Professional socialisation, accountability and social media: what’s the relationship and should we care?

BACKGROUND: The rapid diffusion of social network sites such as Facebook have presented a wealth of challenge and opportunity for the nursing profession. A large majority of student nurses have adopted Facebook but [as developing professionals] may not understand the implications and unintended consequences of the information shared in a personal or innocent way.No studies have yet critically analysed [in depth] the underlying factors that influence and determine the relationships between professional accountability and social media or if there is actually a ‘problem’ with social media. AIM: Critically analyse the relationships between professional accountability and Facebook during the journey of professional socialisation.METHOD: Critical realist ethnography employing online observation of three cohort groups, 30 public profiles and professional group discussion topics, focus groups (academic and practicing nursing staff n=8) and semi-structured interviews with student nurses over two sites (n=16).RESULTS: Critical realist retroductive analysis (Bhaskar, 1998) was developed as part of this study. Three relationships were identified and six models were generated to explain and test proposed mechanisms within the data, which cause these relationships: 1) the concept of professional accountability 2) patterns of use 3) behaviours and activities 4) physical versus online reality 5) unacceptable, acceptable, professional or unprofessional behaviours 6) perceived knowledge and awareness versus actual behaviours.Three explanatory theoretical concepts were then confirmed and used to develop three critical realist frameworks: I) Socialisation, Professional Socialisation, Online Socialisation (SPO) II) Unacceptable, Acceptable, Unprofessional, Professional (UAPU) and III) Awareness into Action (A2A).CONCLUSION: I) SPO: This study has indicated a potential ‘tertiary’ or ‘online’ socialisation process and illustrates the factors, context and socialisation informs accountable behaviours; linking the physical and online (personal, public, professional).II, III) UAPU, A2A: The lack of physical context and presence in the online environment causes dissonance between perceived and actual behaviours and confidence versus competence in the online environment. With further research and validation these three frameworks may be used in education and practice, for personal and group assessment, reflection and/or for raising awareness of good practice online. They may also be used by organisations and professional bodies to assess scenarios or incidents

"I employed my own strategy": Exploring primary headteachers' organisational and professional socialisations

Purpose - The main purpose of this study was to explore primary headteachers' perceptions of their professional and organisational socialisation within their novice years as school leaders. There is a lack of studies exploring primary headteachers' socialisation within the Malaysian primary education context. Methodology - A total of nine primary headteachers from three states were purposely selected and interviewed to obtain their perceptions on the professional socialisation they received before and after their appointment and the strategies that they employed within their organisational socialisation process. Findings - The study revealed that the primary headteachers employed their own organisational socialisation strategies in order to be accepted as a new member of the school. These were relatively diverse but accorded with their school's values and culture. However, in terms of their professional socialisation, there were various findings: some mentioned the lack of support programs while others acknowledged receiving quite helpful programmes within their initial years of headship. The findings and the implications for the improvement of primary headteachers' socialisation are discussed. Significance - This study provides supplementary literature that explores primary headteachers' organisational and professional socialisation within the Malaysian schooling context. This study notes some practical and theoretical implications for improving the prospective headteachers' training and their leadership development which aim to enhance the leadership qualities of future primary school leaders

The influence of rankism on the ethical competence of student nurses in a military context

Developing ethical competence in nursing is integral to the process of professional socialisation during which students are taught the ethical values and norms of the nursing profession. The process of professional socialisation is however influenced by a range of factors related to the teaching and learning environment, such as organisational culture, teaching practices and role models. Students at a military nursing college are exposed to a unique environment rich in military culture. The findings discussed in this article formed part of a larger grounded theory study that aimed to determine the influence of the hidden curriculum on the professional socialisation of students in a military context. Data were collected from purposefully selected nurse educators and students by means of focus-group interviews and critical incident narratives. Findings revealed a significant influence of the abuse of rank on the ethical competence of students.Keywords: ethical competence, hidden curriculum, military teaching and learning environment, professional socialisation, rankis

Socialisation and the work-related norms of marketing practitioners

This paper empirically describes the influences of professional and organisational socialisation on the norms of marketers. Based on a survey of 5,000 practitioners, it finds that the socialisation of marketers into their profession and organisations positively influences their marketing-related norms. This research appears to be the first investigation in the marketing ethics literature of the relationships among these constructs. The paper explains how the learning of professional and organisational rules, guidelines, and values influence the work-related norms of marketers. The findings have important implications for marketing managers and managers of professional associations.<br /

Disability and the socialization of accounting professionals

This paper investigates the professional socialization of disabled accountants and their employment within the UK accounting industry by examining the oral history accounts of 12 disabled accountants. Applying the literatures concerned with the professional socialisation of accountants and the sociology of disability, this study draws attention to institutionalized practices within the field of accounting that serve to exclude or marginalize disabled accountants. Our narrators provide evidence of how aspects of professional socialization, such as the image and appearance of staff, the discourse of the client, the rigidity of accounting practice and importance of temporal commitment, impact on the employment of disabled accountants. Moreover, our narrators' accounts suggest that accounting employers and professional bodies are unsupportive, inflexible, and display little understanding of the needs of their disabled employees and members

Socialisation and Professional Identity: Reflections of an Administrator’s Pathway into Student Affairs in the United States

Pathways into student affairs careers may not always be clear or well defined. Often, student affairs professionals experience unconventional beginnings. Formal and informal relationships with faculty, staff and students in higher education may eventually inspire a career in student affairs. This process of socialisation positively influenced my development as a student and continues to shape my perspectivesabout college student development as a professional. My professional identity, influenced by the student affairs socialisation process and reflective practice as a professional in higher education, are discussed

The antisocialisation of children and young people: undermining professionals and colonising everyday life

This paper analyses the changing nature of relationships between adults and young people. Adopting aspects of the work of Frank Furedi, the question of the socialisation of children is addressed. It is argued that the problematisation of behaviour, coupled with the development of new state and institutional processes, has led to a growing spread of ‘professional’ and contractual involvement in everyday life. This is something that relates to and is accelerated by the emergence of micro-politics and micro-social policy over the last few decades. This colonisation of the lifeworld, it is argued, is increasingly formalising informal relationships and undermining spontaneous relationships between adults and young people. It also distorts the nature of professions and the relationships developed between them and young people. The real relationships between adults and young people are consequently being undermined and replaced by an ersatz form of socialisation

Online social networks and the pre-registration student nurse: a focus on professional accountability

Background & rationale: The rapid diffusion of social network sites such as Facebook have presented a wealth of challenge and opportunity for the nursing profession. A large majority of student nurses have adopted Facebook but [as developing professionals] may not understand the implications and unintended consequences of the information shared in a personal or innocent way. No research has yet critically analysed or explained [in depth] the underlying factors that influence and determine the relationships between professional accountability and social media or if there is actually a ‘problem’ with social media, and if there is explain how we can address it. Aim: Explain the context and relationships between professional accountability and Facebook for the pre-registration student nurse during their journey of professional socialisation. Methods: Critical realist ethnography employing focus groups (academic and practicing nursing staff n=8), semi-structured interviews with student nurses over two geographical sites (n=16) supported by online observation of three cohort groups, 30 public profiles and professional group discussion topics. Results: Six overarching models were explored, 1) the concept of professional accountability, 2) patterns of use, 3) behaviours and activities, 4) physical versus online reality, 5) unacceptable, acceptable, professional or unprofessional behaviours and, 6) perceived knowledge and awareness versus actual behaviours. To explain the relationship between the pre-registration student nurse, Facebook and accountability three frameworks were developed. The first, Socialisation-Professional socialisation-Online socialisation (SPO) explains the journey of socialisation and the relationship between the online and physical world. Unacceptable-Acceptable-Professional-Unprofessional (UAPU) explains the complex nature of Facebook behaviours and how individuals understand the difference between the concept of unprofessional and simply unacceptable. The final framework ‘Awareness to Action’ takes the principles from the previous two frameworks and outlines a proactive tool to raise awareness of online profiles and, a reactive tool using ‘the 3Cs’ (clarity, context & confirmability) to make [professional] decisions about behaviours and incidents in the online environment. Conclusion: The relationships between the accountability, Facebook and the pre-registration student nurse are individual, complex and evolving (ICE). The very nature of socialisation means that this is based on individual background, experiences and values. Society and OSNs are complex environments which are changeable and, them and our relationship with them is continuously evolving. A2A and its ‘3Cs’ provides an assessment of self-efficacy, risk and decision-making tool to proactively [for nursing students] and reactively [for educators, employers and professional groups] manage self-awareness and behaviours in the online environment

LARGE CLASSES IN SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION: A THREAT TO THE PROFESSIONAL SOCIALISATION OF SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS?

Improved access to higher education and the increase in student numbers without a simultaneous increase in resources has given rise to numerous challenges. This reflective article considers whether large classes in social work education pose a threat to the professional socialisation of students, which requires that they internalise the values, interests, skills and knowledge of social work. Professional socialisation within social work education, the threat posed by large classes, both in the classroom and field practice education, as well as some possible solutions, are considered in this article.

Theory and practice in the induction of five graduate nurses : a reflexive critique : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Education at Massey University

This thesis investigates the induction of comprehensive nurses into a professional culture during their polytechnic nursing education and first year of hospital practice. It combines a critical theory approach with case study method. The ways in which social forces constrain individual and professional action are demonstrated through a critical reflexive analysis of the perceptions of five recently graduated comprehensive nurses. Each graduate was interviewed at regular intervals over a three month period. It is argued that previous studies of professional socialisation of nurses conducted within both empirico-analytic and interpretive epistemologies, have tended to objectify the day-to-day actions that students and new graduates take. While providing descriptions of the socialisation process, previous studies have not explored the reflexivity of understanding and action as well as the structural constraints of nursing education and practice. In this thesis critical social theory provides a framework in which to reveal, through empirical research, the constraining conditions of actions, and, through interpretive forms of enquiry, human perception and understanding. The reflections of the five participants in this study reveal that there are similar structural constraints in education as in hospital based nursing practice. There is, in effect, a continuity of structural constraints and this is contrasted with a disjunction between knowledge and beliefs gained through education and those apparently required in nursing practice. The graduates' perceptions are discussed and interpreted in terms of both the intended and the unintended learning states engendered by their actual experiences in the polytechnic and hospital settings. It is suggested that, at present, nursing education and practice are shaped by forms of technical control which arise from the dominant ideologies already embedded in the education and health care structures. In particular, nursing curricula are dominated by the technical linear paradigm of curri­culum design which contributes to a distorted separation of theory and practice and which obscures the process of reproduction of professional culture. It is argued that a more socially critical approach to the design of nursing curricula might begin to transform some of the structures which presently inhibit and constrain the professional choices and actions of student and graduate nurses