Young Lesbians Explore Careers and Work Landscapes in an Australian Culture

Abstract

This article draws on research from a doctoral dissertation that explored and theorized the lived experiences of a small group of young lesbian wimmin's post-initial coming-out within an Australian context using Memory Work methodology and a social constructivist framework. In this article, particular attention is paid to the young wimmins' work/career landscapes and the impact their post-initial coming-out lesbian identities had on their positioning and understanding of self and their positioning by significant others within their respective work landscapes. Factors that the participants used to define who they were in relation to their respective post-initial coming-out lesbian identities and how these identities informed both the decisions they made about career choices and their interactions with significant others in a workplace setting are also presented. Participants were between the ages of 23 and 33 and had self-identified as lesbian for between two and ten years. An important finding was that workplace relations impacted a post-initial coming-out lesbian identity and affected the way in which participants perceived and positioned themselves within their workplace settings, as well as in the wider context of society.