, 2) seeking an upgraded identity narrative, 3) grappling with validation and dissociation when enacting the upgraded identity narrative, 4) experiencing disillusion when struggling to sustain upgraded identity narrative. By capturing these micro-processes, this research contributes to the literature on identity reconstruction by conceptualizing how identity reconstruction by a low-status occupational group unfolds as a precarious, multifaceted journey characterized by temporary empowerment, disillusion and, ultimately, the undermining of the very upgraded identity narrative. By attending to the relational nature of identity reconstruction, a second contribution of this paper is that is shows how early affirmations of an identity narrative, while initially empowering, may create a false sense of establishment that deters further proactive engagement in asserting and negotiating the new identity narrative within broader organizational contexts. Taking together, this study develops a more comprehensive understanding of identity reconstruction processes and the challenges encountered by members of low-status occupational groups.
