Occupational Identity and Occupational Commitment

Occupational identity is the result of a development process that is closely intertwined with the development of professional competence. Strictly speaking, occupational identity development is a dimension of professional competence development. Occupational commitment, regardless of its characterization through occupational identity or emotional attachment to a company, is a fundamental prerequisite for productive and competitive company organizational structures. The first of the research strands that inspired the construction of the toolkit is the “general” social science discussion. A second relevant strand of research is industrial and organizational psychology. There is a wealth of research on the role of commitment in the work process, especially from the USA. A third line of research, which was taken up with this instrument within the framework of the COMET project, establishes the research question, in the narrower sense of vocational education, about the development of occupational identity and its connection with occupational commitment and occupational competence development. By work ethic, Jäger et al. (Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Soziologie 13(1):47–62, 75, 1987) understand “a constitution of conscience that demands that work – whether arduous or essentially incomprehensible – […] be carried out obediently […].” Organizational identity is defined as the emotional attachment of employees to a company. There are multiple interactions between occupational and organizational identity as well as occupational commitment, organizational commitment, and work ethic. The relationships between the latent constructs can be modeled empirically. Quantitatively designed surveys can thus be used to identify special features for trainees in different occupations and to develop pedagogically sound interventions.