The Importance of Developing Students’ Academic and Professional Identities in Higher Education

In higher educational research, there is a growing recognition that students’ academic achievement is influenced by their opportunities for academic identity development; however, less attention has been given to the process and development of students’ professional identity. In a qualitative study among 26 Danish and 11 Australian university students, we found that, regardless of educational background and broader educational context, many students indicated the need for professional identity, but were unable to develop it. Furthermore, a lack of clarity about professional identity was experienced as loss of goal-orientation and motivation, uncertainty, stress, and perceived poor academic achievement.