My Journey to Become a Social Worker: Defining Moments of Professional Identity Formation

Whilst a main task of social work education is to develop the student’s professional identity, the literature on social workers’ identity formation is limited. Drawing on twenty-one reflective written assignments, this qualitative study examined defining moments as perceived by third-year Israeli social work students—moments seen as most influential in their process of professional identity formation. The crafting of a social worker identity was found to be an ongoing and spiral process, unfolding across three main spheres: (1) coping with challenges as an opportunity for development; (2) sparkling experiences validating the emerging professional identity; and (3) intersections of personal and professional identities. The findings suggested that through a process of guided reflection and discussion, often facilitated in supervisory sessions and classroom settings, students were able to transform their experiences into cornerstones for structuring their emerging professional identity. These dynamics underscore the significance of directly incorporating professional identity exploration as an integral part of the social work curriculum.