Academics’ identity struggles and professional agency in the transition to teaching in a professional master’s degree programme
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21556043 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lan Li (0000-0002-0408-8615, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics), Jian Tao (0000-0002-9573-3084, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Pages | 1964-1980 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-17 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Higher Education Research & Development (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0729-4360 • E-ISSN: 1469-8366 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/07294360.2025.2503825 |
| OpenAlex | W4410473522 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 24 |
Academics tasked with teaching in new programmes often face identity struggles. However, there is limited knowledge of their identity development in the transition to teaching in professional-degree programmes, which are emerging in higher education to enhance graduates’ work readiness. Drawing on activity theory, this research adopts a case-study approach and examines ten academics’ identity struggles and professional agency in teaching in a newly established professional master’s programme at a Chinese university. The results highlight the academics’ return to novicehood in taking on these teaching responsibilities due to the multi-level contradictions between practice-oriented object and inexperienced subject in the professional-degree teaching activity system. In response, the academics agentically engaged in informal workplace learning by moving between activity systems and mobilising shared subject, object, outcome and instrument between professional-degree teaching and research/professional practice, helping resolve their identity struggles. This paper underlines the importance of understanding the multi-level contradictions inherent in identity struggles imposed by teaching in a new type of programme and the critical role of individual agency in resolving these struggles. This paper also argues for the necessity of modifying academic performance appraisals to support academics’ workplace learning
Pedagogy · Professional development · Professional studies · Social science · Sociology · Higher Education and Employability · Higher Education Learning Practices · Innovative Education and Learning Practices
Learning by Expanding
Developing a teacher identity in the university context
What is agency? Conceptualizing professional agency at work
Teacher Education And The Development Of Professional Identity
Expansive Learning at Work
Transforming educators’ practice
A systematic review of Australian higher education students’ and graduates’ work readiness
Indonesian researchers’ scholarly publishing
Understanding and expressing academic identity through systematic autoethnography
Academics’ practices and perceptions of career development learning in the curriculum
Towards an effective change framework for scholarly teaching in higher education professional degrees
Cultural-historical activity theory
Teacher emotions and agency enactment in online teaching
Using thematic analysis in psychology
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |