Abstract
The meaning of professional agency in the context of professional learning, as well as in the development of working practices and work organisations, is pivotal. The role of creativity is also crucial for long-term economic growth in the current global environment, which is characterised by rapid changes in both technology and economy. Hence, it is important to study the relationship between professional agency and creativity. In this chapter, we explore professional agency and creativity within two Finnish information technology organisations. This study’s data include interviews with staff members and open-ended questionnaire responses to the question ‘What is creativity in your work?’. We conducted a qualitative data-driven thematic analysis and a theory-driven analysis. Based on the data, creativity was divided into five themes, with particular choices and decisions (i.e. manifestations of professional agency) being found to be linked to each of those themes. Based on the findings, it appears that creativity and agency are strongly related, although their manifestations depend on both the definition of creativity and the space and environment where the phenomena occur. On the one hand, agency manifests as a prerequisite for creativity, while on the other hand, it is an outcome of creativity. In addition, creativity and professional agency can also be seen as synonymous.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Agnoli, S., Corazza, G. E., & Runco, M. A. (2016). Estimating creativity with multiple-measurement approach within scientific and artistic domains. Creativity Research Journal, 28(2), 171–176.
Anderson, N., Potocnik, K., & Zhou, J. (2014). Innovation and creativity in organizations: A state-of-the-science review, prospective commentary, and guiding framework. Journal of Management, 40(5), 1297–1333.
Billett, S. (2006). Work, change and workers. Dordrecht: Springer.
Billett, S. (2011). Subjectivity, self and personal agency in learning through and for work. In M. Malloch, L. Cairns, K. Evans, & B. O’Connor (Eds.), The international handbook of workplace learning (pp. 60–72). London: Sage.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.
Casey, C. (2006). Workers, subjectivity and decent work. In S. Billett, T. Fenwick, & M. Somerville (Eds.), Work, subjectivity and learning. Understanding learning through working life (pp. 229–246). Dordrecht: Springer.
Collin, K. (2002). Development engineers’ conceptions of learning at work. Studies in Continuing Education, 24(2), 33–52.
Collin, K. (2005). Experience and shared practice – Design engineers’ learning at work. Jyväskylä Studies in Education, Psychology and Social Research 261. University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
Collin, K., Paloniemi, S., & Herranen, S. (2015a). INPROF: Promoting teamwork processes and interprofessional collaboration in emergency work (2010–2012). Studies in Continuing Education, 37(2), 142–156.
Collin, K., Paloniemi, S., & Vähäsantanen, K. (2015b). Multiple forms of professional agency for (non)crafting of work practices in a hospital organization. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, 5(3a), 63–83.
Collin, K., Herranen, S., & Riivari, E. (2017). Which aspects frame professional agency and creativity in information technology work? Accepted in Business Creativity & The Creative Economy.
Dumas, D., Schmidt, L. C., & Alexander, P. A. (2016). Predicting creative problem solving in engineering design. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 21, 50–66.
Edwards, A., Montecinos, C., Cádiz, J., Jorrett, P., Manriquez, L., & Rojas, C. (2017). Working relationally on complex problems: Building a capacity for joint agency in new forms of work. In M. Goller & S. Paloniemi (Eds.), Agency at work. Agentic perspective on professional learning and development (pp. 229–247). Cham: Springer.
Engeström, Y. (2011). From design experiments to formative interventions. Theory & Psychology, 21(5), 598–628.
Eteläpelto, A., Vähäsantanen, K., Hökkä, P., & Paloniemi, S. (2013). What is agency? Conceptualizing professional agency at work. Educational Research Review, 10, 45–65.
Eteläpelto, A., Vähäsantanen, K., Hökkä, P., & Paloniemi, S. (2014). Identity and agency in professional learning. In S. Billett, C. Harteis, & H. Gruber (Eds.), International handbook of research in professional and practice-based learning (pp. 645–672). Dordrecht: Springer.
Fenwick, T. (2006). Escaping/becoming subjects: Learning to work the boundaries in a boundaryless work. In S. Billett, T. Fenwick, & M. Somerville (Eds.), Work, subjectivity and learning (pp. 21–36). Dordrecht: Springer.
Fenwick, T., & Somerville, M. (2006). Work, subjectivity and learning: Prospects and issues. In S. Billett, T. Fenwick, & M. Somerville (Eds.), Work, subjectivity and learning (pp. 247–265). Dordrecht: Springer.
Fischer, G., & Shipman, F. (2011). Collaborative design rationale and social creativity in cultures of participation. Human Technology, 7(2), 164–187.
Forsman, P., Collin, K., & Eteläpelto, A. (2014). The practice of professional agency and the emergence of collaborative creativity in developmental staff meetings. In C. Harteis, A. Rausch, & J. Seifried (Eds.), Discourses on professional learning: On the boundary between learning and working (pp. 45–74). Dordrecht: Springer.
Glăveanu, V. P. (2010). Creativity in context: The ecology of creativity evaluations and practices in an artistic craft. Psychological Studies, 55(4), 339–350.
Glăveanu, V. P. (2011). How are we creative together? Comparing sociocognitive and sociocultural answers. Theory & Psychology, 21(4), 473–492.
Glăveanu, V. P. (2015). From individual agency to co-agency. In C. W. Gruber, M. Clark, S. H. Klempe, & J. Valsiner (Eds.), Constraints of agency. Explorations of theory in everyday life (pp. 245–265). New York: Springer.
Glăveanu, V. P., & Sierra, Z. (2015). Creativity and epistemologies of the South. Culture & Psychology, 21(3), 340–358.
Goller, M., & Billett, S. (2014). Agentic behaviour at work: Crafting learning experiences. In C. Harteis, A. Rausch, & J. Seifried (Eds.), Discourses on professional learning: On the boundary between learning and working (pp. 24–44). Dordrecht: Springer.
Goller, M., & Harteis, C. (2017). Human agency at work: Towards a clarification and operationalisation of the concept. In M. Goller & S. Paloniemi (Eds.), Agency at work. Agentic perspective on professional learning and development (pp. 85–103). Cham: Springer.
Hargadon, A. B., & Bechky, B. A. (2006). When collections of creatives become creative collectives: A field study of problem solving at work. Organization Science, 17(4), 484–500.
Harteis, C., & Goller, M. (2014). New skills for new jobs: Work agency as a necessary condition for successful lifelong learning. In S. Billett, T. Halttunen, & M. Koivisto (Eds.), Promoting, assessing, recognizing and certifying lifelong learning: International perspectives and practices (pp. 37–56). Dordrecht: Springer.
Hökkä, P., Eteläpelto, A., & Rasku-Puttonen, H. (2012). The professional agency of teacher educators amid academic discourses. Journal of Education for Teaching, 38(1), 83–102.
Kim, M., & Shin, Y. (2015). Collective efficacy as a mediator between cooperative group norms and group positive affect and team creativity. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 32(3), 693–716.
Kristiansen, M. H. (2014). Agency as an empirical concept. An assessment of theory and operationalization (Working Paper No.: 2014/9). Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI).
Littleton, K., & Miell, D. (2004). Learning to collaborate, collaborating to learn: Editorial introduction. In K. Littleton, D. Miell, & D. Faulkner (Eds.), Learning to collaborate, collaborating to learn (pp. 1–5). New York: Nova.
Littleton, K., Taylor, S., & Eteläpelto, A. (2012). Special issue introduction: Creativity and creative work in contemporary working contexts. Vocations and Learning Studies in Vocational and Professional Education, 5(1), 1–4.
Messmann, G., & Mulder, R. (2017). Proactive employees: The relationship between work-related reflection and innovative work behaviour. In M. Goller & S. Paloniemi (Eds.), Agency at work. Agentic perspective on professional learning and development (pp. 141–159). Cham: Springer.
Oddane, T. (2014). The collective creativity of academics and practitioners innovation projects. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 8(1), 33–57.
Paloniemi, S., & Collin, K. (2012). Discursive power and creativity in inter-professional work. Vocations and Learning, 5(1), 23–40.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Priestley, M., Edwards, R., Miller, K., & Priestley, A. (2012). Teacher agency in curriculum making: Agents of change and spaces for manoeuvre. Curriculum Inquiry, 42(2), 191–214.
Rahman, Z., De Clercq, D., Wright, B. A., & Bouckenooghe, D. (2016, August 5–9). Explaining employee creativity: The roles of knowledge-sharing efforts and organizational context. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Anaheim, USA.
Rosso, B. (2016, August 5–9). Freedom in constraint: Understanding how constraints enhance and Inhibit R&D Team Creativity. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Anaheim, USA.
Runco, M. (2014). Creativity. Theory and themes: Research, development and practice. New York: Elsevier.
Sannino, A. (2010). Teachers’ talk of experiencing: Conflict, resistance and agency. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(4), 838–844.
Sawyer, K. (2012). Extending sociocultural theory to group creativity. Vocations and Learning: Studies in Vocational and Professional Education, 5(1), 59–75.
Shalley, C. E., & Gilson, L. L. (2004). What leaders need to know: A review of social and contextual factors that can foster or hinder creativity. The Leadership Quarterly, 15(1), 33–53.
Smith, R. (2012). Clarifying the subject centred approach to vocational learning theory: Negotiated participation. Studies in Continuing Education, 34(2), 159–174.
Swan, J., Scarbrough, H., & Ziebro, M. (2016). Liminal roles as a source of creative agency in management: The case of knowledge-sharing communities. Human Relations, 69(3), 781–811.
Tomlinson, J., Muzio, D., Sommerlad, H., Webley, L., & Duff, L. (2013). Structure, agency and the career strategies of women and BME individuals in the legal profession. Human Relations, 66(2), 245–269.
Tynjälä, P. (2013). Toward a 3-P model of workplace learning: A literature review. Vocations and Learning, 6(1), 11–36.
Ulrich, F., & Mengiste, S. A. (2014). The challenges of creativity in software organizations. In B. Bergvall-Kåreborn & P. A. Nielsen (Eds.), Creating value for all through IT (pp. 16–34). Dordrecht: Springer.
Vähäsantanen, K. (2015). Professional agency in the stream of change: Understanding educational change and teachers’ professional identities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 47, 1–12.
Vähäsantanen, K., & Billett, S. (2008). Negotiating professional identity: Vocational teachers’ personal strategies in a reform context. In S. Billett, C. Harteis, & A. Eteläpelto (Eds.), Emerging perspectives of workplace learning (pp. 35–49). Rotterdam: Sense.
Vähäsantanen, K., Paloniemi, S., Hökkä, P., & Eteläpelto, A. (2017). An agency-promoting learning arena for developing shared work practices. In M. Goller & S. Paloniemi (Eds.), Agency at work. Agentic perspective on professional learning and development (pp. 351–371). Cham: Springer.
Welzel, C., & Inglehart, R. (2010). Values, agency, and well-being: A human development model. Social Indicators Research, 97(1), 43–63.
Wiltschnig, S., Christensen, B. T., & Ball, L. J. (2013). Collaborative problem-solution co-evolution in creative design. Design Studies, 34(5), 515–542.
Ylén, M. (2017). Professional virtues and agency at work: Ethnography of software developers. In M. Goller & S. Paloniemi (Eds.), Agency at work. Agentic perspective on professional learning and development (pp. 291–310). Cham: Springer.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Finnish Work Environment Fund (project number 114386). We also want to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their insights and comments on the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Collin, K., Lemmetty, S., Herranen, S., Paloniemi, S., Auvinen, T., Riivari, E. (2017). Professional Agency and Creativity in Information Technology Work. In: Goller, M., Paloniemi, S. (eds) Agency at Work. Professional and Practice-based Learning, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60943-0_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60943-0_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60942-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60943-0
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)