Mature-age early-career academic identity formation during crises

Purpose Drawing on job demands-resources theory, this reflexive narrative explores the author's lived experiences during the longest COVID lockdown in the world (262 days) and how this shaped her identity as both an early-career academic (ECA) and a PhD candidate, across three universities and three states. Design/methodology/approach Narrative inquiry is effective in understanding lived experiences. Data include the author's notes and diaries from March 2020 through March 2025, all institutional emails on COVID-19 in 2020 and personal photographs. Together, these complimentary archival sources document the author's lived experience as an ECA navigating COVID-19 lockdowns. Data are analysed inductively and themes generated recursively following a reflexive analytical approach. Findings The lockdowns shaped the author's academic identity in five ways: Her digital competence and confidence as an ECA increased exponentially. The pandemic became her PhD dissertation topic, significantly re-shaping her fledgling academic identity. Third, the pandemic reaffirmed her preference for on-campus delivery. The pandemic also resulted in her relocating to a new state and a new university, while preparing her for future crises, such as cyclone Alfred in 2025. Originality/value This reflexive narrative extends research on ECA identity formation by demonstrating how prolonged crisis conditions actively shape identity through intensified role negotiation, dual ECA-doctoral candidate positioning, mature-age entry pathways and the interaction between structural disruption and subjective sense making.