Oscillatory entrepreneurial identity formation: legitimacy work in university commercialisation programmes

Purpose This micro-level study investigates how early career researchers (ECRs) in science disciplines navigate the institutional push toward commercialisation and entrepreneurial identity adoption. While entrepreneurial university institutional discourse encourages a seamless transition from scientist to entrepreneur, ECRs may experience this process as an ongoing negotiation marked by identity ambiguity and oscillation. The study addresses a gap in the literature by theorising the temporal and relational complexity of entrepreneurial identity formation in academic settings by key actors within entrepreneurial universities. Design/methodology/approach The research employs a longitudinal narrative inquiry focused on ECRs participating in a UK university's commercialisation programme. Through in-depth interviews and participant observation, the study captures how participants construct, contest, and reconfigure their identities over time in response to intersecting legitimacy demands. Findings The study introduces the concept of Oscillatory Entrepreneurial Identity Formation, theorising identity work as a multi-phase, recursive process. Rather than progressing linearly toward a stable entrepreneurial identity, participants move through three recursive overlapping phases: (1) legitimacy disruption and identity tension, (2) threshold activation and agency assertion, and (3) long-term reconciliation of plural identity futures. Identity formation is enacted provisionally, relationally and contextually, shaped by socio-institutional, collective, and internal legitimacy dynamics. Originality/value This study advances a processual model of entrepreneurial identity that challenges linear transition frameworks by recognising oscillation as a legitimate developmental trajectory. It introduces the concept of legitimacy architectures, showing how institutional, relational, and disciplinary factors shape the credibility of entrepreneurial identity claims. The findings suggest that universities can better support ECRs by reshaping socialisation processes and recognising commercial activities, enabling researchers to pursue societal impact and value creation without relinquishing their disciplinary identities.