A new Administrative Science Quarterly study with Bocconi’s Giulia Cappellaro examines how professional identities emerge when no comparable occupation exists. Using NASA archives on early astronauts, the authors show that the astronaut identity was built through “layered accretion,” not differentiation: first pilot, then engineer, then scientist. These layers formed hierarchies, with pilots remaining central. The study offers lessons for today’s emerging roles, from AI experts to sustainability managers, where identities are still being built through selection, power and recognition.

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