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Introduction
The quality of professional training for specialists is an important educational task caused by integration of the national and European education systems, the process of globalization and economic co-operation within the framework of contemporary international level. Improving education requires not only modernization of training standards, application of advanced ICT and pedagogical technologies. Psychological training factor acquires special importance and practical significance as “the fuzziness” of professional identity entails social and labor dis adaptation of the person. Therefore, improving the quality of education thorough formation of students’ professional identity has great practical significance, and the study of structural and functional characteristics of this phenomenon is of special theoretical relevance.
Novelty: formation study of components of professional self-assessment depending on the system of mental orientations of personality optimizes the formation of professional identity even in the period of training of the future specialist-lawyer.
Elaboration degree. Professional identity and I-concept are considered as integral formations of the self-awareness of the individual being trained, their disposition closeness is noted as psychological concepts, similarity of structural and functional features, therefore the cognitive, emotional and behavioral components of their analysis are invariantly distinguished. Self-esteem is considered as a system-forming element of the I-concept and of any forms of identity, while conflicting contradictory self-esteem and incomplete identity are interrelated.
Pursuant to ideas of the professional identity structure by Schneider (2001); Yermolayeva (2001a b); Zavalishena (2001), this structure is a derivative of mental resource of personality (leading meanings and system-forming interests of personality, conceptualizing its living space). Therefore, the subjective image of profession and model of professional activity forming the structure of professional identity of a lawyer, are representative in relation to such personal characteristics of the future specialist as: image-I, self-esteem and life experience.
As well, the inadequacy of professional identity has negative impacts of the self-actualization which is essential. Experiments carried out by Jabbarov (2017), with the students studying in different specialties show that the level of self-realization motive and educational motive is low in students who do not approach professional field as the object of self-realization.
The listed personal formations determine the expressiveness and direction of cognitive activity, set the prospect of professional growth of the student, reflecting the essence of personal changes in the course of professional training of the future lawyers. In addition, self-esteem can be considered as a meta-factor that determines the life path and professional activity of the student as a member of the future professional community, where based on reflection of external self-assessment by others, the image "I-professional", responsible for the formation of professional identity and professional self-consciousness in the future, will be formed.
It should be noted that self-esteem determines the motivation of professional activity, determines the social orientation and subjectively established level of professional achievements, participating in the formation of professional interests, needs, and meanings of the specialist. Professional self-esteem is formed of self-assessments of individual personal subsystems, and therefore, it is characterized by a different degree of awareness in relation to different stages and forms of professionalization. Since professional identity is the product of the professional self-consciousness of the personality, broadly speaking, these concepts are derived from the broader mental continua of personal organization, its life experience, I-concept and socio-cultural identity. Self-esteem is the basis of the professional identity of the personality, and according to Klimov (1992), the latter can be considered as the most important component of the structure of the professional I-concept.
The operational-activity and personal components of the analysis of a professional self-esteem of a lawyer stand out. The first one represents a subjective assessment of the professionalism level and professional competence, and the second one represents the assessment of their personal qualities in the context of the connection with the ideal image of "I-professional". It is also pointed out that we can single out the self-assessment of the result and potential in professional self-esteem (as a difference in the assessment of what has been achieved and possible, taking into account the perspectives of professional growth).
Thus, low self-assessment of the professional activity result does not always indicate the presence of an underestimated general personal self-esteem, and, in combination with high subjective personal self-esteem, on the contrary, it can be considered as a catalyst for professional self-development. As cognitive activity is acknowledged as the leading characteristic of the student's personality as a subject of the process of professionalization, it can be argued that the self-esteem of the result of learning activity is not always directly correlated with the general personal self-esteem of students. In this case, self-esteem is determined by the student's whole life experience, the level of his social success and general culture, the nature of family relations. Therefore, a system of leading subjective value-semantic and motivationally-demanding orientations that are formed as a result of socialization as the basic mental resource of his personality, will play a big role in the successful development of the professional identity of the future lawyer.
It can be generalized that in the process of carrying out theoretical and applied research of the professional identity it is extremely important to study not only subjective self-esteem as a system of value-semantic representations of the future specialist about himself. It is equally important to understand how student’s personal self-esteem is linked to his educational and professional activity, to the emerging image of profession and model of the future professional activity. For this purpose it is necessary to study specific components of the professional self-esteem as a set of the following components of the developing professional self-consciousness of the future specialist-lawyer; the achieved results of the vocational training activity, the potential opportunities for personal and educational growth, the system of subjective self-image as the future professional and student "here and now" ("I-real" and "I-ideal" professional). This will make it possible to understand the mechanisms for the formation of a professional self-consciousness of a future lawyer, which will have a constructive effect on the success of preparing students as future successful professionals in the field of jurisprudence.
It should be noted that according to its content structure, the professional self-esteem is a complex psychological construct as a part of “I-concept” of the specialist’s personality. In respect of the professional and training system, except for modus “I-real” and “I-ideal” on the basis of theoretical and empirical analysis it is also possible to emphasize the following representative substructures:
Treating yourself as a future professional lawyer.
Self-esteem as a representative of the legal professional (educational) community.
Perception of others’ attitude towards themselves as a future jurist.
Idea of relevance of their own activities in the field of jurisprudence.
Assessment of their own educational and subject competencies.
Attitude to the results of their professional and training activities (academic achievement in the university, the possibility of additional earnings, the beginning of professional experience).
Self-attitude as a subject of mastering legal knowledge and skills (subjective assessment of academic success which is not always correlated with academic achievement).
Assessment of their own level of professional relevance for oneself as a professional lawyer (local place of the subject in the profession).
To study the impact of self-esteem on the students' professional identity, one can suggest the following diagram of interrelation and diagnostic representation of professional self-esteem, structural and functional characteristics of the professional I-concept and professional identity (Fig. 1). It can be argued that successful professionalization is determined by the expressiveness in the structure of the self- consciousness of the future specialist-lawyer of those values and meanings that are responsible for the moral and ethical orientation of his cognitive activity. In respect of training activities, the system of previously proposed diagnostic markers of professional self-esteem can be modified into the following set of diagnostic criteria for assessing the success of forming a professional identity.
Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of the interconnection of self-esteem with the structural and functional characteristics of the professional I-concept and professional identity of the personality.
Table 1 Diagnostic criteria for success of the formation of student’s professional identity in the context of his subjective self-esteem.
| Diagnostic unit 1: «Self-attitude as a subject of professional and training activities» | А. degree of satisfaction with their own academic achievements, subject knowledge, the prospect for implementing professional and training potential; |
|---|---|
| B. degree of satisfaction with their own status in the training group; | |
| С. degree of satisfaction with level of relevance and applicability of their own professional and training experience to solve possible production problems (practice, course work, diploma projects). | |
| Diagnostic unit 2: «Attitude towards their own belonging to a certain professional and training community» | А. degree of satisfaction with their own attitude towards a certain professional and training community as a member of a certain professional and training group; |
| B. degree of expressiveness of positive ideas about themselves as a representative of the future professional community in the context of professional stereotypes and expectations from the society; | |
| С. degree of acceptance of values and people in this community; | |
| D. awareness of the positive contribution of their activities to the community life on the whole, and, as a result, a positive attitude towards himself as a representative of the profession. | |
| Diagnostic unit 3: «Attitude towards their own professional and training relevance» | А. degree of satisfaction with prospects of professional relevance as an opportunity for an adequate application of the professional and training resource; |
| B. degree of expressiveness of self-image as an authoritative future professional; | |
| С. degree of acceptance and assessment of the future professional activity and its results as an expectation of relevant assessments from others; | |
| D. awareness of the positive contribution of their activities to the community life as a whole and, as a result, a positive attitude towards themselves. |
Thus, the diagnostics of self-esteem of the student’s personality as a future professional can be viewed as a diagnostic marker of the success of the formation of his professional self-awareness. The diagnostic criteria shown in Table 1 can be used as diagnostic descriptors for studying the interconnection of self-esteem with professional identity.
Research methodology
The theoretical basis of the research was the key provisions of the professional identity concepts by Ivanova & Koneva (2004); Klimov (1992, 1996); Markova (1996); Schneider (2001), and etc., who considered professional identity as a product of long-term personal and professional development of a future jurist, finalizing only at the higher stages of mastering the profession and serving as an indicator of the coordination of the basic elements of the professional process ("I - real" and "I-ideal" professional), which performs the function of stabilization and development of I-concept of the personality as a whole.
It is methodologically important to understand the process of professionalization as an obligatory combination of personal and activity components. Pursuant to the professionalization it is impossible to form a professional identity without the fusion of the value-semantic structures of human consciousness that formalize it as an individual and as a professional; therefore, the professional mentality of the personality is viewed in indissoluble unity with the experience of socialization and system of subjective leading value-semantic orientations of personality.
Research purpose: to study the interconnection of the content - semantic characteristics of professional self-esteem with the degree of formation of the professional identity of students as future specialist-lawyers.
Research tasks:
To highlight the structural components of the diagnostics of professional self-esteem of future specialist-lawyers in the context of the correlation of their subjective and training self-esteem; to analyze the interconnection of professional self-esteem with the level of formation of professional identity of students in the context of the system of leading life meanings and value orientations.
Research objectives: formation status of professional identity of future specialist-lawyers with different level of self-esteem in the context of their mental resource of personality. Research subject: interconnection of self-esteem with degree of formation of professional identity and student-jurists in the process of their professional training.
The following diagnostic tools were used: method of studying the status of professional identity A. A. Asbel in the adaptation A. G. Gretsov; test of meaningful orientations by D. A. Leontyev; method “Personal differential” (modification by D. A. Bogdanova and S. T. Posokhova), mathematical and statistical analysis (Statistic -6.0). A representative sample group consisted of 30 tested: 4th year students of the faculty of law; the sample group is formed by the random number method.
Analysis of Empirical Data
It can be argued that 1/3 of the students (36.7%) made an informed choice of the profession of a lawyer, went through a "crisis of choice" and successfully formed a system of subjective self-image "I- professional." Due to different socio-psychological reasons, 63.3% of respondents are characterized by an incomplete professional identity, 16.7% are imposed professional identity, 46,6% are in a state of moratorium and uncertainty. In general, these students have not independently formed firm professional goals and plans for the future. They choose their professional path under the pressure of parents (who are more often successfully working in the field of jurisprudence), arguing in a narrow utilitarian context (hedonistic orientation, rapid career growth, social privileges). Such students are characterized by low subjective life satisfaction, conflict self-esteem which creates a systematic psychological basis for the crisis of their social identity as a whole. Such students continue to explore alternative options for further professional development, their parents formally take their parenting they do not show an active interest in the professional future of their children, so that respondents are not sufficiently aware of the importance of choosing a future profession and are considered to have accidentally chosen the sphere of jurisprudence. The data obtained are confirmed by cluster analysis. Pursuant to the analysis of Table 2, students of cluster 1 are characterized by a harmonious I-concept, stable positive and adequate self-esteem, subjectively satisfied with their educational and life achievements, confidently treat themselves as free and effectively functioning personality (developed self-control and reflection, a clear awareness of life perspective and own professional choice).
Table 2 Descriptive Statistics for Clusters.
| Variable | Cluster 1 «Positive professional identity» | Cluster 2 «Imposed professional identity» | Cluster 3 «Unformed professional identity» | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (1) | Standard Deviation (1) | Mean (2) | Standard Deviation (2) | Mean (3) | Standard Deviation (3) | |
| Moratorium | 5,500 | 2,16795 | 3,800 | 2,3944 | 16,8571 | 2,5376 |
| Formed identity | 12,177 | 1,94079 | 7,500 | 6,7206 | 5,1429 | 2,4763 |
| Imposed identity | 4,667 | 3,01109 | 14,300 | 4,3982 | 1,8571 | 1,7033 |
| Indefinite identity | 0,3333 | 0,51640 | 10,000 | 8,1104 | 15,9286 | 2,1641 |
| Life goals | 36,333 | 3,14113 | 26,600 | 2,8363 | 16,2857 | 2,3674 |
| Life process | 28,500 | 2,07364 | 31,200 | 7,0993 | 37,2143 | 5,4375 |
| Result | 31,833 | 1,47196 | 24,900 | 3,2813 | 13,5714 | 2,3440 |
| Locus control-I | 25,500 | 1,51658 | 16,500 | 4,3778 | 16,0000 | 1,7974 |
| Locus control- life | 35,000 | 3,22490 | 31,300 | 4,3218 | 23,7143 | 5,9540 |
| Life awareness | 156,833 | 10,79660 | 127,800 | 10,891 | 105,7857 | 7,4336 |
Comparative analysis of results of Table 1 with experimental data using “Personal differential” method showed that students from cluster 1 have adequate subjective ideas concerning their future professional qualities and are most fully aware of themselves as their carriers (Sm(ср ≤+2 scores). These are students with conscious goal-setting, good reflection relating to the choice of learning technology and mean discrepancy in the ranks of characteristics “I-professional “real” and “ideal” is considered as an indicator of their balanced and stable positive Cm, as a result of which the magnitude of the rank difference of the estimated characteristics of I-professional “real” and “ideal” also indicates that these students have an opinion concerning the identity of their own personal and professionally required qualities. Such students are confident in their professional choice based on their ideas about themselves as a capable lawyer personality. This is shown by high values on the scales "Result" (T cp = 31.83), "Life goals" (Tcp = 36.33), "Life process" (T cp = 28.5), "Life awareness" ( T cp = 156.83) of the methodology of "Life-meaningful orientations" by D.A. Leontyev in relation to the results of analysis of rank positions of the characteristics of the "Personal Differential" methodology. Students of cluster 1 are the most successful in the learning process, they have a stable positive self-esteem which forms the systematic basis for the reflected and effective attitude towards the chosen profession. Their professional identity is distinguished by completeness and reflects harmonious coincidence of emotional-volitional and value-semantic characteristics of such spheres as “professional” and “personal”.
The study of social and anamnestic data made it possible to state that the parents of students from cluster 1 are focused on a democratic and responsible attitude towards the professional choice of their children, actively participate in their lives, are interested in their educational and professional achievements, they study professional preferences together with their children and give them an adequate reflexive assessment. Interest of parents in their own children’s professional choice taking into account their individual and personal characteristics forms the systematic psychological basis not only for successful professionalization of such students but also can be considered as a proto-factor of future professional longevity and stable professional productivity. In contrast to cluster 1, students from cluster 2 and 3 have common psychological characteristics and problems preventing their successful development as lawyers.
The common feature for respondents from Clusters 2 and 3 is that their professional identity is either not formed ("diffuse" / moratorium state), or it has the features of "imposition" (determined strictly by parental ideas about who their children should become in the future). In the life experience of such students there is no experience of a constructive solution of crises, a behavior model oriented toward the independent overcoming of life difficulties is not formed, parents of such students are also not very interested in their professional choice.
Scores below the average for such scales as the "Life goals" (16.29 points), "Life Process" (37.21 points), "Result" (13, 57.9) "Life awareness" (105.79 points) for cluster 3 and for cluster 2 ("Life goals" (26.6), "Life Process" (31.2), "Result" (24.9)) in combination for respondents of this group with high scores on scale "Life awareness" ( 127.8) indicate that students of these clusters build a professional perspective irresponsibly, do not associate future professional success with the need for active professional training, they are distinguished by projections, prospective professional ideas of which are not backed by personal responsibility for their implementation. Respondents of these clusters have poorly developed reflection and educational motivation, their ideas about themselves “I-professional” “real” and “ideal” are characterized by a large negative rank difference (Смcluster 2(ср ≥+4,5 scores and Смcluster 3(ср ≥+5, 4 scores) which indicates a conflict professional self-esteem.
Respondents from clusters 2 and 3 subjectively assess themselves as a personality with inadequately developed professional business and personal qualities, they do not perceive their university education as an emotionally rich, interesting process, they are convinced that they cannot affect their professional future, they do not believe in their own strength and ability to control their professional development. Professional values and sense are installed fragmentarily in the structure of their subjective value-semantic orientations, as a result of which the respondents of clusters 2 and 3 are poorly informed about the image of their future profession and the model of their own professional activity. Insufficiently developed reflexive attitude towards the learning process and one's own professional choice in combination with a reduced contradictory conflict professional self-esteem are considered as reasons for the incompleteness of their professional identity.
Using the correlation analysis data, it can be argued that an unformed professional identity, regardless of social and psychological reasons, is always associated with an acutely experienced sense of subjective dissatisfaction (Table 3).
Table 3 Correlation analysis of significant (*) interrelation between the structure of respondents' life-meaningful orientations.
| Variable | Correlation coefficient (significance level Р-level≤0,05) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indef | LG | LP | RES | LC-I | LC-L | LA | |
| Moratorium (М) | 0,54 | -0,78* | 0,54 | -0,75* | -0,31 | -0,61* | -0,65* |
| Formed (F) | -0,92* | 0,65 | -0,84* | 0,58* | 0,77* | 0,04 | 0,37 |
| Imposed (I) | -0,03 | 0,32 | -0,18 | 0,36 | -0,23 | 0,45* | 0,27 |
| Indefinite (Indef) | 1,00 | -0,85* | 0,84* | -0,80* | -0,88* | -0,28 | -0,62* |
| Life goals (LG) | -0,85* | 1,00 | -0,66* | 0,92* | 0,78* | 0,59* | 0,85 |
| Life process (LP) | 0,84* | -0,66* | 1,00 | -0,60* | -0,68* | 0,05 | -0,30 |
| Result (RES) | -0,80* | 0,92* | -0,60* | 1,00 | 0,69* | 0,59* | 0,84* |
| Locus control-I (LC-I) | -0,88* | 0,78* | -0,68* | 0,69* | 1,00 | 0,18 | 0,61* |
| Locus control-life (LC-L) | -0,28 | 0,59* | 0,05 | 0,59* | 0,18 | 1,00 | 0,80* |
| Life awareness (LA) | -0,62* | 0,85* | -0,30 | 0,84* | 0,61* | 0,80* | 1,00 |
The feeling of emotional discomfort is manifested as dissatisfaction not only with the learning process, but with the whole life (K corr. "moratorium" - "life awareness" = -0.65 (cluster 2 and 3), (To corr. "indefinite" identity- "life awareness" = -0.62 (cluster 2 and 3)), that in combination with positive significant correlation coefficients (K correlatives "locus control-I" - "life awareness" = 0.61 and K corr. "locus control-life" - "life awareness"= 0.80 indicates that the psychological conditions for the productive formation of professional identity is a set of the following personal characteristics: a well-developed reflection, responsibility and positive self-attitude. Conclusions obtained are corroborated by the correlation coefficients of the "life goals" parameter with the characteristics of the students' life-meaningful orientations: "locus-control-life" (K corr. = 0.78), identity status "formed" (K corr. = 0, 65), "locus control-life"(K corr. = 0.59) and "life awareness" (K corr. = 0.85), as well as the" formed "identity and" locus control-I " parameter (K corr. = 0.77).
Conclusions
Generalizing results of the study, it can be argued that the student's self-esteem is a systematic psychological basis of subjective attitude towards himself as a future successful professional-lawyer; this is the psychological basis for the formation of a successful professional self-attitude and professional identity.
Positive self-esteem is the basis of the formation of a harmonious professional I-concept; it is considered as a systemic foundation of vitality, subjective prosperity and responsible attitude of parents towards the professional choice of their children in the future. Successful professional identity of a lawyer is always mediated by a mental personal resource (moral-ethical-volitional qualities).
The parent reference group actively participates in the formation of the self-esteem, therefore, the active cooperation of parents and children is an important factor in the formation of successful professional self-esteem and identity both at the early stages of the student's personality socialization as a future specialist-lawyer and in the process of his professional training.
