Healthcare vs social sciences students: who identifies the most?

Barbarà-Molinero, Alba; Sancha, Cristina; Cascón-Pereira, Rosalia

Abstract:

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse and compare the level of professional identity strength between healthcare and social sciences students. Design/methodology/approach Based on a sample of 339 students, the authors conduct an ANOVA analysis in order to compare students’ professional identity strength across the abovementioned groups. Findings The authors’ results show that there are significant differences in professional identity strength between healthcare and social sciences students. In particular, healthcare sciences students show stronger professional identity than social sciences students. Originality/value This study contributes to the existing literature on professional identity in higher education by being the first study comparing student’s professional identity between bachelor degrees from different professional fields of study and by showing the relevance of discipline as a contextual variable in the study of students’ professional identity.

Year:

2018

Type of Publication:

Article

Keywords:

higher education; professional identity; social sciences; healthcare sciences

Journal:

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education

Volume:

10

Number:

4

Pages:

583-594

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-02-2018-0013