Communication Studies, Department of
Date of this Version
2012
Citation
Vorell, M., & Steimel, S. (2012). Socializing the Nomad: Problematizing the Linear Socialization Model in Regards to Profession Specific Temporary Workers. Ohio Communication Journal, 50, 151-179.
Abstract
While growth in the majority of economic areas has slowed greatly over the past few years, the percentage of individuals moving into temporary labor has seen double-digit expansion. However, the understanding of how temporary workers switch from organizational outsiders to insiders has remained largely unexplored as traditional socialization scholarship has focused primarily on linear and sequential steps. This study challenged the nature of the socialization process by analyzing how substitute teachers, as profession-specific temporary workers, assimilated in their work arrangement. We concluded that instead of the linear model dedicated to organisational members with long-term contracts, socialization models encompassing substitute teachers would best be described as cyclical.