Creative Context by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789811530562
Publisher: Springer Singapore

6.2 Professional Identity Work

Anchored in a constructivist approach, identity in a broad sense is not viewed as innate traits of any given person, but rather, an identity (or identities) is performed and negotiated in accordance with social, cultural, economical and historical factors. As such, identities are both contextual—dependent on circumstances—and relational—created in relation to something/someone else, for instance, something that is not. The ‘difference’ is thus central in the construction of an identity (Woodward 2002). Analytically, this underlines the importance of narrated others as it may elucidate ideas of self and identity boundaries alike (Ybema et al. 2009). Sims (2005) sums up this point by stating: ‘I am, to a significant extent, the the stories that I tell about myself, although quite a lot can be discerned about my identity from the stories I tell about others too.’ (Sims 2005: 89)

The concept of ‘professional identity’ as presented in this chapter, is defined as an individual’s subjectively constructed image of who he/she is as a professional (Slay and Smith 2011). In the context of work-life, professional identity implies the particular type of work individuals do and typically denote a specific type of training or set of skills that one possess (Pratt et al. 2006; Stockhausen 2005). As such, there is an emphasis on the work praxis as a differentiating factor from other people and an underlying notion of being unique as a product of what you do. Moreover, professional identity also entails a social dimension and may be viewed as a social identity allowing for individuals to become part of a certain community based on a shared methodology or certain type of work (Van Maanen and Barley 1984). For Crossley and Vivekananda-Schmidt (2009: 603), a professional identity “…is a pre- requisite for accepting the responsibilities and obligations of the professional role and it can be key to developing the confidence to work as a qualified professional.” As such, it holds distinctly enabling properties and regardless of being viewed as a role identity or social identity, professional identity is of great importance in that it organises the subjective ontology and thus constitute behvioural guidance (see Caza and Creary 2016; Siebert and Siebert 2005; Ibarra 1999). Beyond behavioural effects, a strong identification with a profession also serves to reduce uncertainty and provide self-enhancement (Hogg and Terry 2000). Grey (1994: 482) notes that, for better or worse, occupation has become a major source of identity and may be ‘a place where the self may become that which it truly is or desires to be’ (Bauman and Raud 2015).

In conjunction with the concept of professional identity, this chapter also draws on the theoretical notion of what Sveningsson and Alvesson (2003) refer to as ‘identity work’. Identity work, as opposed to a more essentialist conceptualisation, emphasises the dynamic nature and the ‘on-going struggle’ associated with answering the question: Who am I? (Brown 2015). As such, identity work is the work we engage in when we continuously maintain, strengthen or modify the constructions that are productive in terms of having a sense of coherence and distinctiveness.

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