A study was undertaken to analyze the New Careerist's perception of his involvement in his own community and his proximity to the role of the professional in his agency, among a group of 185 previously low-income persons in the Minneapolis New Careers program. The author relates the New Careerist's position to the concept of the 'marginal man,' who is now moved to the fringe of his own poverty group by having found gainful and secure employment. She raises the question of whether the program has not weakened the New Careerists' relationships with their own neighborhoods, perhaps by removing them from their neighborhoods for a good part of the day. Despite this marginality of the New Careerist's role, responses to a brief questionnaire indicated that participants' community orientation was stronger than their professional orientation. In contrast, dropouts from the program exhibited several characteristics of professionalism to a greater extent from the outset than did those who stayed in. (MF)