Document Type
Honors Project
Abstract
Research in role theory has generated insufficient knowledge about how role conflict and role strain intersect, leaving questions of how actors navigate and manage these phenomena in real time. Drawing inspiration from cultural sociology and contentious politics, I theorize that individuals use repertoires of action to mitigate role challenges. Empirically, I investigate how undergraduate teaching assistants manage conflicting and contradictory social roles at a small liberal arts college, given their extensive contact with students outside of the classroom. Analysis of over 15 interviews and ethnographic shadowing of key participants of this population demonstrates the multifaceted, yet recurring, ways that teaching assistants navigate role conflict and strain within student relationships. These repertoires include positioning, role re-establishing, and boundary making, while some combine or leverage these techniques. Leveraging brings forth an expanded understanding of Shamus Khan’s concept of ease, as seamlessness within these social interactions comes from one’s ability to maximize the effectiveness of or create divergent outcomes by deploying the repertoires.
Recommended Citation
Teague, Emery, "Mitigating "Weird": How Undergraduate Teaching Assistants Navigate Role Conflict with Ease Through Repertoires of Action" (2026). Sociology Honors Projects. 85.
https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/soci_honors/85
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