This PhD dissertation examines the identity-creation and identity-management processes involved in an individual’s entry into a new organisational context. This examination was achieved through the utilisation of a multi-method research design, with a quantitative component supporting the dominant qualitative component of the research study. The data collected from the participants, thirty-four first year mature students in two Irish Universities, was principally analysed utilising a discursive psychology analytic approach. The principle research findings were that the participants managed their identity-structures (identity-portfolios) through two interrelated processes. They managed their identity-portfolios through both a management of overarching narratives, acutely relevant during the identity-creation process, and through their engagement in day to day identity-management processes. The degree of success with which a participant managed these processes impacted upon their decision whether or not to remain in university and determined the form of the new context-specificidentity, and ultimately their overall identity-portfolio. This dissertation ultimately presents a model of identity-portfoliomanagement, based upon the research findings. This new model, grounded in participant data, adds to the existing literature by providing a new means of examining issues related to how individuals, in adulthood, manage their identity and offers a new perspective on how this process can be explained.