This is an award under the Grants for Improving Doctoral Dissertation Research Program. This study will examine self-conceptions of work and achievement among academic physicists. Subjects are selected to vary by stage of career and by the type of university in which they are employed. Theoretical issues include how work setting shapes personal identity. Data come from 60 subjects, each of whom will supply information by participating in a lengthy interview, completing a questionnaire, and supplying a curriculum vitae. %%% This research will contribute to sociological understanding of careers, academic professions, and academic and scientific institutions. In addition to the scientific gains to be achieved by the research, this award will materially assist a highly promising student in completing research for the Ph.D. dissertation. Thus it contributes to the future scientific manpower of the national and the thorough training of the next generation of social scientists.
