The Importance of the Process of Forming a Student’s Professional Identity in Modern Conditions

Abstract

The article examines certain characteristics of the process of forming a student’s professional identity in the context of modern environmental transformations. Attention is paid to the  professionalization of students in the higher education system. Such criterion of professionalization as professional identity (PI) is examined, which is an important prognostic indicator of the success of both educational and professional activities and the student’s future professional activities.  The issue of a forced change of professional activity by a person in the modern world and, as a consequence, the transformation of his PI is discussed. The psychological side of “rebuilding” of person’s own PI is discussed. Theoretical material is presented which allows us to conclude about the need to form PI in a person, regardless of possible changes in his professional activity and the specifics of the modern world, in accordance with the target direction of the work. The logic of presenting the material corresponds to the step-by-step solution of the following tasks: to consider the most characteristic features of modernity and their impact on the process of professionalization of the student; identify the role of PI in this process; understand how the formation of PI occurs in conditions of a forced change of profession. This made it possible to touch upon the problem of human adaptation to changes occurring in the technogenic space of the social world, to turn to an understanding of the process of alienation and the possibility of overcoming this state as a condition for the formation of identity. The issue of the quality of university education is being updated in connection with the demands of modern society, the need for the functioning of the university as a social institution for the development of the student’s personality. Both the conceptual diversity of understanding the category of professionalization and its role in the formation of a person’s identity in general, and PI in particular, are discussed. A detailed description of the structure of PI, different forms of the student’s PI, and the possibility of adjusting them are presented.  Special attention is paid to the fact that the formation of PI is controlled by the person himself, which suggests that the process of PI formation is based on the self-regulatory potential of the individual. A “chain” of reasoning is presented that allows us to make an assumption about the beneficial influence of the three main functions of self-regulation on the formation of PI in a situation of a forced change of profession. Reference is made to the connection between “soft skills” and self-regulation and their role in the process of professionalization. The conclusion is made about the need to form PI among students.