School Counseling − A Profession Without an Identity: Personal and Group Professional Identity of School Counselors

Abstract

The concept of professional identity is attributed to both personal and group levels. The school counseling profession lack clear definition jeopardized the development of counselors' professional identity. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to elucidate school counseling professional identity by testing the relation between personal and group professional identity in various related aspects. To examine, a total of 161 school counselors filled out questionnaires to assess personal and group professional identity along with seniority, job satisfaction, work commitment and self-efficacy. Results showed that seniority, work commitment and self-efficacy affect the counselor's personal and group professional identity. However, the job satisfaction was associated only with the personal identity. Additionally, correlations between job satisfaction and job commitment, and personal and group professional identity were found to differ, respectively. In conclusion, there is a clear distinction between personal and group professional identity, which may explain the uncertainty of school counseling professional identity. Finally, recommendations to school counseling profession are discussed for implications of our results to other professions.