Professional identity, career satisfaction, and occupational commitment of dental hygiene educators

Smith, Amy Nicole (2022) Professional identity, career satisfaction, and occupational commitment of dental hygiene educators. Doctoral thesis, Northern Arizona University.

Text Smith_2022_professional_identity_career_satisfaction_occupational_comm.pdf - Published Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (767kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

The past two decades have emphasized the growth in popularity and community need for the dental hygiene profession in the United States. However, the shortage of dental hygiene educators has also been growing over the past 20 years. Reasons for this continued shortage have not been fully explored. Through an explanatory mixed methods design, this study examines the professional identity, career satisfaction, and occupational commitment of dental hygiene educator within the United States. I analyzed data from a survey to assess if professional identity and career satisfaction impacted dental hygiene educators’ commitment to staying within academia. Data was collected from 141 dental hygiene educators who were employed full-time and taught didactic courses at accredited colleges and universities in the United States. Professional identity was examined utilizing the Professional Teacher Identity Scale, the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire was used to determine career satisfaction, and occupational commitment was measured with the TCM Employee Commitment Survey. Survey findings revealed that professional identity and career satisfaction have no significant bearing on occupational commitment. Focus groups were also conducted to identify how educators perceived their professional identity and what may have influenced that perception. Twelve dental hygiene educators were interviewed and all of them identified as educators and not solely as dental hygienists. Common influences on their identity were education and experience, while a lack of administrative support was seen as a barrier to identity formation, and an increase in education and training was seen as a way to develop their identity as educators. Further investigation into training programs tailored to improve the professional identity and increase the retention of dental hygiene educators is recommended. Overall, the results in this study underscore the relationship between professional identity and career satisfaction, and school administration should further explore ways to enhance dental hygiene educators’ professional identity to increase their career satisfaction.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Publisher’s Statement:	© Copyright is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Cline Library, Northern Arizona University. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
Keywords:	professional commitment; dental hygiene education; educator; professional identity; job satisfaction
Subjects:	R Medicine > RK Dentistry
NAU Depositing Author Academic Status:	Student
Department/Unit:	Graduate College > Theses and Dissertations College of Education > Teaching and Learning
Date Deposited:	14 Jun 2023 16:21
Last Modified:	14 Jun 2023 16:21
URI:	https://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/6019

Actions (login required)

IR Staff Record View

Downloads