Developing a robust professional identity: Stories from practice

This paper presents a model of professional robustness, developed from a series of research conversations with social work students and qualified practitioners in Western Australia, undertaken for the completion of my PhD thesis. The paper explores the four dimensions of robustness identified in the model and relates each of these to the stories of learning and identity development recounted by research participants. The paper makes the important distinction between professionally robust practitioners and a robust profession and reflects on the circumstances that enable or impede professional strength on each of these dimensions. It concludes with some thoughts on ways in which social work education can assist students to develop a sense of their professional strength and resilience.