Fagg, Roger John (2024) When volunteers become managers: identity work at a heritage railway. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.
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Abstract
Volunteer-using organisations are complex and variously organised, ranging from those managed and led by paid workers to those that are entirely volunteer run. Despite much research recognising the difference between volunteering and paid employment, when discussing management processes, voluntary organisations are frequently likened to those with paid employees, with much attention given to volunteer management as a paid role. However, in practice, there may be significant differences across various forms of not-for-profit organisation, including the ways in which volunteers become managers as well as their management experiences. My thesis investigates the identity work undertaken by volunteers as they transition to becoming managers at a heritage railway, taking on responsibilities in a safety-critical operating environment that is similar to the national rail network, and controlled by the same statutory regulator. The structure of the heritage railway is complex requiring volunteers to undertake a range of activities to cover all aspects of running the railway. Using an ethnographic approach as an insider participant observer, and a dialogical narrative analysis framework, I explore the identity work of participants volunteering in management roles. I examine different volunteer positions at three locations – stations, workshops and the locomotive footplate, and find that volunteers transitioning to an activity that involves responsibilities for managing others demonstrate a rich variety of approaches to their transition as well as to identity re-construction. This study explores the complexity of volunteer entry into the organisation; the different narratives of progression by volunteers into volunteer management positions and that tensions around boundaries are significant in the identity re-construction work of volunteers holding multiple positions. This study contributes new insights into some previously under-researched areas of volunteer management by other volunteers.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Thesis |
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| Copyright Holders: | The copyright of this thesis rests with the author, who asserts his/her right to be known as such according to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. No dealing with the thesis contrary to the copyright or moral rights of the author is permitted. |
| Depositing User: | Acquisitions And Metadata |
| Date Deposited: | 13 Nov 2024 14:02 |
| Last Modified: | 13 Nov 2024 15:36 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/54540 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.18743/PUB.00054540 |
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