Professional Identity and Turnover Intention amongst Chinese Social Workers: Roles of Job Burnout and a Social Work Degree

Abstract

The turnover rate of social workers is extremely high and the predictive roles of professional identity and job burnout on turnover intention have not been explored in China. The study examined the relationship between professional identity and turnover intention, mediated by job burnout and moderated by a social work degree, amongst social workers in China. Based on a sample of 829 participants and the structural equation model method, the findings confirmed that professional identity per se was not related to turnover intention, and a mediating role of job burnout and a moderating role of a social work degree were identified.

How would you respond to stereotype pressure? The effects of perceived occupational stigma on social workers’ proactive behavior in China

“…As a professional field that respects basic individual rights and commitment to social advocacy (Li and Ma, 2021), social work has received significant attention and importance at the policy level but has a low status in Chinese civil society. As a profession with stigma, low public recognition has been proposed as an explanation for job dissatisfaction in this sector (Hu et al. , 2022).…”

“…Maintaining a high level of proactive behavior is a challenge for Chinese social workers, primarily because of a lack of social recognition, low status, discrimination and prejudice against social workers (Tang, 2019; Hu et al., 2022), which are the main connotations of perceived professional stigma (Link and Phelan, 2001). Due to the top-down development model in China, the social work profession has little room to evolve its own identity, and the public remains ignorant about and misunderstands both social workers and their fields (Yang et al.…”

“…The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/2059-5794.htm perform assigned tasks but also to be proactive, a desirable qualification for many jobs (Park and Jo, 2017;El-Gazar et al, 2022) and certainly for social work (Kim and Kim, 2020). Maintaining a high level of proactive behavior is a challenge for Chinese social workers, primarily because of a lack of social recognition, low status, discrimination and prejudice against social workers (Tang, 2019;Hu et al, 2022), which are the main connotations of perceived professional stigma (Link and Phelan, 2001). Due to the top-down development model in China, the social work profession has little room to evolve its own identity, and the public remains ignorant about and misunderstands both social workers and their fields (Yang et al, 2021).…”

Job demands, resources, and task performance in Chinese social workers: Roles of burnout and work engagement

“…Second, the professional identity has not yet been fully established and often the public mistakenly perceives social workers to be volunteers. Without nationwide recognition, social workers are continuously deprived of professional respect, which influences their capacity to implement professional, helping work ( 8 , 9 ).…”

“…Moreover, these increasing professional challenges have drastically increased high burnout and turnover amongst social workers in China ( 2 , 8 , 9 , 19 – 21 ). For instance, 25% of social workers based in Guangzhou quit social work in 2014 ( 22 ).…”