Professional identity and experience of undergraduate students: an analysis of semantic networks

Abstract

Work experiences during undergraduate studies can be remarkable in the journey of undergraduate students. The objective of this study was to assess, by analyzing semantic networks, the role of work experiences in the meanings those individuals attribute to professional identity. The sample consisted of 2291 students (60% women) divided into three groups: do not work, work in a field related to their course, work in a field not related to their course. The semantic networks of these groups were composed of words uttered from the professional identity prime. We chose to work with the critical network, obtained from the analysis of the incidence-fidelity indexes of the word pairs. The results evidence that work experiences are related to how undergraduate students attribute meaning to professional identity, in such a way that three different networks were formed for these groups. The network of those who work outside their field was the only one that integrated words with negative content, while the semantic networks of those who do not work and those who work in their field, despite containing words that do not always coincide, present a similar macrostructure. We conclude that work experiences play an important role in the meanings that undergraduate students attribute to professional identity. The study innovates by revealing elements of professional-identity construction, besides allowing for reflections on the effects of work experiences during the college period.

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“…In the current study, significantly higher median professional identity score was observed among HCP as compared to HPS. Research suggests that skills and experience are important factors that have been linked directly to professional identity of healthcare practitioners, which can explain the higher level of professional identity reported among HCP included in our study [3,4,6]. Most healthcare practitioners are expected to have high level of professional identity that is somewhat influenced by their experience.…”

“…It has been noted that professional identity develops continuously, starting from experiences gained informally in life and formally in classrooms. These experiences continue to evolve into the work life of individuals that can be influenced by a number of factors including skills and knowledge [3][4][5][6]. Research has shown that all educational experiences outside of the classroom can influence students' level of professional identity [4,7,8].…”

“…These experiences continue to evolve into the work life of individuals that can be influenced by a number of factors including skills and knowledge [3][4][5][6]. Research has shown that all educational experiences outside of the classroom can influence students' level of professional identity [4,7,8]. Therefore, research has focused on assessing the professional identity of students, particularly students enrolled in the healthcare field [1,2,6,9].…”

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