Thesis

Constructing professional identity in operating department practitioners : shaping engagement with feedback and professional community formation

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2026
Thesis identifier
  • T18161
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 202093951
Qualification Level
Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • Professional identity within healthcare professions is socially constructed through participation, recognition, and negotiated membership within professional communities. For professions situated within complex interprofessional hierarchies, identity formation involves ongoing evaluation of legitimacy, belonging, and professional consequence. This study explores how registered and student Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs) perceive and construct their professional identity within contemporary perioperative practice in Scotland, and examines whether and how these identity constructions influence engagement with feedback provision to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) contributing to the development of a professional community. The study draws on Social Identity Theory (SIT) alongside the Recognition, Respect, and Reward (3R) framework to examine how professional identity is interpreted and enacted within clinical and educational contexts. An exploratory qualitative design was adopted. Semi-structured, one-to-one online interviews were conducted with student and registered ODPs across Scotland. Thematic analysis was used to explore patterns of meaning across participants’ accounts and to interpret how professional identity was experienced within practice. Findings demonstrate that professional identity among ODPs is shaped through ongoing negotiation of recognition, respect, value, and access to opportunity within clinical and educational contexts. Recognition emerged as central, with limited visibility within institutional systems experienced as symbolic marginalisation rather than administrative oversight. Respect was constructed through everyday interprofessional interactions that signalled legitimacy and belonging, though such recognition was described as unevenly distributed, particularly for students and newly qualified practitioners. Value was associated with acknowledged competence and meaningful contribution to team practice, and its relative absence within student accounts highlighted the fragility of early professional identity formation. Structural conditions including role ambiguity, interprofessional hierarchy, and restricted career progression further shaped how participants understood the boundaries and future trajectory of their profession. Engagement with feedback provision to HEIs was mediated by these identity constructions. Where recognition, respect, and value were experienced as secure, feedback was framed as an expression of professional responsibility and collective stewardship. Where identity was perceived as fragile or contested, participation became tentative or strategically limited. Feedback engagement therefore functioned as an enactment of professional positioning rather than simply an academic task. The thesis advances a Recognition, Respect, and Value (RRV) framework as a theoretically informed refinement of the 3R model, offering a contextually grounded account of professional identity formation within publicly funded healthcare systems. By integrating insights from SIT with the RRV framework and situating professional identity within interprofessional hierarchy and institutional design, this study contributes to professional identity literature and demonstrates how identity dynamics shape engagement with higher education processes. The findings hold implications for HEIs as identity environments, for interprofessional practice, and for policy initiatives aimed at strengthening emerging professional communities.
Advisor / supervisor
  • Kirk, David
  • Ivancheva, Mariya P.
Resource Type
DOI

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