Employer perspectives on graduates’ professional identity formation in the workplace

Professional identity (PI) is recognised as a crucial dimension in how graduates negotiate the transition to employment and move towards a pathway of sustainable professional development. Perspectives on PI have been derived mainly from higher education students with little attention given to the perspective of employers involved in supporting and supervising graduates in the workplace. Accordingly, the study surveys 339 industry professionals to examine their perceptions of how formed graduates’ PI is at different times after recruitment and the influence of personal, organisational and external factors on identity formation at work. Employers recognised how a well-formed PI enables graduates to present a credible professional self that translates into sustainable motivations and values for working ethically, autonomously and with greater efficacy. They felt PI was only moderately developed when graduates transitioned to work with some reported differences among those from occupationally aligned and generalist degree programmes. The study contributes to employability literature by revealing employer perspectives on how PI is formed by graduates and its significance when entering the workplace. Further, its exploration of inhibitors on identity formation helps to identify educational and employer strategies for supporting graduates in developing and articulating their PI during HE and after recruitment into the workplace.