FEATURES OF PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS Kushnareva E.A.
Kushnareva Evgenia Aleksandrovna - Вachelor of Psychological and Pedagogical Education,
FACULTY OF PSYCHOLOGY, PEDAGOGICAL INSTITUTE BELGOROD STATE UNIVERSITY, BELGOROD
Abstract: the article is devoted to the problem of professional orientation of College and University students. This problem may be caused by the choice of profession itself, the article analyzes the choice of students from the point of view ofpsychology. Keywords: student, professional identity, professional status, uncertain professional identity, imposed professional identity, moratorium or crisis of choice, the status of professional identity has not yet, formed professional identity.
The relevance of this study lies in the need to consider psychological features of professional identity and identifying with other people, as well as the ability of mastering professional skills.
According to Nechaeva: «The profession is influenced by the development of textual experience and professional fragments. The basis of the profession is the skill of owning tools. The profession also serves as the basis for social and group differentiation, stratification, which supports the reproduction of the reference product» [2, a88].
With the study of professional consciousness and professional identity of scientists attribute the possibility to solve many professional problems that arise during implementation. Representation of oneself as a professional is included in the system of professional actions, which determines the style of interpersonal interaction in the professional community. Conscious identity allows not only to determine one's place in the social world, but also on this basis to develop a system of values and beliefs that are adequate to the requirements of modern socio-economic conditions and the dynamic world of professions.
According to Schneider: «Professional identity is a psychological category that refers to the awareness of belonging to a certain profession and a certain professional community. Professional identity is determined by professional communication and professional experience» [3, p. 116].
The purpose of the study is to identify the psychological characteristics of professional identity of students.
Research hypotheses are the question of the existence of significant differences in the content of professional identity in college and university students. Our main hypothesis is that college students have a better developed professional identity, namely, formed the status of professional identity and developed professional self-consciousness.
To solve the tasks and verify the initial assumptions, a set of complementary methods and techniques was used: test methodology - the questionnaire "Who am I? " (M. Coon, T. MacPartland), a methodology for studying the status of professional identity (A.A. Azbel), questionnaire method, and mathematical-statistical data processing methods (non-parametric U-Mann-Whitney statistical criterion).
The research was carried out on the basis of Belgorod industrial College and NIU «BelGU». The research was attended by 54 third year students.
We started our research with the test "Who am I?". The essence of the questionnaire is that the student is asked to answer the question "Who am I?" maximum number of times. The questionnaire is used to identify the identity of an individual. A personal identity includes a professional identity, and it is a complex psychological phenomenon that consists of a person's professional development. With a pronounced professional identity, the
adoption of a chosen profession is observed. It was observed only in those cases when students' answers reflect professional skills and abilities, for example: programmer, specialist, technician, mathematician, computer scientist, and so on. According to the results, the methodology expressed professional identity was revealed in 10% of this, means that students to the question "Who am I?" gave several times answers that are related to the profession or professional skills. It appears once in 56%, and is absent in 33% of respondents. Professional identity in students of higher education is developed better, it can be observed from Figure 1 single application of professional identity in 68%, expressed in only 12%, at all absent in 20%. This mono ratio is shown in Table 1.
Consequently, we can conclude that college students and students of a higher educational institution observe the formation of professional identity.
Table 1. Distribution of students according to the expression ofprofessional identity in (%)
Expressiveness degree Higher education institution College
Absent 20 33
Single manifestations 68 56
It is expressed 12 10
When considering the data obtained from table 1, we can conclude that among university students professional identity is more pronounced than among college students. College students do not express professional identity at all in 33% of cases, and university students in 20%.
The following technique that has been considered is the technique of studying the statuses of professional identity. Where it was examined how self-awareness as a person, and the ability to shape and evaluate their capabilities, as well as the skill to set goals, take place. These criteria show how well the goal-setting ability is formed.
The following statuses are distinguished:
• Uncertain professional identity (the choice of life path is not made, there are no clear ideas about career, but the person does not even pose this problem);
• Imposed professional identity (a person has formed ideas about their professional future, but they are imposed from outside and are not the result of independent choice);
• Moratorium or crisis of choice (the person is aware of the problem of choice of profession, and be in the process of solving it);
• The status of professional identity has not yet been determined (professional plans have been defined, which has been the result of a meaningful independent decision);
• Formed professional identity (professional plans are defined, which was the result of a meaningful independent decision) [1, p. 143].
From table 2 we observe the percentage ratio, as a result of which it turns out that college students have an undefined status in 16% of cases, an imposed status of 6%, a moratorium of 23%, and a formed status in 53% of cases. From this it can be concluded that in most cases college students have formed professional status and this indicates that there is an independent solution in the choice of profession.
It can also be seen from Table 2 that students of higher education have the following percentage ratio in 72% of formed professional identity, 24% have a moratorium, and 4% have uncertain professional identity. According to these data, it can be concluded that students of higher education institutions have a more formed professional identity.
Table 2. Distribution of students by professional status in (%)
Status Higher education institution College
Formed 72 53
Moratorium 24 23
Imposed 0 6
Uncertain 6 16
Thus, when considering table 2, it can be concluded that higher education students in most cases have already formed the status, as well as college students. However, in percentage terms, university students are leaders in terms of status.
The next version of the survey was a questionnaire, where the question of motive was considered, that is, what motive the host was when choosing professional activity. Based on the answers, we can conclude that most students show a leading motive, which is to choose creative work, but also the leading place is material well-being.
Fig. 1. Leading motive distributions in college students (average score)
As we can see from the 1 figure on the indicator "Creative work" (Mx = 6.21) the maximum expression, such a score on this scale suggests that students of college have a greater expression of creative motive. This means that when choosing a profession, they are more focused on the ability to create and implement something new in their activities. Material well-being comes second, so College students mostly chose their future activities based on the creative and material component.
In students of higher education there is almost similar result, in Figure 4. (Mx = 6) maximum expression also on the scale "Creative work". Based on Figure 1, it was concluded that in students of university and college the maximum score manifests itself in creative motive, both in higher education and college there is a large difference in the scale "Material work," students of college are more interested in material work. The last scale that needs to be considered is the prestigious work scale, college students are also leading in this motive.
Table 3. The manifestation of professional identity in students
Indicators Educational institution Uэмп
Higher education institution College
Creative work 6 6,06 25
Material welfare 3,2 4,1 12*
Prestigious job 1,76 5,96 11*
Status 1,36 1,75 32
Note:*-p<0.05-reliable level of the statistical importance.
In order to identify statistical differences in levels of professional identity between groups of subjects with different educational institutions, we used the non-parametric statistical U-Mann-Whitney criterion. As a result of mathematical and statistical data
processing, we found differences at a very high level of statistical significance in terms of "Material well-being" (Uemp =12; p < 0.05), this is due to the fact that college and university students have different processes choosing an important component in a future profession. Also, differences were found at a high level of statistical significance in terms of the motivation indicator "Prestigious work" (Uemp = 11; p < 0.05). This result tells us that most college students chose "Prestigious Work".
Professional identity among university students is more pronounced, which confirms the empirical study. By all methods, formation and maturity in choosing a profession are observed, which indicates a formed or emerging professional identity. College students have a professional identity, also in most cases already formed. However, university students are leaders in the formation of professional identity. Which indicates to us that our hypothesis is partially confirmed by research.
References
1. Gretsov A.G., Azbel A.A. Recognize yourself. Psychological tests for teenagers. Saint-Petersburg, St. Petersburg, 2006. Pp. 143-155.
2. Nechaev V.Ya. Sociology of education / V. Ya. Nechaev. M., 2000. 219 p.
3. Schneider L.B. Professional identity: Monograph. Moscow: mosu, 2001. 272 p.