A model of academic developers’ formation and growth of professional identity: a focus on the affective factors

Abstract

This paper examines liminality, agency, and community in two different models of academic development (AD), one in New Zealand and the other in Japan. It builds on previous research that looked at the impact of workplace factors on identity and completes a model of academic developers’ formation and growth of professional identity. This is important because various dimensions of development work and their complex relationships remain unclear in a field that is relatively new, has different ways of formation and operation, and is in need of theorisation. In addition, it is well known that AD units/departments are subject to constant re-organisation, often when an institution's finances are at stake, which suggests there is some uncertainty about the way this work should be or can be organised in different circumstances. The data we draw on for this work come from interviews in which 19 developers were asked about their experiences of their work. Liminality, agency and community were important in both research-led AD communities and for more service-orientated developers working in relative isolation. However, the affective dimensions of these themes were not always experienced in the same way. We propose a model as a starting point for all university stakeholders to help understand the factors that need to be accounted for when addressing AD identity and work, and to guide decision making in the profession.