Identity emerges as a central concept when referring to manager as an actor and a differentiated professional category, and concerns to representations of the individuals about themselves and the others, constructed as a result of several socialization processes. Organizations are a privileged space of identification and self-concept construction. This paper aims at discussing how top managers at federal universities in Minas Gerais construct their managerial identities. Data were collected by episodical interviews with the top managers of eight federal universities in Minas Gerais, and documental research, and were analyzed by the thematic analysis. The results show that managers live in a context of conflict between the historical mission of the university and the economic and managerial logics of productivity, efficiency and outcome. They also live in a context with many political interests. The result is the configuration of a multiple and relatively fragile identity (politicians, managers and academics), which is contradictory sometimes.
managerial identity; top managers of universities; federal universities
