Positive Professional Identity Research Articles

Dissecting through the decade: a 10-year cross-sectional analysis of interprofessional experiences in the anatomy lab

ABSTRACT Interprofessional education (IPE) is prioritized as a critical component in preparing pre-licensure health professional students for effective teamwork and collaboration in the workplace to facilitate patient-centered care. Knowledge in anatomy is fundamental for healthcare professionals, making interprofessional anatomy education an attractive intervention for IPE and anatomy learning. Since 2009, the Education Program in Anatomy at McMaster University has offered an intensive 10-week IPE Anatomy Dissection elective to seven health professional programs annually. From 2011, students were invited to complete the Readiness for Interprofessional Scale (RIPLS) and Interprofessional Education Perception Scale (IEPS) before and after the elective. A total of 264 students from 2011 to 2020 completed RIPLS and IEPS. There were significant differences before and after the elective in students’ total RIPLS scores and three of the four subscales: teamwork and collaboration, positive professional identity, and roles and responsibilities. Similarly, there were statistical differences in the total IEPS scores and two of three subscales: competency and autonomy and perceived actual cooperation. Statistically significant differences in RIPLS and IEPS total scores across several disciplines were also observed. This study demonstrates the elective’s impact in improving students’ IPE perceptions and attitudes, likely from the extended learning and exposure opportunity with other disciplines.

The association between proactive personality and interprofessional learning readiness in nursing students: The chain medication effects of perceived social support and professional identity

BackgroundInterprofessional education (IPE) has been advocated for all healthcare students, and readiness for interprofessional learning significantly influences its effectiveness. It is essential to explore the antecedent factors of readiness for interprofessional learning among nursing students to promote IPE. While a proactive personality might impact readiness for interprofessional learning, its specific role has remained unspecified. ObjectiveTo examine the mediation effects of perceived social support and professional identity on the association between proactive personality and readiness for interprofessional learning among nursing students. DesignThe study utilised a cross-sectional design. SettingsResearch was conducted at two universities and two vocational schools in Hainan Province, China. ParticipantsOn-campus nursing students were invited to participate between March and May 2023. MethodsA flyer was distributed to the participants with a QR code to scan to voluntarily complete the online survey, including the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS), Proactive Personality Scale, Perceived Social Support Scale and Professional Identity Status Questionnaire Scale 5d. Descriptive analysis, Pearson associations and mediation analysis were conducted using SPSS software version 26.0 and PROCESS version 4.2 for SPSS. ResultsThe participants' average RIPLS score was 66.93 ± 9.28. Proactive personality (r = 0.633, p < 0.01), perceived social support (r = 0.605, p < 0.01) and professional identity (r = 0.549, p < 0.01) were all positively related to readiness for interprofessional learning. Meanwhile, the relationship between proactive personality and readiness for interprofessional learning was partly mediated by perceived social support (25.15 %), professional identity (13.35 %) and the chain effects (9.48 %) of perceived social support and professional identity. ConclusionsThe nursing students in Hainan, China demonstrated a medium level of readiness for interprofessional learning. Compound strategies that foster proactive personality, provide social support and boost positive professional identity are warranted to improve nursing students' readiness for interprofessional learning.

Readiness for Inter-Professional Learning among Undergraduate Allied Health Science Students in Hayatabad Peshawar

Background: Inter-professional learning (IPL) is increasingly recognized as a vital component of healthcare education, fostering collaboration, enhancing teamwork skills, and preparing students for a patient-centered healthcare system. Despite its growing importance, the readiness and attitudes towards IPL among healthcare students vary across disciplines and regions, necessitating detailed exploration. Objective: This study aimed to assess the attitudes towards and readiness for IPL among undergraduate allied health science students at Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, and to explore the implications of these attitudes for healthcare education and practice. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted over six months, utilizing convenience sampling to recruit 376 undergraduate students from the departments of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Pathology, and Nursing. The Readiness for Inter-professional Learning Scale (RIPLS) questionnaire was distributed through WhatsApp, Twitter, and email, covering aspects such as teamwork and collaboration, professional identity, and roles and responsibilities. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25 to calculate means, standard deviations, and to conduct Independent t-tests. Results: The study found that a significant majority of students (72.1%) expressed strong agreement with the importance of IPL in their curriculum. The mean scores for the RIPLS sub-scales were: Teamwork and Collaboration (13.76 ± 2.609), Negative Professional Identity (10.57 ± 1.972), Positive Professional Identity (6.40 ± 1.359), and Role and Responsibility (7.50 ± 1.267). Independent t-tests revealed significant gender differences in attitudes towards teamwork and collaboration (Male: 13.42 ± 2.017, Female: 14.07 ± 3.034, p=0.015) and roles and responsibility (Male: 7.3187 ± 1.16940, Female: 7.6701 ± 1.33290, p=0.007), but not in professional identities. Conclusion: The study underscores a generally positive attitude towards IPL among healthcare students, with notable readiness for teamwork and understanding of roles and responsibilities. These findings highlight the necessity of integrating IPL into healthcare education curricula to enhance collaborative skills and prepare students for the complexities of modern healthcare delivery.

Autoethnography of a Japanese academic in an Australian university: the development and changes of professional identity

AbstractThis study uses autoethnography to examine the development of and changes in my professional identity through my study and work experiences since I came to Australia from Japan. I am currently an academic teaching Japanese language and research in the field of applied linguistics in an Australian university. I wrote a self-narrative about my experiences and the related emotions covering the time of my arrival in Australia from Japan in 1997. Because teaching and research are the major roles in my current position, I coded the narrative for statements concerning my teacher identity and my researcher identity. After reading the narratives and repeatedly reviewing the coding, I produced stories about my teacher and researcher identities. The development and changes of my professional identity were closely linked to sociopolitical aspects of my work in my immediate teaching and research contexts and to my linguistic and cultural backgrounds. My relationships with students and research colleagues tended to trigger positive emotions and contribute to the development of a positive professional identity, whereas relationships with higher management at the university were likely to cause negative emotions and contribute to the development of a negative professional identity.

FORMATION OF PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY OF MEDICAL STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

The article analyses the main models and theories on the study of the concept of "professional identity" and the main factors influencing the formation of students' professional identity during their studies in higher education institutions. The article studies and compares the Erikson model of identity development, the theory of social identity, and the theory of career choice. The main provisions of professional identity in the works of world and national scientists are considered. Novelty of the work includes the study of domestic and international experience of educational work aimed at the formation of a positive professional identity of students. The authors propose forms and methods of work that will contribute to the formation of the professional identity of medical students, in particular, it is proposed to introduce comprehensive educational programmes and include certain topics, courses, etc. in the curriculum that would contribute to the formation of professional competence and identity of students of professional higher education. Relevance of the topic is due to the fact that the problem of professional adaptation and identification of students in higher education institutions after they have chosen a speciality, and the effectiveness of their work requires a detailed study. The authors investigated the content of the concept of "professional identity". The authors reviewed the influencing factors on the formation of professional identity, in particular, the role of educational work and the role of the teacher in the process of forming students' professional identity. The problems of professional identity formation at the university stage in Ukrainian higher education institutions are studied. The emphasis is placed on the modernisation of teaching and educational work in the higher education system of Ukraine. It is emphasised that practical training, which universities should provide through internships, cooperative programmes, research projects and practices, is of great importance in the formation of professional identity in students.

Diagnostic radiographers' perceptions of professional identity in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.

The study explored and described the professional identity of diagnostic radiographers in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. The methodology employed for the study was qualitative, exploratory and descriptive design. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with thirteen diagnostic radiographers from private, public practices and individually owned practices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and the responses underwent thematic analysis and used Braun and Clarke's six steps for analysing qualitative data. The thematic analysis revealed three themes and six categories. The three themes identified were: perceptions of identity, environment influences and organisational institutions. This study provided an insight into the current perspectives of the professional identity of diagnostic radiographers in Johannesburg, South Africa, which reflected a positive professional identity. The three themes identified could inform guidelines for education in diagnostic radiographers' professional identity in the future.

Describing the readiness for interprofessional education among university students attending healthcare programs: insights from a monocentric cross-sectional study.

Readiness for interprofessional education (IPE) was recognized by international authorities as a key approach for educating students attending healthcare programs. Thus far, there are no descriptions of readiness for IPE in the Albanian context. For this reason, this study aimed to describe readiness for IPE, assessed by measuring "teamwork and collaboration" and "positive professional identity, roles, and responsibilities" among students attending healthcare programs in an Italian-speaking university based in Albania, and describe the correlations between readiness for IPE and the characteristics of the respondents. This study had a descriptive observational design, a cross-sectional data collection, and a convenience sampling procedure performed in a single centre. The study was accomplished between April 2020 and June 2021, involving 688 students, 38.2% of the entire population of students attending healthcare programs in the context of the investigation. The teamwork and collaboration mean score was 4.40 (standard deviation = 0.56), and no differences were found between programs (p-value=0.159). The positive professional identity, roles, and responsibilities mean score was 4.33 (standard deviation = 0.64) with no differences between programs (p-value=0.340). Females attending nursing or midwifery reported higher positive professional identity, roles, and responsibilities scores (p-value=0.020), and females in dentistry reported higher teamwork and collaboration scores than males (p-value=0.045). Future research should evaluate readiness for IPE longitudinally to ascertain its trajectories over time and analyze any potential individual- or organizational-level variables that may impact IPE and sex-related differences regarding factors influencing IPE.

Grade R Teacher Expressions of Themselves as Teachers of Early Numeracy Participating in an Intervention Programme

This paper explores Grade R teacher expressions of themselves as teachers of numeracy, and as teachers working in the transition phase of schooling, after their participation in a research-informed numeracy-focused professional development (PD) intervention. The Early Number Fun (ENF) programme had 33 teachers from 17 Eastern Cape schools participating monthly over 18 months. Inclusion of Grade R to schooling is relatively new following policy changes in Early Childhood Development. In-service support tends to be subsumed within the Foundation Phase without attention to the specialised nature of Grade R that emphasises learning through play. ENF focused on the development of specialised teacher knowledge to support the development of early number sense through play, particularly with conceptual manipulatives. Data sources include three pre-, during, and post-PD questionnaires. Findings reveal that participation in ENF, and access to multiple research informed numeracy resources, supported teachers in their relationship with numeracy and the teaching thereof. Questionnaire responses indicate greater confidence in themselves as knowledgeable teachers of numeracy and that belonging to the ENF community supported navigation of positive professional identities within the mixed messages of policy. The findings contribute to the community-supported field of Grade R PD research and early numeracy teaching and learning. In concluding we discuss implications of this research for Grade R PD and for policy.

Towards a global partnership model in interprofessional education for cross-sector problem-solving

ObjectivesA partnership model in interprofessional education (IPE) is important in promoting a sense of global citizenship while preparing students for cross-sector problem-solving. However, the literature remains scant in providing useful guidance for the development of an IPE programme co-implemented by external partners. In this pioneering study, we describe the processes of forging global partnerships in co-implementing IPE and evaluate the programme in light of the preliminary data available.MethodsThis study is generally quantitative. We collected data from a total of 747 health and social care students from four higher education institutions. We utilized a descriptive narrative format and a quantitative design to present our experiences of running IPE with external partners and performed independent t-tests and analysis of variance to examine pretest and posttest mean differences in students’ data.ResultsWe identified factors in establishing a cross-institutional IPE programme. These factors include complementarity of expertise, mutual benefits, internet connectivity, interactivity of design, and time difference. We found significant pretest–posttest differences in students’ readiness for interprofessional learning (teamwork and collaboration, positive professional identity, roles, and responsibilities). We also found a significant decrease in students’ social interaction anxiety after the IPE simulation.ConclusionsThe narrative of our experiences described in this manuscript could be considered by higher education institutions seeking to forge meaningful external partnerships in their effort to establish interprofessional global health education.

Increasing the value of Community-Based Education through Interprofessional Education

Introduction: This study aimed to examine the usefulness of Community Based-Education (CBE) and Interprofessional Education (IPE) to community health outcomes. Methods: The design was a mixed-method study. Each small group worked together to identify family health problems, implement interventions, and evaluate the results. The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) questionnaire was applied to compare students' perceptions before and after the implementation. In addition, qualitative data were acquired from students' comments on the questionnaire, interviews with community representatives, and FGDs with instructors at the end of the program. Results: Three hundred and sixty-seven out of 465 students returned the completed paired questionnaire (78.9 % response rate). Paired t-test showed that student perception of responsibility slightly increased, whereas teamwork and collaboration, negative and positive professional identity decreased somewhat. However, most pre-post students' responses already trended to the positive side (scales 4 and 5). Moreover, the Chi-square test showed that pre-post students' confidence levels significantly increased. Most small groups of students successfully empowered the community to solve health problems. Students, instructors, and representatives of community members appreciated the program. However, several students felt their instructors were not motivated to mentor their tasks, and sometimes they had difficulty conducting home visits together. Conclusion: This study showed that the combination of CBE-IPE contributes to more favourable community health outcomes. However, it was challenging in several aspects of preparation, including highly motivated instructors. Nevertheless, pre and post-implementation students' attitudes are still positive.

STUDENT READINESS TOWARDS INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION BASED ON THE HAJJ HEALTH

Background: Interprofessional education (IPE) Faculty of Medicine and Health Science Maulana Malik Ibrahim State Islamic University (FKIK UIN MMI) were designed based on hajj health and involved prospective pilgrims (CJH) as the target. The program’s goal was to achieve collaboration among health students and support CJH to achieve the istitha’ah condition. Thus student readiness becomes one of the success parameters. This study aims to evaluate the readiness of FKIK UIN MMI students for the hajj health-based IPE program.Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive method was used with the FKIK UIN MMI students class 2018 as the population. Students who undertook the hajj health-based IPE program in 2021 were classified in the inclusion criteria. Meanwhile, the IPE participants that did not fill out the questionnaire were excluded. The questionnaire was adopted from the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale and processed with Microsoft excel.Results: The readiness of 113 students was categorized as "very ready" on the aspect of collaboration and cooperation, also on the positive professional identity subject, with readiness levels of 83.36% and 81.23%, respectively. The percentage of readiness for the negative professional identity aspect was 48.20% and categorized as "quite ready". Professional roles and responsibilities had a score of 708, and were categorized as "ready".Conclusion: FKIK UIN MMI students had a good readiness level for the hajj health-based IPE program. Further studies are needed to examine the factors that emerge as barriers to joint learning between professions. The lecturer's readiness is needed to be evaluated as well.

An online 5-week professional identity program for nursing student in clinical rotation practice during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic: A two-arm randomized trial.

Development and evaluation of the effectiveness of an online 5-week professional identity program among nursing students in clinical internship practice during the COVID-19 restrictions. Nurse professional identity is a strong predictor of career commitment. Clinical internship practice is a key stage when nursing students build and rebuild their professional identity. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 restrictions has strongly influenced the professional identity of nursing students as well as nursing education. A well-designed online professional identity program may contribute to nursing students who are in clinical internship practice developing positive professional identity during the COVID-19 restrictions. The study was a two-armed, randomised, controlled trial conducted and reported based on Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) 2010 guidelines. A total of 111 nursing students undergoing clinical internship were randomised into an intervention group and a control group. The five-weekly session intervention was developed based on social identity theory and career self-efficacy theory. The primary outcomes were professional identity and professional self-efficacy and the second outcome was stress. Qualitative feedback was analysed by thematic analysis. Outcomes were assessed before and after the intervention and analysed using an intention-to-treat principle. The generalised linear model showed that group-by-time effects were significant for the total score of professional identity and three factors of professional self-image, social comparison and self-reflection and independence of career choice, with small effect sizes (Cohen's d from 0.38 to 0.48). Only one factor of the capacity of information collection and planning in professional self-efficacy was significant (Wald χ2 =0.4.82, P<0.01) with a medium effect size (Cohen d=0.73). The group effect, time effect and group-by-time effect of stress were not significant. Three themes were: 'Gaining in professional identity, self-recognition and peer belonging'; 'Content, self-motivation and intervenor as participation facilitators'; and 'Combining offline and courses, setting group rules and building mutual trust as recommendations'. The online 5-week professional identity program effectively promoted the development of professional identity and the capacity for information collection and career planning but did not significantly relieve pressure during the internship.

The role of non-core disciplines in the professional education of students of technical universities

Introduction. Rapidly developing technological progress and changing economic conditions increase the responsibility of universities for the preparation of highly competitive technical specialists who are ready to work in new economic realities. This determines the importance of motivation for gaining knowledge and skills, acquiring a positive professional identity, which is part of the tasks of professional education. In professional education, the role of specialized disciplines is indisputable, but the possibilities of the variable part of non-core disciplines are practically not used. The purpose of the article is to determine and substantiate the pedagogical conditions necessary for qualitative changes in the process of professional education in a technical university in the study of non-core disciplines. Research methods. The achievement of the goal was facilitated by the use of methods: theoretical (content analysis of psychological and pedagogical sources, generalization, comparison, forecasting, modeling); empirical (testing, interviewing, conversation, questioning, experimental method, analysis of personal experience, pedagogical consultation); methods of information registration and processing. The study involved 72 students and 12 teachers from Novosibirsk State Technical University (Russia) and Karaganda Technical University (Kazakhstan). Research results. The concept of "professional education", used in the context of training technical specialists, has been clarified. The necessity of using the variable component of non-core disciplines for the purpose of professional education of students in the conditions of a technical university is substantiated. The pedagogical conditions for qualitative changes in the process of professional education of students of technical universities in the study of non-core disciplines have been identified and empirically tested: orientation of the content of the variable part of non-core disciplines to the profile of students' training; the use of pedagogical technologies, involving close cooperation and active interaction of all participants in the educational process; introduction of pedagogical means of professional education into the educational process. Conclusion. The introduction of specially organized conditions into the educational process of non-core disciplines contributes to the formation of positive thinking in relation to the professional field, the acceptance of the social mission of the technical profession, the perception of the level of responsibility for decisions made in the vocational subculture. Dynamics of indicators: positive attitude towards the profession increased by 40%, understanding of the importance of non-core disciplines increased by 45%.

Interprofessional education during international electives: Perceptions of health professions students from selected institutions in Africa

ABSTRACT Although international electives provide important opportunities for the development of interprofessional education and collaboration practice skills, there is limited literature that describes students’ perceptions in various training institutions in Africa. This study aimed to address this gap by establishing the student’s perceptions of interprofessional education during international electives from four African health professional training universities. This was a cross-sectional quantitative study. Data were collected online using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale from 135 student participants. Linear regression and multilinear regression were used to establish relationships between socio-demographic characteristics and the student’s perception of interprofessional education during international electives. There was a high overall positive perception (76 SD± 8.1) among the student participants of interprofessional education during international electives. Almost all the students (88.9% n = 120) thought interprofessional education during international electives would help them become better team workers during future practice and enhance their communication skills. There were high mean scores regarding positive perceptions of teamwork and collaboration (39.5 SD± 4.9), positive professional identity 17.6 (SD± 2.6), and understanding roles and responsibilities (7.4 SD± 2.0). There is a generally positive perception of interprofessional education during international electives among health professions students from various African university institutions.

Pogledi na strokovno identiteto in njeno oblikovanje v času izobraževanja na Fakulteti za socialno delo Univerze v Ljubljani

Perceptions of professional identity and its formation during education at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Ljubljana Professional identity in social work can be described as a collection of identifiable and enduring professional qualities of social workers that bind them together as a professional group and make them different and unique compared to other professional groups. As the social work profession is devalued and stigmatized around the world, exploring the processes involved in developing a strong and positive professional identity is of great importance. The need to explore social work professional identity has been recognized in some places abroad and has mainly focused on researching professional identity formation during social work education. This paper presents findings on the definition and role of professional identity in social work, focusing on professional identity formation during education at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Ljubljana. Qualitative research on social work students' perceptions of professional identity is presented, as well as suggestions for a more frequent and discrete treatment of the topic during the education of future social workers.

FEATURES OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSISTANCE TO THE UKRAINIAN POPULATION IN THE CONDITIONS OF OPPOSING THE AGGRESSOR

The purpose of the study is to determine the socio-psychological factors influencing the effectiveness of social-psychological assistance to the Ukrainian population in wartime conditions and their possible approbation as the use of relevant experience to ensure effective professional training of future psychologists in higher educational institutions. Research tasks: 1) determination of the social and psychological needs of the war-affected population of Ukraine; 2) determination of the level of social and psychological provision of assistance to victims; 3) determination of the conditions and means of ensuring the development of social and psychological assistance to the affected population. To solve the research task – to determine the level, conditions and means of ensuring the development of socio-psychological assistance to the affected population, the following research methods were used: theoretical analysis, synthesis and applied research using standardized methods. The state of readiness of Ukrainian psychologists to provide appropriate assistance to the population, development of the necessary psychological and methodological materials was analyzed. The peculiarities of psychological assistance to the injured are highlighted using the example of one of the first psychologists who developed a methodical guide aimed at the psychological and mental rehabilitation of injured Ukrainians. Emphasis is placed on psychological diagnosis and individual and group psychocorrection, psychotherapy (primary psychological assistance to displaced persons, assessment of the severity of the impact of a traumatic event, self-assessment of the level of depression in psychological diagnosis, short psychotherapy in an individual and complex multi-directional approach to getting out of a traumatized state in group work with displaced persons) and the importance of the positive influence on the development of this assistance of the relevant personal and professional qualities and properties of future psychologists. In order to identify the conditions and means of ensuring the development of socio-psychological assistance to the affected population, a number of methods were used in the study: 1) "Self-esteem" test (by S.A. Budassi); 2) Method "Self-assessment of mental state: well-being, general activity, mood (SAN)" (authors: V.A. Doskin, N.A. Lavrentyeva, V.B. Sharay, M.P. Miroshnikov); 3) "Scale of reactive and personal anxiety" (developed by C.D. Spielberger, adapted by Y.L. Khanin); 4) "Professional identity study methodology (MVPI) (author L.B. Schneider). 178 students of the III-IV courses of the Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology of the National Pedagogical University named after M.P. Drahomanov and 5th courses of the Faculty of Psychology named after T.G. Shevchenko and the Faculty of English of the National Linguistic University. From the analysis of the conducted methods, it was found that the researched future psychologists, who are oriented to practical activities under the guidance of mentors, have inadequately inflated self-esteem, an average level of cognitive activity, and an average level of anxiety during training, which correlates with an insufficient level of development of their professional self-identity. This indicates an inadequately inflated self-esteem, insufficient self-determination, inadequate self-satisfaction, self-expression, and insufficient self-regulation of the subjects during training. Therefore, it is necessary to pay special attention to creating conditions, finding means to increase opportunities for future psychologists to achieve a conscious, positive professional identity at the stage of educational and professional training, as this is an important basis for the effective formation of their professional identity in the future, as future reliable qualified specialists, the professional level of which will meet public demands, the needs of psychological assistance to victims of the war in the country. Keywords: socio-psychological assistance, psychological-methodical support, professional self-identity, personal-professional qualities and attributes, future psychologist

Professional identity and workplace motivation: A case study of health information managers.

The professional identity and motivation of qualified health information managers (HIMs) is largely unexplored. A larger study has investigated the motivators of HIMs in the construction of their professional identity and associated relationships to job satisfaction and engagement with their profession. The aims of this component of the study were to: (i) identify and analyse the characteristics of members of the profession who have different motivation profiles; (ii) obtain HIMs' perspectives on their professional identity; and (iii) measure correlation between HIMs' professional identity and different motivating factors. Method: A cross-sectional study design, with a convergent mixed-methods approach to data collection was employed. An online survey was administered to the 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2015 Australian health information management and medical record administration graduate cohorts from one university in Victoria. Response rate: 72.7% (n = 72). There were no statistically significant correlations between the HIMs' motivation profile and professional identity. The HIMs were largely motivated by a need for achievement (striving for excellence) and continuous improvement; maintained high standards of work quality (95.8%); valued their work (94.4%) and work collaborations (84.7%); satisfactorily applied skills-knowledge (94%); demonstrated a very strong professional association (92% were proud to belong to the profession). Key factors in motivation that were consistently reported by members of all cohorts in the open-ended questions were as follows: intrinsic motivation; colleagues and teamwork; the variety of work performed; and contribution to the bigger picture. Overall, and notwithstanding between-cohort differences: 65.3% confidently directed others, 45.8% aspired to leadership and 38% actively networked. They related difficulty in explaining the profession to outsiders. There was no correlation between motivation profile and professional identity. Significantly, the HIMs demonstrated exceptionally strong positive professional identity, reflected particularly in pride in membership of the profession and their belief in the importance of their professional work.

Field Instruction: A Relational Model to Promote A Positive Professional Identity for Social Work Students

ABSTRACT The development of a social work professional identity is an element of social work education. It is not clear how students in social work programs develop this identity; its development seems to be dependent on the integration of various learning experiences and exposure to curriculum content in the classroom, and in the fieldwork assignments. Teachers and field instructors play important roles in this process. In this paper, the authors argue that a positive professional social work identity can be fostered through the relationship with instructors in fieldwork supervision. Using Kohut’s theory of Self Psychology, the authors present a model that highlights the application of the concept of self-object needs to the field instructor-student relationship. One of the central premises of his theory is that individuals from childhood and throughout adulthood internalize the experiences provided by self-objects to meet the emotional needs of the self. The authors propose that field instructors provide self-object experiences that can sustain and foster the development of a positive professional identity for social work students in training. The application of this model underscores students’ affective changes associated with students’ professional development in social work programs.

Tell Me Something Good: Enabling Conditions for Positive Individual Outcomes

In the stressful times of the pandemic, civil unrest, and other worldly concerns, it’s easy to slip into a negative mindset. Yet, in the recent two decades, positive organizational scholars have resiliently asked positive research questions to identify how we flourish in the workplace. Focusing on the positive side during such bleak societal times has become even more important, as we wrestle with dark feelings and mentalities. As such, this symposium will highlight the good with an emphasis on positive outcomes. Positive organizational scholarship (POS) is the study of positivity of organizational states following four approaches: adopting a positive lens, taking an affirmative bias, explaining extraordinary positive outcomes, and examining the best of the human condition (Cameron & Spreitzer, 2012). Key topical areas of POS include positive individual traits, states, emotions, strengths, and virtues, all of which have specific dependent variables of measurement (Caza, 2015). For example, broaden and build theory examines how physical, intellectual, social, and psychological resources are built (Fredrickson, 2001), and self-determination theory examines workplace wellness, success, and achievement (Deci, Olafsen, & Ryan, 2017). The purpose of this symposium is to contribute to our understanding of positive individual outcomes by examining dependent variables in three key topical areas across four cultures and countries (Australia, Israel, United Kingdom, United States). The symposium’s papers examine outcomes of well-being, prosocial identity, helping behaviors, work meaningfulness, career success (positive individual traits and states), emotions and empathy (positive emotions), and perceived fairness and justice (strengths and virtues). By examining such positive outcomes across multiple cultures and different levels of analysis, this symposium creates an opportunity for cross-pollination of ideas and research on questions focused on individual thriving at work. This cross-pollination of ideas and research addresses the grand challenges being faced around the globe (George, Howard-Grenville, Joshi, & Tihanyi, 2016), thereby, contributing towards the conference’s theme of ‘Creating a Better World Together’. Positive Empathy at Work: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Organizational Outcomes Presenter: Deshani Buddhika Ganegoda; Melbourne Business School Presenter: Prashant Bordia; Australian National U. Personal and Interpersonal Drivers of Social Support Provision Presenter: Matthew Deeg; Abilene Christian U. Workplace Characteristics that Foster Experiences of Meaningfulness among Israeli Teachers Presenter: Hayuta Yinon; Oranim College of Education Leadership, Race and Positive Professional Identity: Exploring the Black Experience Presenter: Yvonne Lardner; U. of Cambridge The Inter-Communicability of Well-Being at Work Presenter: Hongxia Peng; Rouen U.

Educating for Well-being in Law: Positive Professional Identities and Practice edited by Caroline Strevens and Rachael Field

Educating for Well-Being in Law: Positive Professional Identities and Practice provides both an inspiring and pragmatically grounded set of accounts of what has been done, and could be done to generate positive professional identities and practices in the legal profession.