Abstract

The RMA profession is here to stay. But how do we keep RMA professionals happy in their ever evolving jobs? What does it take to be a RMA professional, how do RMAs value their contributions, and most important: how do RMAs manage to keep themselves deployable and resilient in a highly demanding and volatile environment?

Over the years, it has become evident to me as Research Manager that to persevere in any job, it is important to focus on one’s added value as a person, rather than to solely concentrate on portraying a specific role. For RMA therefore, the question is: how do we connect our personal identity to our professional identity? Investigating our own professionalism in relation to our personal and spiritual identity can help us to make more meaningful impact, for ourselves and our clients, as well as help generate more authority and autonomy in our contributions. Professional identity is all about how we go about becoming professional RMA and how we keep up with developments in the field. Personal identity is all about understanding one’s own drives, values, patterns and beliefs and how these define our actions. This session explains the concept of personal and professional identity, and offers ideas on how to make one’s job more fulfilling by further developing both.

Learning outcomes:
* participants will gain a basic understanding of what professional and personal identities are;
* participants will receive hands-on examples and exercises to help them feel more fulfilled in their jobs;
* the session helps to inspire newcomers how to have a more fulfilled career in professional partnerships with academics.