Construction at Work: Multiple Identities Scaffold Professional Identity Development in Academia
Identity construction – the process of creating and building a new future self – is an integral part of a person’s professional career development. However, at present we have little understanding of the psychological mechanisms that underpin this process. Likewise, we have little understanding of t...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00628/full |
| _version_ | 1818176387566010368 |
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| author | Sarah V. Bentley Kim Peters S. Alexander Haslam Katharine H. Greenaway |
| author_facet | Sarah V. Bentley Kim Peters S. Alexander Haslam Katharine H. Greenaway |
| author_sort | Sarah V. Bentley |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Identity construction – the process of creating and building a new future self – is an integral part of a person’s professional career development. However, at present we have little understanding of the psychological mechanisms that underpin this process. Likewise, we have little understanding of the barriers that obstruct it, and which thus may contribute to inequality in career outcomes. Using a social identity lens, and particularly the Social Identity Model of Identity Change (SIMIC), we explore the process of academic identity construction among doctoral students. Through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 22 Ph.D. candidates, we observe that the identity construction process relies on a person’s perception of a navigable pathway between their current self and their future self. Importantly, participants who were able to access multiple identity resources were more likely to perceive a navigable pathway to a future professional self (e.g., as an academic), unless they perceived these identities to be incompatible with those held by leading members of the profession (e.g., their supervisors). This research suggests that the identities that people are able to access as they progress in their careers may play an important role in their ongoing professional identity construction and career success. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T20:15:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9ba631019ac94c93bd8098d6c4b00bc4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T20:15:23Z |
| publishDate | 2019-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-9ba631019ac94c93bd8098d6c4b00bc42022-12-22T00:52:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782019-03-011010.3389/fpsyg.2019.00628430340Construction at Work: Multiple Identities Scaffold Professional Identity Development in AcademiaSarah V. Bentley0Kim Peters1S. Alexander Haslam2Katharine H. Greenaway3School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaSchool of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaSchool of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaMelbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaIdentity construction – the process of creating and building a new future self – is an integral part of a person’s professional career development. However, at present we have little understanding of the psychological mechanisms that underpin this process. Likewise, we have little understanding of the barriers that obstruct it, and which thus may contribute to inequality in career outcomes. Using a social identity lens, and particularly the Social Identity Model of Identity Change (SIMIC), we explore the process of academic identity construction among doctoral students. Through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 22 Ph.D. candidates, we observe that the identity construction process relies on a person’s perception of a navigable pathway between their current self and their future self. Importantly, participants who were able to access multiple identity resources were more likely to perceive a navigable pathway to a future professional self (e.g., as an academic), unless they perceived these identities to be incompatible with those held by leading members of the profession (e.g., their supervisors). This research suggests that the identities that people are able to access as they progress in their careers may play an important role in their ongoing professional identity construction and career success.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00628/fullsocial identityidentity constructionprofessionsacademiaeducation |
| spellingShingle | Sarah V. Bentley Kim Peters S. Alexander Haslam Katharine H. Greenaway Construction at Work: Multiple Identities Scaffold Professional Identity Development in Academia Frontiers in Psychology social identity identity construction professions academia education |
| title | Construction at Work: Multiple Identities Scaffold Professional Identity Development in Academia |
| title_full | Construction at Work: Multiple Identities Scaffold Professional Identity Development in Academia |
| title_fullStr | Construction at Work: Multiple Identities Scaffold Professional Identity Development in Academia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Construction at Work: Multiple Identities Scaffold Professional Identity Development in Academia |
| title_short | Construction at Work: Multiple Identities Scaffold Professional Identity Development in Academia |
| title_sort | construction at work multiple identities scaffold professional identity development in academia |
| topic | social identity identity construction professions academia education |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00628/full |
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