Process Of Identity Development Research Articles

Evolving Professional Identities: A Narrative Exploration of a Chinese Preservice EFL Teacher’s Practicum Experience

This paper presents a narrative study on the professional identity development of a Chinese preservice EFL teacher, examining her experiences before, during, and after the teaching practicum. The data for this research were gathered through in-depth interviews, documents, and observations. By offering a comprehensive narrative of Yang’s practicum journey, this study sheds light on the evolving nature of professional identity among Chinese preservice EFL teachers. Through the framework of teacher socialization, the findings reveal distinct phases in Yang’s professional identity. Yang’s stories highlight the dynamic and evolving process of professional identity development, characterized by continuous negotiation, adjustment, and reflection at each stage of the practicum. Additionally, this paper offers practical recommendations for educational institutions, placement schools, and preservice teachers. By integrating these findings, future teacher education programs can better prepare aspiring educators to navigate the complexities of professional identity development, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of EFL teacher training in China.

What I see of you in me: how do high school students position scientists in a science internship?

ABSTRACT Science internship has been suggested as an effective way of engaging high school students in science inquiry. Research has investigated the impacts of science internship on students' science knowledge, skills, attitudes, interests, identity, confidence, and career aspirations. However, little research has studied how high school students position scientists in an internship. Drawing on dialogic self-theory, this qualitative study investigated how students positioned their relationships with scientists in a science internship using students' journals and interviews. Our analysis identified nine different positions of high school students towards scientists. They viewed scientists as busy faculty, expert, evaluator, feedback provider, effective instructor, patient listener, life-long learner, role model, and talent scout. These findings can help scientists and programme designers to tailor and improve future science internship designs and activities, and can contribute to understanding the process of science identity development. Importantly, this study demonstrates an alternative approach to understanding students' views of scientists.

Saudi Graduate Students’ Identities in Relation to Emotion and Agency in Applied Linguistics: A Narrative Multiple Case Study

This qualitative inquiry explores the identity development processes of graduate students in applied linguistics within the higher education context of Saudi Arabia. Through a merged research design of a multiple-case study and narrative inquiry approach, this study examined the narratives of Saudi graduate students’ identity development in applied linguistics, focusing on key experiences across past, present, and future, as well as their emotional and agentive experiences. Despite the growing body of research on identity in applied linguistics and second language acquisition, limited attention has been given to graduate students’ identity formation in this field. The study contributed to several key findings: 1) Early experiences shape Saudi graduate students’ current academic paths and future aspirations, 2) Positive and negative emotional experiences shape Saudi graduate students’ academic self-perception and identity development and 3) Saudi graduate students’ agentive responses to the challenges they face shape their identity development. This study’s outcomes provide insight into the dynamic relationship between the identities, emotions, and agency of Saudi graduate students in applied linguistics, offering practical implications and suggesting future directions for further research.

Making Tangible the Long-Term Harm Linked to the Chilling Effects of AI-enabled Surveillance: Can Human Flourishing Inform Human Rights?

AbstractAI-enabled State surveillance capabilities are likely to exert chilling effects whereby individuals modify their behavior due to a fear of the potential consequences if that behavior is observed. The risk is that chilling effects drive individuals towards the mainstream, slowly reducing the space for personal and political development. This could prove devastating for individuals’ ability to freely develop their identity and, ultimately, for the evolution and vibrancy of democratic society. As it stands, human rights law cannot effectively conceptualize this cumulative, longer-term, harm, and so cannot accurately evaluate the cost/benefit of AI tools, risking irreparable harm. As chilling effects impact individuals’ ability to live a good, self-determined life, the concept of human flourishing is relevant. This article engages with Aristotelian naturalism, the life-satisfaction approach, and the capabilities approach to determine which best resonates with the concept of identity as relevant to chilling effects and human rights law. It concludes that the capabilities approach may overcome some of the problems associated with the human rights law approach and may provide a framework capable of capturing both the intricate processes of free identity development and of conceptualizing the harm linked to AI surveillance. The challenge, however, is to ‘operationalize’ this approach.

“El nombre de nuestro país está en nuestros corazones”: exploring the impact of school-based identity messaging in Central American immigrant youth

ABSTRACT For immigrant youth, the development of a bicultural identity is associated with well-being and academic achievement. The institutional and social contexts of the receiving society, including public schools, shape processes of bicultural identity development. This exploratory qualitative study, which employed a phenomenological design, explored the experiences and perspectives of 20 Central American immigrant youth, with specific attention paid to messaging received about their identities of origin in the educational milieu. Despite experiences of both positive and negative identity messaging, all participants described an enduring sense of pride from and a strong desire to retain a meaningful connection to their identities of origin. Building on these participant perspectives, this study offers a preliminary exploration of identity resilience in this population of immigrant youth. These perspectives challenge previous theoretical models and empirical work related to the effects of acculturative stress, negative identity messaging, and collective identity trauma on connection to identity of origin.

A Sociocultural Perspective on Second Language Teacher Identity Development: Narrative of a Vietnamese Teacher

This study reports and analyzes the life stories of one Vietnamese EFL teacher to accentuate the process of teacher identity development throughout their teaching career. The participant’s story was constructed with data from a series of interviews combined with examination of relevant documents. His narrative was then analyzed thematically under the guidance of Wenger's framework. The analysis shows that EFL teachers’ identity is constantly shaped and reshaped depending heavily on contextual factors. Moreover, the study highlights the challenges that arise when institutional settings do not align, forcing teachers to make tough decisions on their teaching practices and ultimately shaping their teacher identity. The findings also explore a strong relation between teachers experiencing tensions or emotional shock within their teaching context and their shift in teacher identities. Lastly, it was found out that teacher spiritual and religious belief towards their teaching practices acts as a source of mediation that contributes to the construction of teacher identity.

Voices in the Virtual: Constructing Linguistic Identity in Digital Spaces

The emergence of digital spaces has fundamentally reshaped how humans interact and communicate. The research paper explores the intricate dynamics of language and identity in the online environment in the Indian context. The influence of the Internet and digital spaces has provided unprecedented opportunities to express their linguistic identities in diverse ways. The paper examines how digital platforms allow individuals to construct their linguistic identities, a process shaped by social interaction, platform constraint, and social interaction. Code-switching, online slang, and manipulation of registers highly influence the formation of the digital persona or image of oneself, also known as digital self-fashioning does not come without complexities. With the help of Social Identity theory and Goffman’s dramaturgy, the paper highlights the social construction of the linguistic selves. Through the analysis of the case studies and the theoretical framework, the paper discusses the process of linguistic identity development in digital space and its impact on social dynamics, cultural representation, and individual expression.

How students learn to lead in pre- and early-career experiences.

This study illuminates the leadership experiences of undergraduate business students undertaking a 1-year work placement. Semi-structured interviews and reflective journals were used to explore the students' leadership experiences before and during their placement. Through reflection on these experiences, students were able to make sense of their own leadership learning as well as develop their leadership identity. A main contribution of this study has been the formulation of a theoretical model that fully acknowledges prior lived experience, and the multi-layered and complex process of leadership identity development.

Leadership and bisexuality: Dually occurring processes of identity development.

With the growing importance of identity development, it is important to see the intersections that occur with one's identity as both a leader and as bisexual. Leader identity and bisexual identity development can occur in tandem, with critical moments influencing both dually occurring identity development processes. By understanding the need that the field of leadership education has to explore the development of bisexual leaders and leadership educators, the authors discuss the need to center minoritized identities in our scholarship and practice within the field.

Exploring Affective Experiences of Queer Individuals Navigating Relationships with Evangelical Parents

An abundance of scholarship explores and discusses the process of queer identity development, including the experience of disclosing one’s queer identity, often referred to as coming out. Coming out to one’s parent(s) can be a challenging and complex experience for queer individuals, particularly for children from religious families. In this study, I explored the nuanced relationships between queer individuals and their Evangelical parents. I conducted qualitative interviews with nine participants. Using thematic analysis and Ahmed’s theory of affect and happy objects, I constructed four themes: (a) learning the affect queer carries, (b) feeling the affects of being queer, (c) how parental appraisals affect parent-child relationships, and (d) being the killjoy. Results suggest the belief alone that “queer is bad’’ is harmful, regardless of outward acceptance or rejection behaviors from parents. This work compels the field to look beyond and before reactions from parents toward their queer children and to also consider how conceptualizations of queer as bad or good affect queer individuals. While much is known about the challenges faced by queer individuals, this work reveals the importance of examining the systems and structures causing these challenges rather than perpetuating the idea that being queer is inherently painful.

Comes the Southern Revolution: The Reframing of Chinese Shan-zhai Toward Identity Change

AbstractFollowing the literature on entrepreneurial framing and identity change, we examined how Chinese shan-zhai phone entrepreneurs have drawn on their cultural resources to reframe their businesses to claim new identities and gain legitimacy over time. Through qualitative procedures, we found that a staged process of collective identity development underlies this entrepreneurial process, consisting of building (a) niche-market identity via pragmatic reframing, (b) socio-political identity via nationalistic reframing, and finally (c) professional identity via comprehensive reframing. There has also been a clear change in the sources of legitimacy from the indigenous market through the wider Chinese society to the more globally defined industry. Our central contribution is a processual model of identity change through cultural reframing specifically focused on how informal entrepreneurs grow into formalization and global competition.

Between two worlds: East Asian sojourners’ negotiation of identity in the United States

ABSTRACT As sojourners adjust to a new culture, they adjust their identities, navigating both their home and host culture expectations. This study examines the process of identity development sojourners experience. Utilizing the communication theory of identity, we analyzed East Asian international sojourners’ experiences, adjusting to life in the U.S. Participants used different strategies when enacting identity with home culture members (e.g., using cultural informers, sharing home culture experiences, avoiding home culture groups) versus enacting identity with host culture members (e.g., avoiding certain topics, seeking strategically beneficial interactions, working to make a good impression). Also, they negotiated identity gaps by adhering to American norms while interacting with other Asians, choosing between keeping their home culture or following American norms, being extra polite, and even de-emphasizing Americanness. Fundamentally, both cultures remained important, but the sincerity with which they would perform either culture was negotiated in each interaction. The gaps in their layers of identity were inevitable but provided them with opportunities to make choices based on their own goals.

Role‐Playing Games as a New Adventure for Leadership‐As‐Practice: Forming a Leadership Framework Around Collective Creativity and Development

The current paper explores a transformative approach to leadership that integrates with a view of analog role‐playing games (RPGs) as a system for human interaction, aiming to leverage these experiences and foster collective creative leadership. In the face of urgent global challenges, traditional leadership models prove inadequate, necessitating a shift in understanding leadership as a process of adaptive change among human groups. Drawing on phenomenology, relational sociology and constructivist perspectives, I advocate for a conceptualization of leadership as a socially constructed, meaning‐making endeavor mutually embedded within and generating cultural context. I emphasize the essential role of collective cultural approaches and propose a co‐creative education process that incorporates play and creativity for effective leadership development. Then, I delve further into the intersection of leadership and play, highlighting the potential of RPGs in facilitating transformative, collective creativity. The proposed model views RPGs as Leadership‐As‐Practice Development (LAPD) and explores how analog RPGs can be employed as dynamic platforms for leadership learning, identity development, team‐building, and symbolic storytelling processes.

“I Told Them I Want to Speak Chinese!” The Struggle of UK Students to Negotiate Language Identities While Studying Chinese in China

ABSTRACT This article leverages interview data from students of Chinese who enrolled at a UK university but pursued a period of study abroad in China, aiming to delve into their negotiation of language identities during their overseas experience. By employing Block’s structural model in our discourse analysis, this research reveals the dynamic interplay between agency and structure, shedding light on the intricate process of language learning and identity formation. The findings underscore that structural contexts are integral to shaping students’ agency, highlighting specific structural spheres that pose challenges to their development of Chinese language and multilingual identities. These spheres encompass the linguistic and cultural dominance of English as well as Chinese hospitality practices. Rooted in their habitus, participants’ preconceived notions of the Chinese language and cultural aspects influence their journey, yielding either positive or negative impacts. Furthermore, participants’ backgrounds and prior language learning experiences significantly contribute to their identity development. In advocating for a comprehensive approach, this study emphasises the integration of both agency and structural contexts as necessary to fully comprehend the intricate process of identity development.

A qualitative study unpacking the leader identity development process taking a multi-domain approach

PurposeThe purpose of the study is an in-depth exploration of the processes through which a leader develops their leader identity in strength, meaning and integration, with resulting enrichment outcomes.Design/methodology/approachUsing multi-domain leader identity theory, this study provides an in-depth exploration of the processes through which a leader develops their leader identity. Set in a healthcare context, 26 participants took part in an 18-month multi-domain leadership development program.FindingsFindings indicate a typology of leader identities, capturing the dynamic nature of leader identity based on combinations of strength and meaning. Our research also suggests that as the leader develops, their leader identity can change from a differentiated identity as a leader to a more integrated leader identity, with resulting enrichment outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsThe results suggested value in inherently multi-domain focus using event-based reflection and, as such, are useful in leader identity development programs. We recommend future research generalize to other settings and a larger population.Practical implicationsBy taking a multi-domain approach to leader identity development, the leader has the opportunity to learn and develop in a more holistic way. They are encouraged to reflect on and learn from leadership experiences throughout their entire lives, adding breadth and depth that are often overlooked in development programs.Social implicationsDeveloping leaders who understand who they are and are capable of critical self-reflection and learning is a fundamental requirement for the positive advancement of society.Originality/valueThe value of the study lies in the first longitudinal, work-based empirical study taking an explicitly multi-domain approach to leader identity development.

“They told me that you can be with whomever you want, be who you are”: Perceptions of LGBTQ+ youth in residential care regarding the social support provided by child welfare professionals

LGBTQ+ youth strengthen their resilience resources through the development of meaningful relationships that provide them with unique tools to combat the stress derived from experiences of discrimination and violence targeting their marginalized identities. However, more research is needed to understand how this group benefits from the social support provided by child welfare professionals and how these relational processes may strengthen their resilience, since these professionals are often the only adult models of relationship, even after leaving care. The focus of this study was to understand youths’ processes of resilience-development through relationships with care professionals in the child welfare system. In this study, we held 15 narrative interviews with LGBTQ+ youth between the ages of 14 and 21 years that were living in residential care in Spain. We carried out a reflexive thematic analysis. The results show that LGBTQ+ youth in care experience feelings of safety through supportive relationships with professionals that are enhanced by availability, trust, and honesty. Safe spaces in care are facilitated by professionals who normalize LGBTQ+ issues and make LGBTQ+ youth feel they can be themselves in their residential homes. Functions of social support such as personal attachment, belonging, and acceptance were evident in the youths’ experiences. Young people expressed gratitude for professionals who provided identity support and who encouraged youths to authentically express themselves fully. Professionals who scaffold agency in youths’ identity development process, as well as emotional and practical support, promoted resilience. This knowledge is a building block to advance our understanding of how social support for LGBTQ+ youth in child welfare systems can counteract the negative impacts of non-affirming families and institutions by augmenting resilience.

Dismantling Gender Binaries: An Emergent Model for Nonbinary Identity Development

The purpose of this article is to describe an emergent model that conceptualizes common experiences for nonbinary people as they explore and navigate their identities by synthesizing existing nonbinary identity development literature. We ground our manuscript epistemologically in queer theory, queer of color critique, and intersectionality theory. Our model traces stars that make up nonbinary identity development constellations: embracing fluidity and ambiguity, exploring transition, navigating disclosure, witnessing and mirroring, developing kinship networks, and worldmaking. We guide our conversations to practitioners, administrators, and policymakers in higher education and student affairs to complicate their understanding of gender identity development processes with goals of creating more gender-affirming practices and policies for nonbinary people in higher education.

The role of employability capitals in supporting nutrition science graduate outcomes: an international qualitative study.

The study sought to explore nutrition graduates' employability and role of employability capitals in supporting nutrition science graduate outcomes. In-depth semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews were conducted with nutrition graduates who had completed a nutrition science degree between 2015 and 2021. Interpretivism guided this study, which endeavoured to co-construct meaning with participants. Transcribed interviews were thematically analysed, whereby data were coded, themes identified and discussed by all authors. The data were further mapped against the graduate capital model (GCM) by deductively coding against the five graduate capitals (human, identity, social, psychological and cultural). Ireland and Australia. Forty-two nutrition graduates from across nine universities in Ireland and twenty-two from a single university programme in Australia. All elements of the GCM were identified with human, social and identity capital most dominant and identified as significantly influential on employability. Presence or absence of these capitals could be clearly identified within each graduates' experience. Formation of professional identity and connection to the profession was strongest amongst Irish graduates. However, more than half of the Australian cohort perceived barriers to professional identity formation, including lack of regulation, imposter syndrome, presence of non-qualified individuals and comparison to dietetics. Both psychological and cultural capitals were rarely spoken about. The development of human, social and identity capital is observed among nutrition science graduates. Further investigation is required to enhance the process of identity development and ascertain potential remedies for obstacles. The absence of psychological and cultural capital, therefore, poses a significant issue for the resilience and comprehension of prospective graduates.

A case study on researcher identity development of novice and experienced teacher educators: A different or similar research journey?

This qualitative study aims to investigate the researcher identity development of novice and experienced researchers. In the study, which adopted the case study, one of the qualitative research designs, the maximum diversity and criterion sampling methods were used. Data were collected through interviews with seven novice and five experienced teacher educators. Data were analyzed by content analysis through MAXQDA software. Results showed that experienced and novice teacher educators shared similar views while depicting research and revealing the influential factors in developing researcher identity. It was found that researcher identity was developed through the interaction of three main components: academic, social, and individual factors. While individual factors were at the core of a researcher identity development process, academic and social factors influenced researcher identity through three phases: exploration, engagement, and continuous development. For each phase, there were academic and social factors that had a prevalent influence on researcher identity construction.

"The Traits That a Woman Has, a Man Can Have, Too": How Collegiate Latino Men Navigate Masculinity Performance

Abstract: Latino men hold a contradictory position within patriarchal privilege that offers them advantages yet undermines their racial and cultural capital. Underpinned by Latino feminist masculinities, this phenomenological study explored how participants redefined characteristics of masculinity. This study provides critical insight into how 26 self-identified cisgender men of Latino or Hispanic descent made meaning of their masculinity performance. We offer three prominent findings that illustrate how Latino men deconstructed traditional masculinity and conceptualized an asset-based consciousness: (a) resisting traditional notions of machismo, (b) navigating racial and gendered expectations in academic settings, and (c) challenging cultural and gendered expectations at home. These findings illuminate the identity development process for Latino men as they negotiate their masculinities within different contexts. We provide recommendations for research and practice that encourage further exploration of the nuanced understanding of masculinity and its relation to structures that perpetuate cisheteronormativity, as well as opportunities to further deconstruct masculinity for Latino men.