ABSTRACT Designers’ Professional Identity (DPI) is a social- and self-perceptive construct that describes how designers understand themselves as professionals. DPI guides development throughout a designer’s career by shaping professionalism, role assumptions, responsibilities, values and behaviour. DPI links two sets of elements: Personal Attributes and Design Skills. However, little is known about how designers perceive themselves in comparison to other critical actors affecting DPI: educators and managers. While differing perceptions between educators and managers is acknowledged, there is a critical need for more detailed understanding of these differences in comparison to how designers perceive themselves. This study uses semi-structured interviews with designers, design professors, and design managers to shed light on differences in perception of DPI. Analysis of the data highlights critical differences between the three groups. We described these differences with respect to three thematic perspectives on DPI: Technique, Creativity and Rapport. This provides important contributions to understanding DPI, with implications for education and practice.

中文翻译：

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设计师职业身份的社会和自我认知

摘要设计师的专业身份 (DPI) 是一种社会和自我感知结构，描述了设计师如何将自己理解为专业人士。DPI 通过塑造专业精神、角色假设、责任、价值观和行为来指导设计师整个职业生涯的发展。DPI 将两组元素联系起来：个人属性和设计技能。然而，与影响 DPI 的其他关键角色（教育者和管理者）相比，设计师如何看待自己却知之甚少。虽然教育工作者和管理者之间存在不同的看法，但与设计师如何看待自己相比，迫切需要更详细地了解这些差异。本研究使用对设计师、设计教授、和设计经理阐明对 DPI 感知的差异。数据分析突出了三组之间的关键差异。我们从 DPI 的三个主题视角描述了这些差异：技术、创造力和融洽关系。这为理解 DPI 做出了重要贡献，并对教育和实践产生了影响。