Abstract

Students often describe themselves as ‘budding’ or ‘emerging’, labels that position professional identity as something not-yet attained. This workshop invites participants to step into an identity lab to investigate betweenness and becoming. Drawing on my practice-based research as a UAL Employability Educator, I argue that we can better support students by recognizing that professional identity is not an arrival, but an ongoing, embodied practice. Through collaborative inquiry, we will surface our own experiences of professional transition, exploring how we might better hold space for students as they navigate the messy process of becoming.

Session and activities

This interactive inquiry lab is designed for UAL community members interested in the deeper, human aspects of the professional identity formation. As an Employability Educator, I am intrigued when students so frequently use labels like “emerging” or “budding.” I suggest these labels often reflect an identity-based hesitation, a sense of not yet having the right or readiness to claim a professional self.

This session moves away from transactional career advice to examine the reality of creative growth, reframing the “not-yet” state not as a deficit, but as a necessary space of identity formation.

Session Structure:

Setting the Scene: We will begin by discussing the “not-yet” label as a professional threshold. I will share a brief account of my own professional transitions, establishing the session as a space for shared inquiry rather than a presentation. We will look at how this transition phase, where identity feels fluid or “in flux”, is a fundamental part of the creative journey.

The Identity Lab: This is the core experiential component. We move from discussion to collaborative mapping. Using coaching-led prompts, participants will be invited to map their own “not-yet” moments, identifying the specific personal transitions, risks, experiments, or conversations that eventually shaped their own sense of professional self. We are not designing curriculum or changing teaching; we are engaging in a shared investigation of the human experience of becoming.

Collective Synthesis: We will conclude by sharing what we have uncovered. The goal is to reflect on what happens when we explore our professional identity formation and view student development as a form of practice rather than a problem to be solved.

By focusing on our own history of becoming, this session offers a reflective space for colleagues to connect their own professional lives with the journeys of their students. It provides an inquiry-led perspective on professional life that is grounded in the reality of the UAL community.