Research On Academic Identity Constructionof Postgraduate Trying For Master’s Degree

This study is a reflective inquiry based on the researcher’s own academic situation as one of the postgraduate trying for master’s degree.Postgraduate students are not only students who are educated and engaged in learning activities in higher education institutions,but also researchers who are engaged in scientific research activities.Academic degrees are aimed at training professionals to teach and conduct research in universities and research institutions,with a focus on academic innovation and the development of research-oriented talents with creativity and competence.The academic degree is mainly characterized by the degree holder’s mastery of knowledge and theoretical cultivation in the relevant discipline,and the professional ability is not included in its consideration.However,in reality,academic master’s degree students are in an awkward situation of being cut off from "academics".Individual postgraduates face a series of problems such as employment pressure,controversy over social recognition,the suspension of cultivation plans and the blurring of academic goals.The conflict between academic ideals and academic reality has led to a deep identity crisis,and many of them choose to escape from the dilemma or go with the flow.They rarely think about the meaning of academia and are unable to grow in academic activities,engaging in non-academic occupations after graduation.Three years of academic life became an absurd battle for diplomas.The aim of this study is to present the real situation of individual postgraduates in order to call on them to pay attention to their own academic motivations and choices and to maintain the presence of their subjective consciousness in academic life,as well as to give postgraduates who are about to face or are facing specific academic dilemmas and identity crises a strategy of action that they can refer to.This study is a narrative study of a postgraduate trying for master’s degree of education,using interviews as the main research method and supplemented by strategies such as observation and reflective diary analysis,over a period of 13 months.The research participant narrative was used as a blueprint for writing her real-life story in an academic situation,in order to understand the process of constructing the postgraduate’s academic identity,as well as the events,people and other elements that had a significant impact on it.The journey of academic identity construction of postgraduate can be roughly divided into: the stage of identity imagination,the stage of identity negotiation,and the stage of identity confirmation,revealing the construction process of pre-construction,form construction,and re-construction.Based on the case narrative and analytical findings of this study,this study proposes four referable action suggestions for postgraduate.First,in self-reflection,individual postgraduates can build an understanding of their own,other’s and group identities,adjust their identity expectations,and establish patterns of action that promote their academic growth.The establishment of the habit of self-reflection is the basis for moving towards the identity of a researcher,and through self-reflection,postgraduates can actively apply what they have learned in guiding their actions,and gain richer materials and experiences for reflection in their actions,forming a positive cycle of internal reflection and practical actions.Secondly,academic identity is gradually constructed in the process of interaction between postgraduates and academic situations and others,and active participation in academic activities and communication with others in the academic community are extremely important to the construction of academic identity.The construction of postgraduates’ academic identity as researchers must be based on their learning activities as students,so the participation in academic activities should be carried out throughout their academic life.Thirdly,postgraduates should establish the publication of academic articles as their goal.The academic publication is an important indicator to measure the learning achievement at the postgraduate stage,and is a direct manifestation of the research ability.More importantly,the achievement of academic results has a great contribution to the construction of the postgraduate’s self-efficacy,meaning acquisition and identity confidence as a researcher.Fourthly,postgraduate students can write their biography or oral sharing to narrate the story of what happened in their research life.By restructuring experiences through narratives,they can,on the one hand,gain opportunities for self-exploration and understanding of their patterns of behaviour and intrinsic motivations as a basis for academic action.On the other hand,through the interpretation of emotions and perceptions,they can reintegrate their own framework of meaning and value system,discover deep-seated internal psychological mechanisms,and establish a more suitable path for their academic growth.Moreover,in the process of narrating,they may also reconstruct academic ideals and identity expectations,generate new academic motivations and move towards a more determined path of academic research.