Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2018

Publication Title

Journal of Human Services

Volume

38

Issue

1

Pages

21-33

Abstract

Helping students to develop a strong professional identity is an essential function of human services education. The literature on professional identity development shows that new professionals have long term success when they feel connected to the profession and are competent in their ability to perform their assigned roles and duties. Although there is a large body of literature related to professional identity development, there are gaps in the literature related to professional identity development among human services professionals. This qualitative study used an exploratory grounded theory approach to learn about professional identity development of senior human services students from a large Southern university in the United States. Authors used feedback from participants to establish five themes that participants felt were key to their development as human services professionals. Recommendations are provided for human services educators on ways to develop foundational skills in entry level human services professionals.

Comments

© 2018 National Organization for Human Services.

Included with the kind written permission of the publisher.

ORCID

0000-0002-1438-6704 (Sparkman-Key)

Original Publication Citation

Sparkman-Key, N., Vadja, A., & Borden, N. (2018). Human services identity development: Exploration of student perceptions. Journal of Human Services, 38(1), 21-33.

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