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Paper Career identity in the veterinary profession S. Page-Jones, G. Abbey This research investigates vet and vet nurse career identity through the qualitative methodology of narrative enquiry. It derives learning and understanding from these empirical data to assist the veterinary profession to adjust to the changing industry landscape. Through a case series of 20 vets and vet nurses’ career stories, this paper seeks understanding about career identity and its impact on individuals and organisations in the light of industry consolidation. Findings suggest that career is central to identity for many veterinary professionals who tend to have a strong sense of self; this is particularly evident around self as learner and technically competent, teacher and educator, ethical and moral and dedicated and resilient. Consequently, mismatches between ‘who I am’ and ‘what I do’ tend not to lead to identity customisation (to fit self into role or organisation) but to the search for alternative, more identity-compatible employment. This study offers a valuable insight for employers, veterinary professionals and universities. It suggests that businesses can gain competitive advantage and employees achieve validation and enrichment by working towards organisational and individual identity congruence and that teaching veterinary professionals with contemporary business in mind may develop graduates with a more sustainable identity. Introduction The veterinary industry is transforming; larger commercial organisations are now commonplace and growing rapidly through organic growth, merger and acquisition. These changes are accompanied by concerns about vets’ mental well-being (Bartram and Baldwin 2010, Bartram and others 2010) and new graduate support and preparedness (IES 2013). This raises questions about how veterinary professionals are aligning who they are with this new world. This study seeks to develop understanding about vet and vet nurse career identity and the relevance and importance of this to the industry.
Career identity Savickas (2007) describes career identity as the way an individual thinks about his or her interests and abilities in relation to career goals; once there is clarity and consistency around what constitutes the self, occupational decisions can be made. This suggests that it is possible to discover an exact depiction of the self that then enables decisions to be made, whereas Bujold (2004) suggests that career identity is the construction of career decisions that enable development of self-efficacy. This introduces an element of discovery over time but still denotes career identity as an individual phenomenon; however, career does not just happen and social standing cannot be developed without interaction with the environment and collaboration with others Veterinary Record (2015) S. Page-Jones, BVSc Cert SAS MBA MRCVS, G. Abbey, BEng BA MBA PhD MCIPD, 134 Beechcroft Road, Upper Stratton, Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 7QE, UK School of Management, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
doi: 10.1136/vr.102784 E-mail for correspondence: [email protected] Provenance: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed Accepted December 7, 2014
(Goldschmidt 1990). This social element causes some uncertainty around the ability of individuals to control their own fate and may result in the formation of a sense of self being limited by socio-cultural context (Goldschmidt 1990). It is also important to recognise that career identity is one aspect of the whole self, although it is not a separate entity and may be influenced by other aspects (e.g. self as a partner or parent).
Narrative research Qualitative research emphasises the socially constructed nature of reality, focusing on relationships and how experiences and meaning are created where the participants’ perspective is central rather than applying quantitative measurement and analytical frameworks (Denzin and Lincoln 2013). Traditional deductive methodologies have been challenged as failing to deal with complex contexts and diverse perspectives (Flick 1998). In this context, we ‘turn to narrative forms of explanation, interpretation and sensemaking’ (Gabriel 2000:239); hence, this study approaches career identity from a narrative perspective. For socially constructed, inductive strategies, trustworthiness and credibility replace the quantitative evaluation criteria of validity and reliability (Denzin and Lincoln 2013). Narrative research does not exist apart from its author; the researcher is part of their enquiry and hence must apply the same principles to themselves as their research and ‘turn back’ their experiences on themselves via the process of reflexivity (Steier 1991). Hence, personal bias cannot be eliminated but by acknowledging and incorporating it a degree of objectivity can be retained (Cohen and Mallon 2001). Once participants’ stories are collected, the researcher constructs one’s own story in the process of interpreting the data in an attempt to create order (Riessman 1993). In this re-telling process, the researcher creates a new account (Ochberg 1996) but must take care to exhibit evidence for claims (Chase 2013) and accept that readers will develop their own constructions since the research is open to many interpretations and meanings (Riessman 1993). April 25, 2015 | Veterinary Record
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Paper Narrative career identity Stories allow people to generate meaning and construct identity over time and thus understand who they are and how they fit into the world (McAdams 1988). It seems reasonable to suggest that career identity is an essential component of this (Goldschmidt 1990) and that it is represented by the career narrative much as identity is portrayed by the life story (McAdams 1988). Career can have a significant impact on the generation of meaning and how we and others define us socially (McAdams and others 2001). Individuals make sense of their identity as they tell the story of their career implying a close link between ‘who I am’ and ‘what I do’ (Canary and Canary 2007). Ibarra (2003) proposes that career identity is not something set at the centre of one’s being and hence there is no ‘right’ career for us but a number of possible identities that can be drawn on. These are influenced by personal and social interactions, past and present experiences, imaginings of the future and the stories one tells about his/her lives and careers (Ibarra 2003). These stories evolve over time (or may be rejected) particularly during transition phases and lead directly to identity evolution (Ibarra and Barbulescu 2010). Indeed, it may be that individuals have multiple interpretations of themselves at any one time (e.g. occupational and organisational selves), perhaps leading to inner tensions (Barley 1989); however, there may be a relatively constant ‘anchor’ of attitudes, values and beliefs (McAdams 1988). Research exists on career identity construction in doctors and how increased awareness might be used to advance the medical profession (Pratt and others 2006) and although work has been completed on the personality types of people who join the veterinary profession (Bartram and Baldwin 2010), career identity has not been investigated within the veterinary field. Research objectives include developing understanding around: ▸ Veterinary career identity ▸ The relationship between ‘who I am’ and ‘what I do’ ▸ How vets and vet nurses imagine their future selves, and consequently ▸ What veterinary organisations can do to attract and retain staff
Interpretation was approached by extracting key themes (since these give us clues to identity (Lieblich and others. 1998)) through informally reading and re-reading stories and thereby generating meaning (Peräkylä and Ruusuvuori 2013). Participants’ stories were subsequently organised to create a ‘story of stories’ in order to amalgamate and explain the data in terms of career identity (Hollinghurst and Dybdahl 2007).
Potential issues The stories told during interviews are specific to that place and time and a different meeting would almost undoubtedly have resulted in a different story as alternate cues are extracted from on-going experiences, making repeatability a concern (Chase 2013). It is also possible to interpret the meaning of a story differently from the storyteller with that interpretation potentially being influenced by the researcher’s innate need to tell a ‘good’ story (Price 1999). However, within the socially constructed, narrative paradigm coherence and plausibility (Weick 1995) are more relevant measures to consider.
Results Analysis was begun by summarising the formative experiences and most prevalent themes in each participant’s narrative to enable the authors to assimilate information from all participants and begin to recognise similarities and differences. Stories were subsequently grouped under three headings: 1. ▸ ▸ 2. ▸ 3.
Career identity The importance of profession to identity Prevalent themes ‘Who I am’ and ‘what I do’ Tensions, reconciliation and congruence Potential future selves.
Although quotations from all participants were incorporated in the analysis, they are not all represented here due to text constraints; therefore, exemplary quotations are provided in each section to illustrate themes.
Career identity Materials and methods Ten vets and 10 vet nurses were interviewed using semistructured questions based on early career decisions and past, present and potential future careers. This basic format is well documented in narrative life story research (e.g. Lieblich and others 1998) and specifically in McAdams and Logan’s (2006) work on academics’ careers. Consideration was given to including only vets in the study to enhance comparability but the exclusion of vet nurses would deprive this research of the stories of an important and significant body of the profession and hence limit the complexity and diversity of the research story. Inclusion criteria included being a qualified vet or vet nurse with experience of working for at least two veterinary organisations. Interviews were arranged through previous colleagues and via letters to two veterinary publications (Page-Jones 2013a, b). Interviewees had experience in general and referral practice, working for small, medium and larger corporate organisations, charities, in industry and academia. Vets had worked for 6–41 years with a mean of 15 and median of 11.5 years. Vet nurses had worked for 6–36 years with a mean of 19 and median of 16.5 years; this illustrates a bias towards experienced Head Nurses. Interviews began with a short list of closed questions to ascertain basic information before proceeding with open questions to incite storytelling; however, it was stipulated that career stories were told in chronological order. This may have constrained participants’ expression (Riessman 1993), although Cohen and Mallon (2001) found that most interviewees preferred to make sense of their stories from beginning to end. All interviews were recorded and subsequently transcribed. Veterinary Record | April 25, 2015
Many participants demonstrated the centrality of their career to identity, for example, ‘I found it very difficult being away from the profession when I had [a baby]. It suddenly made me realise how much it is my identity, and that’s me’ (Vet7). Most participants had begun to form their veterinary identity at a very early age with many unable to remember a time before this was part of who they are, for example, ‘It was the only thing I ever wanted to do, I don’t know why… whether it was owning a pet dog that got me interested? I can’t remember a defining moment… it’s just what I always wanted to do’ (VN2). However, Vet2 did not conform to the majority, saying that, ‘I really could have been anything else, I just happened to end up as a vet. I’m sure I would be happy or suitable for anything else and I still think that now.’ Self as learner and technically competent was a strong and consistent theme and tended to lead to self as teacher and educator, particularly among vet nurses, for example, ‘It taught me a lot and the standards were high…I think we can keep improving and that’s one area I feel very strongly about, that as nurses and vets we can always improve, even if it’s just in small areas there’s always room for improvement and sharing that knowledge whether that be with nurses, vets or even lay staff ’ (VN8). In many narratives, self as ethical and moral was a meta-theme but was explicitly expressed in some cases, for example, ‘I had a client the other day with a bird and she said “ooh you better not ring her and tell her you put it to sleep, you’ll just have to say it slipped away otherwise she’ll be dreadfully upset” and in the end we did have to put it to sleep and I rang her and spent time talking about why we had to put it to sleep… cos I just won’t lie’ (Vet10). Self as dedicated and resilient was also evident in the ‘feel’ of many narratives, for example, ‘It was a very, very
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Paper demanding job and don’t get me wrong I loved it, I loved all the referral stuff and learning about that and all the nursing but I didn’t enjoy the fact that there wasn’t enough time for me to be a Head Nurse as well as being a normal nurse so every week I’d be working ten to twelve hours a week overtime’ (VN5). It is noteworthy that an identity based on resilience and coping has a potential downside, for example, ‘I just couldn’t do it anymore and it really hit me…it really upset me and that actually was a really defining moment cos I remember speaking to my Mum and saying… just saying I felt I’d failed, I really had a massive feeling of failure cos I’d had to stop doing something that actually I liked but I couldn’t cope anymore’ (VN1).
‘Who I Am’ and ‘What I Do’ The majority of participants who talked about tensions told stories that privileged identity continuity and coherence rather than customising identity to fit their work setting, for example, ‘The care was appalling, I couldn’t stay there long, if they were happy with it that’s fine but I’d worked in some specialist places by then and I couldn’t cope with it. I know the owners didn’t have any money and there’s always a compromise but they didn’t even get basic care’ (VN10). Multiple nurses raised a tension with their identity as technically competent, qualified professionals and lack of use, for example, ‘When I started it was very much that vets were above nurses and you had to do what the vet asked you and I think it has improved over the years but it’s still quite hierarchical and certainly in some organisations more than others and not recognising the value of nurses and it’s a waste of the nurses skills’ (VN8). In contrast to most participants who tended to move roles in an attempt to find congruence, VN7 told a story about identity customisation, reconciling her story to fit the organisation; ‘If the owners didn’t have the money to treat their animal we would put it down and I thought that was really bad cos we could save it… but then you end up understanding that if they don’t make money there won’t be a business and you won’t have a job.’ Stories of congruence lacked the discomfort of the stories of tension and gave the feeling of an enriched position, for example, ‘We offer a good service, a very compassionate service but we don’t go to the nth degree so we still offer a very practical service and remain conscious about what is financially viable and what is going too far, we do have the balance right’ (Vet7). Vets and vet nurses also talked about finding congruence between ‘who I am’ and ‘what I do’, for example, ‘I like working for those organisations that do things properly and have good clinical standards and look after the patients well. It’s got to be treating every pet as if it were you own, that’s the only way I want to work’ (VN3). The need for social reflection of professional and individual identity by employers also came through strongly, for example, ‘I was a number, I was talking to somebody who works in [Head Office] or wherever, I didn’t know her, she didn’t know me and we were exchanging emails about stuff that was really important to me but she’s got no idea who I am’ (Vet2).
Potential future selves Participants told stories about staying in practice, with some unable to think of themselves in any other role, for example, ‘I can’t envisage myself not being a vet, totally breaking away. There are other things that are interesting to do but I can’t imagine not being a vet, it will always be an important part of who I am’ (Vet4). Others talked about moving out of practice but staying within the profession, for example, ‘I don’t know if I can see myself, or if I want to see myself being a nurse for ever… certainly not in a practice like I’m in at the moment with the nights and the weekends and the rest of it… it won’t suit me long term’ (VN4). Two participants talked about non-veterinary selves, for example, ‘It’s actually quite exciting cos I don’t have a plan… cos when you’ve wanted to be a vet since you were twelve and your whole life is mapped out… but for the first time I don’t know what’s going to happen and its really good, I’m not ruling anything out and I’ll still be locumming and
actually it does make me feel quite sad to think about leaving the profession’ (Vet6).
Discussion The strength of veterinary identity and feelings about what it means to be a veterinary professional cannot be underestimated. In many cases it goes a considerable way to answering the overarching identity questions, ‘who am I?’ and ‘how do I fit into the world?’ (McAdams 1988). Many participants were unable to remember a time when they were not partly defined by the profession. Career stories demonstrated how career is central to identity construction (Erikson 1980; Bujold 2004), defining who we are (Canary and Canary 2007), generating meaning and social definition (Goldschmidt 1990, McAdams and others 2001). Holstein and Gubrium (2000) suggest that professional circumstances can have a huge impact on identity construction; however, this study differs from their research in that it seems that the profession rather than the organisation provides the cultural backdrop for developing a sense of self for vets and vet nurses. Professional identification is more consistent with the study by Pratt and others (2006) where doctors gain prestige and distinctiveness from their profession and organisational identification was only possible if something more was offered to generate loyalty. This also makes it less likely that veterinary professionals will adopt organisational rules, participate in activities or promotions (Pratt and others 2006) or act ‘as the organisation’ (Weick 1995). Membership of the profession seems to result in a strong identity and sense of self and generates selfworth and self-esteem (Mayhew and others 2010). A strong sense of self is beneficial, in that it facilitates the development of a consistent, congruent and authentic career self and the generation of meaning and social standing, but this may make negotiating unexpected events, outcomes or socio-cultural changes that threaten identity particularly challenging (Ibarra and Petriglieri 2010). Veterinary professionals may, therefore, identify with the notion of one ‘inner truth’ and the ‘right’ career for them rather than a more dynamic and evolving picture (Ibarra 2003). Prevalent themes included self as learner and technically competent leading to self as teacher and educator, self as ethical and moral and self as dedicated and resilient. These themes may be underpinned by idealised images of self that define the major plot lines of self-narratives; these idealised images are consistent with the attitudes, values and beliefs portrayed by participants (McAdams 1988). Many stories revolve around these prominent themes perhaps adding weight to the suggestion that life-themes are aligned with professions (Meijers and Lengelle 2012) and that consistency contributes to the coherence of individual narratives (McAdams and Logan 2006). The prevalence of the technical competence theme also features as the most important element of veterinary professionalism among students and academics (Roder and others 2012), suggesting that this is not just a desirable character trait but is central to professional identity from an early stage. Canary and Canary (2007) stress the close link between ‘who I am’ and ‘what I do’, but the literature suggests different approaches to mismatch. The finding by Pratt and others (2006) that doctors tend to customise their identity to fit their role was evident in the story told by VN7. The majority of participants told stories of changing role to fit with a more consistent identity and therefore concentrating on identity repair, revising stories of experiences to fit with identity (LaPointe 2010). Stories illustrating ethical and moral mismatch were prominent and caused a heightened emotional response, generating feelings of anger, discomfort, stress and anxiety (Ibarra 2003). Many made sense of these periods of change by telling stories that reinforced identity, thus generating meaning (Meijers and Lengelle 2012). Some vet nurses recognised improvements in professional standing over the years but still describe tension between the maintenance of a consistent version of self as technically competent qualified professional and their social reflection as assistant, April 25, 2015 | Veterinary Record
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Paper receptionist and/or cleaner. The work by Lingard and others (2002) suggests that interprofessional discourse develops during early exposure medical training where trainee doctors and nurses simplify and distort each other’s roles and motivations. These cues are taken from senior team members and assist juniors to form an apparently compatible identity. It is suggested that this early learning is ‘sticky’ and therefore perpetuates interprofessional tensions (Lingard and others 2002); hence, it is important for those engaged in clinical teaching to consider the impact of interprofessional communications on the identity formation of students in attendance. Conversely, stories of congruence illustrated consistency and authenticity between ‘who I am’ and ‘what I do’ (Ibarra and Petriglieri 2010) with participants appearing to be comfortable, particularly with the ethical and moral organisational position, giving the appearance of validation and enrichment (Pratt and others. 2006). It is, perhaps, not surprising that veterinary professionals want to minimise differences between their work situation and sense of self (Ibarra and Petriglieri 2010) and find an environment that validates and authenticates their identity as professional individuals both internally and externally (Ibarra and Barbulescu 2010). It does not seem that individuals develop different versions of the self depending on the employing organisation (Ibarra 2003) but seek organisations where their identity is a good fit. External perceptions of the employing organisation appeared to be important to individual’s sense of self; participants associated with or dissociated from particular organisations or company initiatives, distancing themselves from anything that threatened their identity (Weick 1995). Participants’ imaginings of their future selves differed between those who saw themselves in clinical settings in the long term and those who are experimenting with different selves (Ibarra and Petriglieri 2010). Most showed strong evidence of the self of the past and the present, generating a platform for the future self (McAdams 1988) illustrated by many people considering an identity change, finding it difficult to move away from their veterinary past and present. Those who wanted to stay within the profession were comfortable to leave their clinical selves behind, whereas those who were experimenting with nonveterinary selves found it difficult to imagine giving up clinical work altogether. It may be that veterinary professionals are similar to doctors in that they do not have a wide range of different selves to experiment with or are less willing or able to engage in ‘identity play’ (Pratt and others 2006); this may be due to the strength of their veterinary identities reducing flexibility and adaptability. The concept of many vets being ‘early emergers’ is also worthy of consideration since these talented individuals decide on a career in adolescence and make a lifelong commitment to it; this can result in refusal to try anything outside that person’s area of expertise (Marshall 1981). It seems that some veterinary professionals equate being a commercial organisation with being unethical, and therefore, organisations have a significant challenge to reverse this external reflection and to overcome the pets versus money paradox and find a way to be commercially successful that is ethically acceptable to the profession. Research suggests that commercialism is of least importance to vet students in terms of desirable character traits and of low importance to their academic tutors (Roder and others 2012). Therefore, considerable learning and work must be done by vets (and vet nurses) who are likely to enter the profession with a distorted view of the contemporary industry and a professional identity that is incompatible with it. This work may begin with the acceptance that different ethical and moral standards exist within the industry, but these cannot simply be divided into right and wrong. It would, perhaps, be helpful to accept that ethical and moral standards exist along a continuum and will vary between organisations and veterinary professionals, but that jointly working towards a compromise will provide mutual benefit. Continuing to move role in an attempt to find congruence may not prove fruitful in the contemporary profession and may simply result in a slightly Veterinary Record | April 25, 2015
different mismatch; therefore, identity customisation may be the way forward but will not be possible without considerable commitment from all sides. It may be beneficial for organisations to actively seek to understand their employees’ career identities and specifically their values, attitudes and beliefs. This can be investigated via narrative enquiry as can any tensions that exist within organisations between ‘who I am’ and ‘what I do’. This presents a positive preliminary step towards the development of congruence between organisational and individual professional identity and hence enhanced retention and attraction of employees. A level of harmonisation between acceptable and sustainable moral and ethical industry standards and commercial aims may then encourage veterinary professionals to act ‘as the organisation’ as well as themselves. This study offers a valuable insight for employers, veterinary professionals and universities. It suggests that veterinary organisations have the opportunity to generate competitive advantage through their people by working towards organisational and individual identity congruence; this can be approached via the concepts of career identity and narrative research. Furthermore, by working towards congruence, veterinary professionals can achieve validation and enrichment at work, which in turn leads to employee retention and attraction. There is also the opportunity to teach future vets and vet nurses with contemporary business in mind thereby assisting graduates to develop a more sustainable and realistic identity that sits more comfortably with the modern profession.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the vets and vet nurses for volunteering their time and stories and providing such valuable and candid insight into their careers.
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Career identity in the veterinary profession S. Page-Jones and G. Abbey Veterinary Record 2015 176: 433 originally published online January 6, 2015
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Paper
Paper Career identity in the veterinary profession S. Page-Jones, G. Abbey This research investigates vet and vet nurse career identity through the qualitative methodology of narrative enquiry. It derives learning and understanding from these empirical data to assist the veterinary profession to adjust to the changing industry landscape. Through a case series of 20 vets and vet nurses’ career stories, this paper seeks understanding about career identity and its impact on individuals and organisations in the light of industry consolidation. Findings suggest that career is central to identity for many veterinary professionals who tend to have a strong sense of self; this is particularly evident around self as learner and technically competent, teacher and educator, ethical and moral and dedicated and resilient. Consequently, mismatches between ‘who I am’ and ‘what I do’ tend not to lead to identity customisation (to fit self into role or organisation) but to the search for alternative, more identity-compatible employment. This study offers a valuable insight for employers, veterinary professionals and universities. It suggests that businesses can gain competitive advantage and employees achieve validation and enrichment by working towards organisational and individual identity congruence and that teaching veterinary professionals with contemporary business in mind may develop graduates with a more sustainable identity. Introduction The veterinary industry is transforming; larger commercial organisations are now commonplace and growing rapidly through organic growth, merger and acquisition. These changes are accompanied by concerns about vets’ mental well-being (Bartram and Baldwin 2010, Bartram and others 2010) and new graduate support and preparedness (IES 2013). This raises questions about how veterinary professionals are aligning who they are with this new world. This study seeks to develop understanding about vet and vet nurse career identity and the relevance and importance of this to the industry.
Career identity Savickas (2007) describes career identity as the way an individual thinks about his or her interests and abilities in relation to career goals; once there is clarity and consistency around what constitutes the self, occupational decisions can be made. This suggests that it is possible to discover an exact depiction of the self that then enables decisions to be made, whereas Bujold (2004) suggests that career identity is the construction of career decisions that enable development of self-efficacy. This introduces an element of discovery over time but still denotes career identity as an individual phenomenon; however, career does not just happen and social standing cannot be developed without interaction with the environment and collaboration with others Veterinary Record (2015) S. Page-Jones, BVSc Cert SAS MBA MRCVS, G. Abbey, BEng BA MBA PhD MCIPD, 134 Beechcroft Road, Upper Stratton, Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 7QE, UK School of Management, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
doi: 10.1136/vr.102784 E-mail for correspondence: [email protected] Provenance: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed Accepted December 7, 2014
(Goldschmidt 1990). This social element causes some uncertainty around the ability of individuals to control their own fate and may result in the formation of a sense of self being limited by socio-cultural context (Goldschmidt 1990). It is also important to recognise that career identity is one aspect of the whole self, although it is not a separate entity and may be influenced by other aspects (e.g. self as a partner or parent).
Narrative research Qualitative research emphasises the socially constructed nature of reality, focusing on relationships and how experiences and meaning are created where the participants’ perspective is central rather than applying quantitative measurement and analytical frameworks (Denzin and Lincoln 2013). Traditional deductive methodologies have been challenged as failing to deal with complex contexts and diverse perspectives (Flick 1998). In this context, we ‘turn to narrative forms of explanation, interpretation and sensemaking’ (Gabriel 2000:239); hence, this study approaches career identity from a narrative perspective. For socially constructed, inductive strategies, trustworthiness and credibility replace the quantitative evaluation criteria of validity and reliability (Denzin and Lincoln 2013). Narrative research does not exist apart from its author; the researcher is part of their enquiry and hence must apply the same principles to themselves as their research and ‘turn back’ their experiences on themselves via the process of reflexivity (Steier 1991). Hence, personal bias cannot be eliminated but by acknowledging and incorporating it a degree of objectivity can be retained (Cohen and Mallon 2001). Once participants’ stories are collected, the researcher constructs one’s own story in the process of interpreting the data in an attempt to create order (Riessman 1993). In this re-telling process, the researcher creates a new account (Ochberg 1996) but must take care to exhibit evidence for claims (Chase 2013) and accept that readers will develop their own constructions since the research is open to many interpretations and meanings (Riessman 1993). April 25, 2015 | Veterinary Record
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Paper Narrative career identity Stories allow people to generate meaning and construct identity over time and thus understand who they are and how they fit into the world (McAdams 1988). It seems reasonable to suggest that career identity is an essential component of this (Goldschmidt 1990) and that it is represented by the career narrative much as identity is portrayed by the life story (McAdams 1988). Career can have a significant impact on the generation of meaning and how we and others define us socially (McAdams and others 2001). Individuals make sense of their identity as they tell the story of their career implying a close link between ‘who I am’ and ‘what I do’ (Canary and Canary 2007). Ibarra (2003) proposes that career identity is not something set at the centre of one’s being and hence there is no ‘right’ career for us but a number of possible identities that can be drawn on. These are influenced by personal and social interactions, past and present experiences, imaginings of the future and the stories one tells about his/her lives and careers (Ibarra 2003). These stories evolve over time (or may be rejected) particularly during transition phases and lead directly to identity evolution (Ibarra and Barbulescu 2010). Indeed, it may be that individuals have multiple interpretations of themselves at any one time (e.g. occupational and organisational selves), perhaps leading to inner tensions (Barley 1989); however, there may be a relatively constant ‘anchor’ of attitudes, values and beliefs (McAdams 1988). Research exists on career identity construction in doctors and how increased awareness might be used to advance the medical profession (Pratt and others 2006) and although work has been completed on the personality types of people who join the veterinary profession (Bartram and Baldwin 2010), career identity has not been investigated within the veterinary field. Research objectives include developing understanding around: ▸ Veterinary career identity ▸ The relationship between ‘who I am’ and ‘what I do’ ▸ How vets and vet nurses imagine their future selves, and consequently ▸ What veterinary organisations can do to attract and retain staff
Interpretation was approached by extracting key themes (since these give us clues to identity (Lieblich and others. 1998)) through informally reading and re-reading stories and thereby generating meaning (Peräkylä and Ruusuvuori 2013). Participants’ stories were subsequently organised to create a ‘story of stories’ in order to amalgamate and explain the data in terms of career identity (Hollinghurst and Dybdahl 2007).
Potential issues The stories told during interviews are specific to that place and time and a different meeting would almost undoubtedly have resulted in a different story as alternate cues are extracted from on-going experiences, making repeatability a concern (Chase 2013). It is also possible to interpret the meaning of a story differently from the storyteller with that interpretation potentially being influenced by the researcher’s innate need to tell a ‘good’ story (Price 1999). However, within the socially constructed, narrative paradigm coherence and plausibility (Weick 1995) are more relevant measures to consider.
Results Analysis was begun by summarising the formative experiences and most prevalent themes in each participant’s narrative to enable the authors to assimilate information from all participants and begin to recognise similarities and differences. Stories were subsequently grouped under three headings: 1. ▸ ▸ 2. ▸ 3.
Career identity The importance of profession to identity Prevalent themes ‘Who I am’ and ‘what I do’ Tensions, reconciliation and congruence Potential future selves.
Although quotations from all participants were incorporated in the analysis, they are not all represented here due to text constraints; therefore, exemplary quotations are provided in each section to illustrate themes.
Career identity Materials and methods Ten vets and 10 vet nurses were interviewed using semistructured questions based on early career decisions and past, present and potential future careers. This basic format is well documented in narrative life story research (e.g. Lieblich and others 1998) and specifically in McAdams and Logan’s (2006) work on academics’ careers. Consideration was given to including only vets in the study to enhance comparability but the exclusion of vet nurses would deprive this research of the stories of an important and significant body of the profession and hence limit the complexity and diversity of the research story. Inclusion criteria included being a qualified vet or vet nurse with experience of working for at least two veterinary organisations. Interviews were arranged through previous colleagues and via letters to two veterinary publications (Page-Jones 2013a, b). Interviewees had experience in general and referral practice, working for small, medium and larger corporate organisations, charities, in industry and academia. Vets had worked for 6–41 years with a mean of 15 and median of 11.5 years. Vet nurses had worked for 6–36 years with a mean of 19 and median of 16.5 years; this illustrates a bias towards experienced Head Nurses. Interviews began with a short list of closed questions to ascertain basic information before proceeding with open questions to incite storytelling; however, it was stipulated that career stories were told in chronological order. This may have constrained participants’ expression (Riessman 1993), although Cohen and Mallon (2001) found that most interviewees preferred to make sense of their stories from beginning to end. All interviews were recorded and subsequently transcribed. Veterinary Record | April 25, 2015
Many participants demonstrated the centrality of their career to identity, for example, ‘I found it very difficult being away from the profession when I had [a baby]. It suddenly made me realise how much it is my identity, and that’s me’ (Vet7). Most participants had begun to form their veterinary identity at a very early age with many unable to remember a time before this was part of who they are, for example, ‘It was the only thing I ever wanted to do, I don’t know why… whether it was owning a pet dog that got me interested? I can’t remember a defining moment… it’s just what I always wanted to do’ (VN2). However, Vet2 did not conform to the majority, saying that, ‘I really could have been anything else, I just happened to end up as a vet. I’m sure I would be happy or suitable for anything else and I still think that now.’ Self as learner and technically competent was a strong and consistent theme and tended to lead to self as teacher and educator, particularly among vet nurses, for example, ‘It taught me a lot and the standards were high…I think we can keep improving and that’s one area I feel very strongly about, that as nurses and vets we can always improve, even if it’s just in small areas there’s always room for improvement and sharing that knowledge whether that be with nurses, vets or even lay staff ’ (VN8). In many narratives, self as ethical and moral was a meta-theme but was explicitly expressed in some cases, for example, ‘I had a client the other day with a bird and she said “ooh you better not ring her and tell her you put it to sleep, you’ll just have to say it slipped away otherwise she’ll be dreadfully upset” and in the end we did have to put it to sleep and I rang her and spent time talking about why we had to put it to sleep… cos I just won’t lie’ (Vet10). Self as dedicated and resilient was also evident in the ‘feel’ of many narratives, for example, ‘It was a very, very
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Paper demanding job and don’t get me wrong I loved it, I loved all the referral stuff and learning about that and all the nursing but I didn’t enjoy the fact that there wasn’t enough time for me to be a Head Nurse as well as being a normal nurse so every week I’d be working ten to twelve hours a week overtime’ (VN5). It is noteworthy that an identity based on resilience and coping has a potential downside, for example, ‘I just couldn’t do it anymore and it really hit me…it really upset me and that actually was a really defining moment cos I remember speaking to my Mum and saying… just saying I felt I’d failed, I really had a massive feeling of failure cos I’d had to stop doing something that actually I liked but I couldn’t cope anymore’ (VN1).
‘Who I Am’ and ‘What I Do’ The majority of participants who talked about tensions told stories that privileged identity continuity and coherence rather than customising identity to fit their work setting, for example, ‘The care was appalling, I couldn’t stay there long, if they were happy with it that’s fine but I’d worked in some specialist places by then and I couldn’t cope with it. I know the owners didn’t have any money and there’s always a compromise but they didn’t even get basic care’ (VN10). Multiple nurses raised a tension with their identity as technically competent, qualified professionals and lack of use, for example, ‘When I started it was very much that vets were above nurses and you had to do what the vet asked you and I think it has improved over the years but it’s still quite hierarchical and certainly in some organisations more than others and not recognising the value of nurses and it’s a waste of the nurses skills’ (VN8). In contrast to most participants who tended to move roles in an attempt to find congruence, VN7 told a story about identity customisation, reconciling her story to fit the organisation; ‘If the owners didn’t have the money to treat their animal we would put it down and I thought that was really bad cos we could save it… but then you end up understanding that if they don’t make money there won’t be a business and you won’t have a job.’ Stories of congruence lacked the discomfort of the stories of tension and gave the feeling of an enriched position, for example, ‘We offer a good service, a very compassionate service but we don’t go to the nth degree so we still offer a very practical service and remain conscious about what is financially viable and what is going too far, we do have the balance right’ (Vet7). Vets and vet nurses also talked about finding congruence between ‘who I am’ and ‘what I do’, for example, ‘I like working for those organisations that do things properly and have good clinical standards and look after the patients well. It’s got to be treating every pet as if it were you own, that’s the only way I want to work’ (VN3). The need for social reflection of professional and individual identity by employers also came through strongly, for example, ‘I was a number, I was talking to somebody who works in [Head Office] or wherever, I didn’t know her, she didn’t know me and we were exchanging emails about stuff that was really important to me but she’s got no idea who I am’ (Vet2).
Potential future selves Participants told stories about staying in practice, with some unable to think of themselves in any other role, for example, ‘I can’t envisage myself not being a vet, totally breaking away. There are other things that are interesting to do but I can’t imagine not being a vet, it will always be an important part of who I am’ (Vet4). Others talked about moving out of practice but staying within the profession, for example, ‘I don’t know if I can see myself, or if I want to see myself being a nurse for ever… certainly not in a practice like I’m in at the moment with the nights and the weekends and the rest of it… it won’t suit me long term’ (VN4). Two participants talked about non-veterinary selves, for example, ‘It’s actually quite exciting cos I don’t have a plan… cos when you’ve wanted to be a vet since you were twelve and your whole life is mapped out… but for the first time I don’t know what’s going to happen and its really good, I’m not ruling anything out and I’ll still be locumming and
actually it does make me feel quite sad to think about leaving the profession’ (Vet6).
Discussion The strength of veterinary identity and feelings about what it means to be a veterinary professional cannot be underestimated. In many cases it goes a considerable way to answering the overarching identity questions, ‘who am I?’ and ‘how do I fit into the world?’ (McAdams 1988). Many participants were unable to remember a time when they were not partly defined by the profession. Career stories demonstrated how career is central to identity construction (Erikson 1980; Bujold 2004), defining who we are (Canary and Canary 2007), generating meaning and social definition (Goldschmidt 1990, McAdams and others 2001). Holstein and Gubrium (2000) suggest that professional circumstances can have a huge impact on identity construction; however, this study differs from their research in that it seems that the profession rather than the organisation provides the cultural backdrop for developing a sense of self for vets and vet nurses. Professional identification is more consistent with the study by Pratt and others (2006) where doctors gain prestige and distinctiveness from their profession and organisational identification was only possible if something more was offered to generate loyalty. This also makes it less likely that veterinary professionals will adopt organisational rules, participate in activities or promotions (Pratt and others 2006) or act ‘as the organisation’ (Weick 1995). Membership of the profession seems to result in a strong identity and sense of self and generates selfworth and self-esteem (Mayhew and others 2010). A strong sense of self is beneficial, in that it facilitates the development of a consistent, congruent and authentic career self and the generation of meaning and social standing, but this may make negotiating unexpected events, outcomes or socio-cultural changes that threaten identity particularly challenging (Ibarra and Petriglieri 2010). Veterinary professionals may, therefore, identify with the notion of one ‘inner truth’ and the ‘right’ career for them rather than a more dynamic and evolving picture (Ibarra 2003). Prevalent themes included self as learner and technically competent leading to self as teacher and educator, self as ethical and moral and self as dedicated and resilient. These themes may be underpinned by idealised images of self that define the major plot lines of self-narratives; these idealised images are consistent with the attitudes, values and beliefs portrayed by participants (McAdams 1988). Many stories revolve around these prominent themes perhaps adding weight to the suggestion that life-themes are aligned with professions (Meijers and Lengelle 2012) and that consistency contributes to the coherence of individual narratives (McAdams and Logan 2006). The prevalence of the technical competence theme also features as the most important element of veterinary professionalism among students and academics (Roder and others 2012), suggesting that this is not just a desirable character trait but is central to professional identity from an early stage. Canary and Canary (2007) stress the close link between ‘who I am’ and ‘what I do’, but the literature suggests different approaches to mismatch. The finding by Pratt and others (2006) that doctors tend to customise their identity to fit their role was evident in the story told by VN7. The majority of participants told stories of changing role to fit with a more consistent identity and therefore concentrating on identity repair, revising stories of experiences to fit with identity (LaPointe 2010). Stories illustrating ethical and moral mismatch were prominent and caused a heightened emotional response, generating feelings of anger, discomfort, stress and anxiety (Ibarra 2003). Many made sense of these periods of change by telling stories that reinforced identity, thus generating meaning (Meijers and Lengelle 2012). Some vet nurses recognised improvements in professional standing over the years but still describe tension between the maintenance of a consistent version of self as technically competent qualified professional and their social reflection as assistant, April 25, 2015 | Veterinary Record
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Paper receptionist and/or cleaner. The work by Lingard and others (2002) suggests that interprofessional discourse develops during early exposure medical training where trainee doctors and nurses simplify and distort each other’s roles and motivations. These cues are taken from senior team members and assist juniors to form an apparently compatible identity. It is suggested that this early learning is ‘sticky’ and therefore perpetuates interprofessional tensions (Lingard and others 2002); hence, it is important for those engaged in clinical teaching to consider the impact of interprofessional communications on the identity formation of students in attendance. Conversely, stories of congruence illustrated consistency and authenticity between ‘who I am’ and ‘what I do’ (Ibarra and Petriglieri 2010) with participants appearing to be comfortable, particularly with the ethical and moral organisational position, giving the appearance of validation and enrichment (Pratt and others. 2006). It is, perhaps, not surprising that veterinary professionals want to minimise differences between their work situation and sense of self (Ibarra and Petriglieri 2010) and find an environment that validates and authenticates their identity as professional individuals both internally and externally (Ibarra and Barbulescu 2010). It does not seem that individuals develop different versions of the self depending on the employing organisation (Ibarra 2003) but seek organisations where their identity is a good fit. External perceptions of the employing organisation appeared to be important to individual’s sense of self; participants associated with or dissociated from particular organisations or company initiatives, distancing themselves from anything that threatened their identity (Weick 1995). Participants’ imaginings of their future selves differed between those who saw themselves in clinical settings in the long term and those who are experimenting with different selves (Ibarra and Petriglieri 2010). Most showed strong evidence of the self of the past and the present, generating a platform for the future self (McAdams 1988) illustrated by many people considering an identity change, finding it difficult to move away from their veterinary past and present. Those who wanted to stay within the profession were comfortable to leave their clinical selves behind, whereas those who were experimenting with nonveterinary selves found it difficult to imagine giving up clinical work altogether. It may be that veterinary professionals are similar to doctors in that they do not have a wide range of different selves to experiment with or are less willing or able to engage in ‘identity play’ (Pratt and others 2006); this may be due to the strength of their veterinary identities reducing flexibility and adaptability. The concept of many vets being ‘early emergers’ is also worthy of consideration since these talented individuals decide on a career in adolescence and make a lifelong commitment to it; this can result in refusal to try anything outside that person’s area of expertise (Marshall 1981). It seems that some veterinary professionals equate being a commercial organisation with being unethical, and therefore, organisations have a significant challenge to reverse this external reflection and to overcome the pets versus money paradox and find a way to be commercially successful that is ethically acceptable to the profession. Research suggests that commercialism is of least importance to vet students in terms of desirable character traits and of low importance to their academic tutors (Roder and others 2012). Therefore, considerable learning and work must be done by vets (and vet nurses) who are likely to enter the profession with a distorted view of the contemporary industry and a professional identity that is incompatible with it. This work may begin with the acceptance that different ethical and moral standards exist within the industry, but these cannot simply be divided into right and wrong. It would, perhaps, be helpful to accept that ethical and moral standards exist along a continuum and will vary between organisations and veterinary professionals, but that jointly working towards a compromise will provide mutual benefit. Continuing to move role in an attempt to find congruence may not prove fruitful in the contemporary profession and may simply result in a slightly Veterinary Record | April 25, 2015
different mismatch; therefore, identity customisation may be the way forward but will not be possible without considerable commitment from all sides. It may be beneficial for organisations to actively seek to understand their employees’ career identities and specifically their values, attitudes and beliefs. This can be investigated via narrative enquiry as can any tensions that exist within organisations between ‘who I am’ and ‘what I do’. This presents a positive preliminary step towards the development of congruence between organisational and individual professional identity and hence enhanced retention and attraction of employees. A level of harmonisation between acceptable and sustainable moral and ethical industry standards and commercial aims may then encourage veterinary professionals to act ‘as the organisation’ as well as themselves. This study offers a valuable insight for employers, veterinary professionals and universities. It suggests that veterinary organisations have the opportunity to generate competitive advantage through their people by working towards organisational and individual identity congruence; this can be approached via the concepts of career identity and narrative research. Furthermore, by working towards congruence, veterinary professionals can achieve validation and enrichment at work, which in turn leads to employee retention and attraction. There is also the opportunity to teach future vets and vet nurses with contemporary business in mind thereby assisting graduates to develop a more sustainable and realistic identity that sits more comfortably with the modern profession.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the vets and vet nurses for volunteering their time and stories and providing such valuable and candid insight into their careers.
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Career identity in the veterinary profession S. Page-Jones and G. Abbey Veterinary Record 2015 176: 433 originally published online January 6, 2015
doi: 10.1136/vr.102784 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/176/17/433
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