Building a professional identity in flexible times: The case of Chilean university professors

Abstract

This research is focused in the reconstruction of the central axes from which the elaboration of a teaching identity in Chilean academics is being sustained, taking as axes the professional trajectory and the teaching work. The purpose of the research is to reveal the multiplicity of conditions in which the university works in the XXI century in Chile and how these expand or limit the framework of possibility of construction of meaning of academic work. Under a qualitative approach, 12 academics from universities of different complexity participated, with diverse assignments in contract, tasks and disciplines. Through the construction of practice reports and their subsequent analysis using narrative and structural techniques, common categories and differentiating aspects were constructed. The results describe the perception of the institution-worker relationship, aspects associated with their teaching practice and a synthesis is proposed through the central motivators of teaching in higher education. It is discussed how the stories make visible the current problems of the construction of meaning of university work in a heterogeneous and changing context.