The Oz effect? An examination of middle management roles and perceptions of professionalism in an Australian TAFE

Arecent study of middle managers in English further education (FE) colleges (Briggs, 2004 and in preparation) explored the concept of professionalism as displayed by the various types of manager in the study. The study tracked the shifting patterns of professional identity in the sector.Within any one college, individual managers may hold differing constructs of professionalism; however, the effective function of the organisation depends upon mutual understanding which enables middle managers to value each other’s professional identity and work successfully together. Issues of professional identity are important to organisational leadership, as they lie at the meeting-point of agency and structure. A person’s professional identity is based upon their personal perceptions of self-image and self-efficacy in relation to their working context (Busher, 2005). This identity is central to the individual's sense of agency (Busher, 2005; Giddens, 1991), developed through interactions with others in their working context in constructing social systems and structures (Giddens, 1984). Professional identity is thus both a product and an agent of the systems and structures within which the individual's working life is located.