Abstract
The current study focuses on the concept of professional identity in the school counseling profession, its definition and measurement. According to the definition in this study, the concept of “professional identity” is divided in two: personal professional identity, which is the practitioner’s sense of belonging to and solidarity with the profession, and group professional identity, which includes the features attributed to the profession, both by those who belong to it and by those who do not practice it, and makes it possible to discern between professions.
 
 The school counseling profession, occupied mainly by women, is contending with a lack of clarity regarding its role definition, role boundaries, and demands. Therefore, despite the change in the status of the profession in recent years, various issues impede the group professional identity of school counseling and the personal profession identity of its practitioners. This study is the first to examine the professional identity of school counselors on two levels: personal and group, among school counselors in Israel.
 
 The study included 174 school counselors who completed two professional identity scales constructed for the purpose of the study. Each scale underwent factor analysis, and a significant association was found between the two scales and the factors they comprised. The research findings indicate that the personal professional identity of school counselors is affected by their group professional identity, and vice versa.
 
 The research findings indicate the need to distinguish in future studies between personal and group professional identity, both in the school counseling profession and in other professions, particularly in a world characterized by professional mobility where current professions will become irrelevant while others will be in demand and there may be a need to define the personal and group professional identity of workers.
Highlights
What Is Professional Identity?Forming one’s professional identity is part of the process of professional development that begins with training for the profession and continues throughout one’s professional career (Brott & Myers, 1999)
The purpose of the current study is to explore the different components of professional identity in the school counseling profession and to connect between them
Data analysis utilized factor analysis of the professional identity questionnaires: Questionnaire on personal professional identity: Due to the changes made in the questionnaire on “personal professional identity for counselors”, a new factor analysis was conducted for this questionnaire
Summary
What Is Professional Identity?Forming one’s professional identity is part of the process of professional development that begins with training for the profession and continues throughout one’s professional career (Brott & Myers, 1999). Professional identity is complex, personal, and varies between those practicing the profession and is a continuous process in which the experiences of practitioners are interpreted and it is forged by many factors (Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004; Rhoades, 2007). Geijsel and Meijers (2005) and Gee (2000), defines professional identity as an identity which is shaped according to the (close and remote) external environment’s perception of the professional and the professional’s self-perception. Similar to other components of one’s identity, the shaping of professional identity depends on the social context (such as the social status of the individual and of the profession), the professional’s interaction with others (clients, colleagues, and other professionals), and the self-interpretation of professional experiences (Gee, 2000; Geijsel & Meijers, 2005). Professional identity has two interconnected components: the interpersonal (group professional identity) which relates to the culture, knowledge, skills, values and beliefs of a profession that the individual has acquired; and the intrapersonal (personal professional identity) which considers the individual’s perception of jel.ccsenet.org
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