Formation of students’ professional identity during university years: stages of developing professional commitment

Introduction. The article provides a detailed analysis of the scholarly psychological and education literature on formation of university students’ professional identity. The purpose of the research is to identify the stages within the development of students’ professional commitment and to find out how they correspond to the phases of professional identity formation during university years. Materials and Methods. The theoretical study includes analysis, comparison and generalization of Russian and international scholarly literature on the problems of professional commitment and professional identity. The methodological basis of the study is a systemic approach which has allowed the authors to present professional commitment as a unifying whole composed of interdependent components. Results. The authors summarized the findings of Russian and international studies on professional commitment and professional identity development; identified the main structural components of professional commitment (value-based, motivational, cognitive-reflective); revealed the stages (levels) of professional commitment development and the stages of formation of its components; conducted psychological and educational analysis of students’ professional development during university years. The authors have developed, described and justified the model of students’ professional commitment development while pursuing undergraduate degrees. Each level is described according to the corresponding stages of the formation of its structural components and is correlated with a certain stage of students’ professional development. The description of the stages is supplemented with general recommendations on the organization of the educational process. Conclusions. The article concludes that the development of students’ professional commitment is a consistent and multi-level process, which includes the formation of value-based, motivational and cognitive-reflective components. The authors argue that the compliance with the stages of professional commitment development enhances students’ professional identity at each stage of their professional development during university years.