Table 3.
PIF features identified in the PMI
| Theme: Features of Professional Identity Formation (PIF) in the PMI | |
|---|---|
|
Subtheme 1. Sensitivity ‘Sensitivity’ refers to awareness of the presence of dyssynchrony, disharmony, resonance, and synchrony | |
| Resonance | Resonance became evident when regnant belief systems were consistent with the new values, beliefs and principles being inculcated. Resonance motivates continued engagement |
| “I find it [peer-mentoring role] meaningful, so I will pursue further studies or further development in research, as it's aligned with my goals of helping people” (P3) | |
| “This experience as a peer-mentor in PMI has helped to force me to actively practice what I learn at church and my spiritual classes” (P9) | |
| Synchrony | Reshaping and reprioritising regnant values, beliefs and principles inspired action |
| Innate Ring: “Karma. I’m not very religious…nor spiritual but…I believe what goes around comes around. …it really taught me not to be so transactional.” (P1) | |
| Individual Ring: “I'm proud of myself for actually taking this step. I think the old me wouldn't really have bothered with all these things…I want to be a helping hand [to PMI mentees].” (P5) | |
| Relational Ring: “I realised that it's possible to be friends, to be close to them and get to know them without losing their respect for you. This is something that I learnt.” (P9) | |
| Societal Ring: “I became more focused on other people, I find more meaning and serving people, rather than just focusing on myself and my own development” (P3) | |
| Dyssynchrony |
Between the Individual and Relational Rings: Relating to managing a ‘difficult’ mentee. “She didn't reply very much. And when she did work, it was not very good…so the work was done by the other members of team but she was also my batch-mate so it was a little bit difficult in terms of how to communicate [this].” (P3) |
|
Between the Individual and Societal Ring: “While I was losing enthusiasm, I had to continue motivating my juniors, who were losing enthusiasm as well.” (P1) | |
| Disharmony | Peer-mentors experienced disharmony within their Societal ring when called upon to take on new responsibilities that they felt they were not equipped for. They also faced disharmony when they had to make decisions that, in their opinion, involved additional work and stress for the team: |
| “So in this particular instance, I do not think I was ready. Purely because research is not one of my strong point…I think it would affect my confidence in mentoring others, because the last thing I want would be to bring them down the wrong path.” (P1) | |
| “I worry as a peer-mentor that I am not being a good mentor or leader. I do feel bad about giving work and rushing deadlines.” (PD2) | |
| “For my relationship with mentees, I feel like I am lacking in some ways as a leader and sometimes I feel scared that I’m causing unnecessary work and stress for them.” (PD6) | |
|
Subtheme 2. Judgement ‘Judgement’ determines if the ‘event’ detected warrants attention, its significance and urgency | |
| Influences | Goals (P1), |
| prioritising tasks (P9), | |
| time (P12) | |
| roles (10) | |
| and or managing expectations (P7) | |
|
Subtheme 3. Willingness The peer-mentor’s ‘willingness’ determines whether the peer-mentor is motivated make adaptations to their self-concepts of identity | |
| Motivations arise from | Sense of responsibility (P6), |
| accountability (P11), | |
| goals (P7) | |
| and aspirations (P4) | |
|
Subtheme 4. Balance Making adjustments to create a context-specific self-concept of identity may involve multiple changes to belief systems and different aspects of self-concepts of identity and personhood. Determining which changes are to be carried out, prioritised and the extent that these changes would be made hinges on the notion of ‘balance’ | |
| Influenced by | speed in which events occur, |
| the peer-mentor’s sensitivity’, | |
| ‘judgment’ | |
| and ‘willingness’ | |
| and if there are further changes in the peer-mentor’s circumstances | |
|
Subtheme 5. Identity work The integration of new work practices, values, beliefs and principles, ‘sensitivity’, ‘judgment’, ‘willingness’ and ‘balance’ influences identity work or the changes required to create context-specific self-concept of identity. ‘Identity work’ involves a combination of role modelling, guidance and mentoring by senior peer-mentors (P12) and mentors (P10) | |
| Role modelled | adopt the practice, approach, style and personal characteristics that they admire or feel will be helpful to advancing their goals or needs (P6) |
| Personal characteristics | being approachable (P6), sensitive (P7), understanding (P2), caring (P3), kind (P5), empathetic and humble (P9), adaptable (P10) and being accountable (P1) |
| Mentoring related practices | attention to detail (P8), collaborative (P8), communication (P4) and feedback styles (P5), social and personal awareness of the mentee’s needs (P1), maintaining professional boundaries (P1), mentoring approaches (P8), building a ‘pay it forward’ (P4) and reflective (P3) mindset, maintaining mentee motivations (P6), facilitating an effective work-life balance (P2); and nurturing independence (P11) and resilience (P12) amongst mentees |
| Influencing factors | PMI’s structure (P11); the tone and culture of the program (P6); management approaches (P6); a map of the course of the mentoring process (P3); clearly established goals and codes of practice (P10); alignment of expectation (P2); accessible lines of communication (P4); timely (P12), accessible (P4), welcoming (P9), personalized (P11), longitudinal and personalized guidance (P8), mentoring (P1), and leadership support (P9); a nurturing environment (P5); regular meetings with mentors (P7); and personalized (P12) and respectful (P7) mentoring relationships |