Elizabeth Wardle examines and discusses the struggles and failures that an individual may encounter within a new workplace community in her article “Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces.” She elaborates on all three aspects of writing and working in new workplaces in order to determine how an individual must act to fit into a new workplace environment.
Wardle considers identity as a factor that contributes to writing in a new workplace, explaining that individuals must alter and reconstruct their identity in order to properly fit into a new workplace. Wardle states that at times, “participation in new communities requires accepting oneself identities that are at odds with the values of other communities to which one belongs.” She then goes on to discuss that individuals can “choose to participate in some aspects of a new community and not others.” While she explains that this can lead to marginalization within that community, it is important to note that if an individual does not modify their identity and only chooses to follow some aspects of the community, they would most likely not be considered part of that community. As discussed in one of my previous blog posts, a discourse community has a set of requirements that need to be met in order to be considered a member. Wardle is asserting that it is possible to be part of a community, without fulfilling all of the requirements necessary.
I believe that Alan, the individual studied by Wardle, is not a prime example of what it means to learn to write in new workplaces. Alan displays narcissistic tendencies, putting himself above nearly everybody else. In addition to this, the workspace in which he was new did a very poor job of outlining his role in his position, confirming Alan’s beliefs that he was superior. Alan’s failure to learn to belong in a new workplace is an extreme one. In order to identify the reality of how an individual fits into a new workplace, more research must be conducted on individuals who are not as narcissistic as Alan. The reason why this is important is because Alan was never part of the community he worked in. While he worked in this environment for some time, he was never fully immersed in the discourse community. Therefore, this demonstration of identity and authority is one that is not fully accurate and reliable. It is likely that an individual who saw themselves on the same level as others would be more willing to follow the requirements of a discourse community, making it easier for them to fulfill their role. On the other hand, if they did not engage in all aspects of the community, they would have realized that they did not belong to the community and most likely would have left the workspace.
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