Professional Identity Theory

Here is a definition of professional identity theory: It explores how we become, who we become, at work from Oxford Journals. Did that confuse you? It confused me too. Having worked in the professional development field for a couple of decades here is my translation.

Your professional identity comprises multiple facets. Environment; Where do you want to work? Behaviours; how do you want to work? Sills and Capabilities; What knowledge and personal attributes do you bring to your work? Then we have our beliefs and values. Make a change in this layer and all those below will line up accordingly.  Firstly your core values. These live right at the centre of us and once we know what they are, they can aide us in our decision making.

Beliefs inform our professional identity theory. Layer upon layer of beliefs and opinions we have collected over the years we have been on this planet. These beliefs will have attached themselves to us without our even knowing it. They will have come from our family of origin, our education, the society we grew up in, from our peers and from our own work experiences over the years.

These beliefs will feel entirely fixed. It can feel like we ARE these beliefs. What we need to remember is that they are only beliefs. We can change our beliefs whenever we wish. This can mean freedom from ideas that we hold that now limit our progress. So how do we tell which is a core value and which is a belief? Barrat Values gives this lovely definition that shows that values are the more enduring of the two:

Beliefs are assumptions we hold to be true. When we use our beliefs to make decisions, we are assuming the causal relationships of the past, which led to the belief, will also apply in the future. In a rapidly changing world where complexity is increasing day by day, using information from the past to make decisions about the future may not be the best way to support us in meeting our needs.

Beliefs are contextual: They arise from learned experiences, resulting from the cultural and environmental situations we have faced.

VALUES

Values are not based on information from the past and they are not contextual. Values are universal. Values transcend contexts because they are based on what is important to us: They arise from the experience of being human.

Conversely beliefs depend on our context, they are defined by what exist outside of us. this is the important bit: when our outside conditions change, as they will do many times in our lives, we often forget to examine our beliefs to see if they are fit for purpose. we may have chosen beliefs when we were 14 that we continue to hold when we are worthy, and they may no longer be dong what we need them to do.

Whilst I have interventions the will help you to identify your core values, and there are plenty that will help you to see your limiting beliefs, sometimes it is just as easy to see if what you perceive to be a static value, changes when you apply it to a different context. its as simple as that. if something you believe at work, done not apply to your personal life, then it may be a belief and that means you can choose whether you want to keep it or not.

So this is how your professional identity theory has developed. This is how your past and your present contribute to your professional identity in practice.  This shows that beliefs are a based in a response to your environment. This shows beliefs to be opinions. This shows that opinions are things that you can choose to jettison if they now longer serve you. This leaves space for for new facets of your professional identity to blossom as you grow and flourish. Want a new professional identity? Then it is totally within your remit to choose one. If you want a brighter professional future you really can simply choose one.

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