Professional Identity Construction of Language University Teachers in the Mid-Career Stage: Bioecological Approach

The professional identity construction of mid-career English university teachers represents a critical area of inquiry, as this career stage often determines long-term professional growth and effectiveness. This study addresses existing gaps by examining how daily interactions, personal characteristics, and contextual influences shape professional identity within Vietnamese higher education. Guided by Bronfenbrenner and Morris’s (2006) bioecological Process–Person–Context–Time (PPCT) framework, the study investigates: (1) how interactions with students, colleagues, administrators, and teaching programs influence identity construction; (2) how teachers’ experience, agency, and emotions affect their engagement in these interactions; and (3) how multi-layered contextual systems, from workplace and institutional structures to broader cultural and policy environments, interact with these processes. The temporal dimension (Time) is embedded throughout, capturing both immediate professional experiences and long-term development within the mid-career stage. By integrating psychological, sociological, and sociocultural insights into a single ecological model, this chapter provides a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic interplay among personal, contextual, and temporal factors in teacher identity formation. The framework also offers practical implications for enhancing mid-career teacher development and informing institutional and policy-level support in Vietnamese higher education.