Ambivalence of Professional Socialization in Social and Educational Professions

Abstract

The factors that promote successful professional socialization have become a primary focus of study through the expansion of higher education. The structural changes in the labor market of post-socialist countries such as Hungary over the last three decades have presented a challenge to the training areas of social and educational professions. In Hungary, these professions are not very attractive, the degrees have a low profitability, and the working people already face great challenges when looking for a job. Our research question is whether the traditionally theoretical character of higher education is able to keep up with the dynamic changes in the reality of the labor market. By interviewing 20 professionals about their professional experience and career plans, we tried to answer the questions about the low attractiveness and low retention rate of these professions. We compared the careers of bachelor’s graduates with degrees in social work, youth work, and education. The qualitative analysis showed that professionals whose training included more field exercises and supervision were more successful. They had increased their professional and social capital, and these helped them to integrate into the labor market.

Public Service Motivation as an Intervention Variable of Self-Efficacy, Competence, and Organisational Commitment on State Apparatus Performance

“…Organizational commitment is used to develop the socialization process into a profession through the emphasis given through professional values. (Pusztai & Csók, 2020;Muslu, 2022). Organizational commitment is the degree of personal identification with the profession and the intensity of involvement.…”

Reimagining Social Work Ancestry: Toward Epistemic Decolonization

“…In the latter part of the 20th century, social theorists increasingly criticized how the elitist power of modern professionalism (Foucault, 1977) often reproduced oppressive intersectional structures through their practices (Mattsson, 2014). Neoliberal ideologies also emerged in the 1990s to challenge the traditional status of professions by commodifying service delivery and often limiting professional discretion (Pusztal & Csok, 2020). There are also trends toward increasingly multiprofessional teams in organizations which threaten the ability of the profession to control and organize its own field (Muzio et al, 2013).…”