Exploring Career Satisfaction and Profession Identification with Affect and Symbolic Capital

An Exploratory Study Among Young Language Teachers in Border Regions of China

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-271-2_71How to use a DOI?

Keywords

affect; symbolic capital; profession identification; career satisfactory; young university teachers

Abstract

This study employs both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to explore the professional identification and career satisfaction of young teachers in border regions of China. It examines these issues from the perspectives of affect and symbolic capital. The findings suggest that affect and symbolic capital enhance career satisfaction, creating a virtuous cycle that fosters further positive developments in both areas. However, this research found no direct correlation between professional identification and career satisfaction. Based on in-depth interviews, the study reveals a mismatch between young teachers’ preconceived expectations of university teaching roles and the actual demands of these positions. This mismatch has led to a distinct phenomenon where there is a cognitive separation between their professional identity as a university teacher and their day-to-day responsibilities, as some of the work goes beyond their definition of a teacher’s job scope. Consequently, while young teachers may express satisfaction with their current job due to symbolic capital, there is dissatisfaction with their identity as teachers. This study expands the application of affect theory and symbolic capital to analyze professional identification and career satisfaction, highlighting the complexities of identification among novice university faculty members.

Copyright

© 2024 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Meng Li
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/07/29
TI  - Exploring Career Satisfaction and Profession Identification with Affect and Symbolic Capital
BT  - Proceedings of the 2024 5th International Conference on Mental Health, Education and Human Development (MHEHD 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 577
EP  - 591
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-271-2_71
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-271-2_71
ID  - Li2024
ER  -