| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation contains three separate studies exploring professional identity formation and identity salience among sexuality educators. First, a scoping literature review is presented (n = 8 studies), summarizing how the professional literature conceptually defines and operationalizes a) professional identity and b) the factors associated with the professional identity of sexuality educators. In this review, the factors found to be associated with professional identity included: a) self-efficacy for teaching, b) person or personal identity, c) training, and d) identity conflict.
Second, a quantitative study tested the adequacy of a conceptual model, designed to capture the relationships among person identity, professional identity, training, identity salience, and self-efficacy for teaching (SE) sexuality education. Employing data from a sample of 303 sexuality educators in the United States, and Structural Equation Modeling for analyses, the results indicated a good model fit, as well as a significant positive association between professional identity and SE, and, contrary to expectations, no relationship between training and SE.
Third, a qualitative study with a sample of pre-service health educators explored perspectives of how their professional identity — as health educators who teach human sexuality — developed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 clinical teachers at a university in the southwestern United States. A content analysis was used to summarize prevalent codes and identify specific themes using a priori constructs from Identity Theory as codes. Factors influencing professional identity development were organized under the two dimensions of professional identity (conventional and idiosyncratic). Highlights from the qualitative findings include: 1) the impact of cultural and social influences on professional identity development, and 2) the need for training that addresses the development of professional identity.
In tandem, findings from the three studies presented in this dissertation support the critical need for adding a professional identity component to sexuality educator preparation programs/training in the US. In addition, more research is needed to explore the complexity of sexuality educators’ professional identity development. Ultimately, adding professional identity development components into sexuality educators’ training programs should lead to the design of improved, more effective training, more confident educators, and healthier populations. | |
