Is age just a number? Credibility and identity of younger academics in UK business schools
通过访谈英国商学院年轻学者，研究他们如何构建身份、应对年龄带来的可信度挑战，以及如何克服边缘化感知，为支持年轻学者提供实用建议。
In this article, we use discursive qualitative interviews to explore identity challenges and opportunities experienced by younger academics in the business school environment. We frame identity construction and the influence of age as a reflexive and subjective process. We establish links between identity study and critical reflexivity and advocate for their benefits in supporting young academics in unpacking and navigating their fragile academic identities. Our analysis generates important insights into the sense-making process, where identity norms and definitions of young academics influence their engagement in shaping their identity and the extent to which they achieve confidence and credibility. Where internal and external perceptions of required identities were problematic, imposter syndrome arose, presented as accounts of marginalisation. We position the interplay of identity regulation and identity work as shaping the consequences of what were sometimes precarious outcomes of self-identity. Alongside this conceptual contribution, we provide practical avenues for support initiatives that may help young academics build legitimacy and overcome perceptions of marginalisation.