Identity and relationship frames in medical leadership communication
ISSN: 1751-1879
Article publication date: 6 November 2020
Issue publication date: 7 December 2020
Abstract
Purpose
A frame is an interpretive scheme of meanings that guide participants’ interpretations of social interaction and their actions in social situations (Goffman, 1974). By identifying early-career physicians’ identity and relationship frames, this study aims to produce information about socially constructed ways to interpret leadership communication in a medical context.
Design/methodology/approach
The data consist of essays written by young physicians (n = 225) during their specialization training and workplace learning period. The analysis was conducted applying constructive grounded theory.
Findings
Three identity and relationship frames were identified: the expertise frame, the collegial frame and the system frame. These frames arranged the meanings of being a physician in a leader-follower relationship differently.
Originality/value
The findings suggest that identity questions discussed recently in medical leadership studies can be partly answered with being aware of and understanding socially constructed and somewhat contradictory frames.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors declare that this manuscript is original. It has not been published before and is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
The authors thank Professor Elina Suutala for her vitally important contribution in planning the research and her pertinent comments on planning the manuscript.
Citation
Mikkola, L. and Parviainen, H. (2020), "Identity and relationship frames in medical leadership communication", Leadership in Health Services, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 429-443. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHS-05-2020-0028
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited