The central aim of this dissertation is to increase our understanding of changes in identifications and in the professional identity of employees, by investigating the prominent foci of identification, their mix in higher-order social identities and the personal and organisational factors (HRM and supervisory behaviour) that are involved in the change of these professional self definitions. Building upon the assumption that institutions for Higher Education and their workforce are being continually challenged to keep up and adapt to changing societal demands and that it is the quality and flexibility of the workforce which is the key factor to address this turmoil, this dissertation specifically focuses on the understanding of changes in teachers’ professional identity in higher vocational education. For this purpose four related empirical studies have been conducted. Together these studies illustrate the considerable professional diversity in the workforce and shed light on the relationships between foci of identification and professional identities, performance appraisal, leadership, career competencies, customization strategies, professional development and changes in teachers’ identifications over time.
Collaboration among various professions often faces barriers owing to divergent perspectives, priorities, and expertise shaped by distinct socialization processes. These differences can hinder effectiveness, efficiency, and workforce well-being. The Extended Professional Identity Theory (EPIT) addresses this issue by fostering an interprofessional identity without weakening professional identities. Drawing from psychological theories, EPIT explains the coexistence of interprofessional and professional identities, and predicts associated behaviors. It also emphasizes the importance of combining interprofessional identity formation with developing interprofessional competencies and adapting to environmental factors to achieve synergy in (temporary or permanent) mixed profession groups. Introduced in 2018, EPIT research initially relied on the measurement of congruent interprofessional behaviors as indirect indicators of interprofessional identity that could not yet be measured. An experiment demonstrated that enhancing social identification in mixed profession groups with interprofessional assignments reduced the social hierarchy within 6 h across three meetings. The 2020 development of the Extended Professional Identity Scale (EPIS) confirmed interprofessional identity as a three-dimensional social construct. So far, several scientific studies have supported many propositions of EPIT. These propositions are related to dimensionality and various psychometric properties, cross-cultural similarities, evidence and clues for interprofessional identity formation, and its predictive validity in interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Türkiye is among several countries (e.g., the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, Finland, and Indonesia) where EPIT-based interprofessional identity is being investigated. To illustrate contextual differences and their potential cross-cultural implications, it is valuable to explore how interprofessional identity adds value in the Turkish context. This approach facilitates understanding the regional implications of interprofessional identity, including interprofessional education initiatives, increased university engagement, the development of measurement instruments, challenges and future directions, and national and international collaborations. This paper aims to explain and clarify EPIT propositions compared to other theories, describe current evidence, and outline future research directions, with a focus on developments within the Turkish context as a showcase.
This study focuses on the complexity and uniqueness of 45 beginning teachers’ professional identity, an important perspective that is usually not an explicit part of induction programmes. Data were collected in four workshops designed to support beginning teachers in reflecting on personal and contextual aspects that influence (the development of) their professional identity. Based on these reflections, portraits of each teacher were constructed. Five overarching identity themes emerged from these portraits: Classroom management, Students learning, Workload, Collaboration and Standing up for oneself. All themes were visualised into a configuration consisting of personal and contextual aspects, arranged according to three foci: focus on oneself, on students, and on team/organisation. The configurations differ in their magnitude but do justice to the unique and complex nature of each teacher. Constructing configurations is a promising way for understanding what really matters in beginning teachers’ professional identity development and helping them deepen their reflection.
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Collaborative networks for sustainability are emerging rapidly to address urgent societal challenges. By bringing together organizations with different knowledge bases, resources and capabilities, collaborative networks enhance information exchange, knowledge sharing and learning opportunities to address these complex problems that cannot be solved by organizations individually. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the apparel sector, where examples of collaborative networks for sustainability are plenty, for example Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Zero Discharge Hazardous Chemicals, and the Fair Wear Foundation. Companies like C&A and H&M but also smaller players join these networks to take their social responsibility. Collaborative networks are unlike traditional forms of organizations; they are loosely structured collectives of different, often competing organizations, with dynamic membership and usually lack legal status. However, they do not emerge or organize on their own; they need network orchestrators who manage the network in terms of activities and participants. But network orchestrators face many challenges. They have to balance the interests of diverse companies and deal with tensions that often arise between them, like sharing their innovative knowledge. Orchestrators also have to “sell” the value of the network to potential new participants, who make decisions about which networks to join based on the benefits they expect to get from participating. Network orchestrators often do not know the best way to maintain engagement, commitment and enthusiasm or how to ensure knowledge and resource sharing, especially when competitors are involved. Furthermore, collaborative networks receive funding from grants or subsidies, creating financial uncertainty about its continuity. Raising financing from the private sector is difficult and network orchestrators compete more and more for resources. When networks dissolve or dysfunction (due to a lack of value creation and capture for participants, a lack of financing or a non-functioning business model), the collective value that has been created and accrued over time may be lost. This is problematic given that industrial transformations towards sustainability take many years and durable organizational forms are required to ensure ongoing support for this change. Network orchestration is a new profession. There are no guidelines, handbooks or good practices for how to perform this role, nor is there professional education or a professional association that represents network orchestrators. This is urgently needed as network orchestrators struggle with their role in governing networks so that they create and capture value for participants and ultimately ensure better network performance and survival. This project aims to foster the professionalization of the network orchestrator role by: (a) generating knowledge, developing and testing collaborative network governance models, facilitation tools and collaborative business modeling tools to enable network orchestrators to improve the performance of collaborative networks in terms of collective value creation (network level) and private value capture (network participant level) (b) organizing platform activities for network orchestrators to exchange ideas, best practices and learn from each other, thereby facilitating the formation of a professional identity, standards and community of network orchestrators.
De Nederlandse geboortezorg kent structurele capaciteitsproblemen, voornamelijk door personeelsgebrek in de ziekenhuizen. Dit leidt tot tijdelijke opnamestops op verloskundeafdelingen van uren tot dagen. Daarnaast is er in toenemende mate concentratie van zorg, waarbij verloskundeafdelingen permanent sluiten. Vrouwen kunnen hierdoor niet altijd binnen de eigen regio bevallen en aanrijtijden naar ziekenhuizen nemen toe. Wanneer een verloskundige voor een poliklinische bevalling naar een ziekenhuis buiten de regio moet, komt de zorg voor de overige cliënten in de praktijk in het gedrang. Dit heeft effecten op veiligheid van zorg, ervaringen van cliënten en op (werk)tevredenheid van verloskundigen. Verloskundigen worden geconfronteerd met gevolgen en oplossingen waar zij onvoldoende grip op hebben. Zij willen meer regie kunnen voeren over de inrichting van zorg die aansluit bij hun kernwaarden en die van cliënten, met behoud van kwaliteit van zorg. Samen met verloskundigen kwamen we tot de onderzoeksvraag: Op welke manieren kunnen eerstelijns verloskundigen eigen regie nemen in de regionale organisatie van hun zorg – in lijn met hun beroepsidentiteit - om nadelige gevolgen van concentratie van zorg en opnamestops te beheersen? Door participatief actieonderzoek werken we binnen dit project aan het identificeren en vormgeven van passende regionale samenwerkingsvormen, die bijdragen aan de toegankelijkheid van de geboortezorg in de regio en met voldoende draagvlak voor implementatie. Dit doen we door 1) een gedragen collectieve beroepsidentiteit binnen de regio te ontwikkelen met een herijking van kritisch kernwaarden. Dit vormt input voor 2) de ontwikkeling van een predictiemodel dat effecten op capaciteit voorspelt. Verloskundigen krijgen hiermee een instrument in handen waarmee zij onderbouwd invloed uit kunnen oefenen op de organisatie van de geboortezorg, ter voorkoming van negatieve effecten van opnamestops en concentratie van zorg. Doel is toegankelijke, kwalitatief goede en duurzame verloskundige zorg te realiseren met samenwerkingsvormen die aansluiten bij kernwaarden van cliënten en verloskundigen.
