Challenging identity: development of a measure of veterinary career motivations

Abstract

BackgroundWhile little is known about the motivations underpinning veterinary work, previous literature has suggested that the main influences on veterinary career choice are early/formative exposure to animals or veterinary role models. The aim of this study was to develop and provisionally validate a veterinary career motivations questionnaire to assess the strength of various types of career motivations in graduating and experienced veterinarians.MethodsA cross-sectional sample of experienced veterinarians (n=305) and a smaller cohort of newly graduated veterinarians (n=53) were surveyed online using a long-form questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to iteratively derive a final, short-form questionnaire for survey of a second cross-sectional sample of experienced veterinarians (n=751).ResultsEFA derived a final questionnaire with 22 items loading onto six factors (social purpose, animal orientation, vocational identity, challenge and learning, career affordances, and people orientation). While motivations based on animal orientation were predictably strong, those based on vocational identity were not universal and were weaker in younger and graduate veterinarians; both of these motivations were rated lower by male veterinarians. Motivations based on challenge and learning emerged as some of the strongest, most universal and most influential; people orientation and social purpose were also important, particularly for older veterinarians.ConclusionThe major motivations for pursuing a veterinary career may best be represented as an intrinsic passion for animal care and for learning through solving varied challenges. These motivations are largely intrinsically oriented and autonomously regulated, thus likely to be supportive of work satisfaction and wellbeing.

Motivations and Barriers for Veterinarians When Facilitating Fertility Management on UK Dairy Farms

“…Participants also achieved significant job satisfaction by helping farmers to improve their fertility as they believed they were making their clients better off financially. This is in line with the work of Cake et al ( 46 ) who showed that vets were predominantly motivated to help both animals and people.…”

Development and validation of a contextualised measure of resilience in veterinary practice: the Veterinary Resilience Scale–Personal Resources (VRS–PR)

“…They seek to continually improve their performance to meet personal standards of excellence 47 48 . The inclusion of items related to motivation in the final VRS–PR aligns with related research identifying intrinsic motivation and the enjoyment of challenging work as important for veterinarians in all stages of their career 23 24 . Motivations related to challenge and learning were amongst the highest rated, most universal and most influential on overall motivation and job satisfaction in that study 24 .…”

“…The inclusion of items related to motivation in the final VRS–PR aligns with related research identifying intrinsic motivation and the enjoyment of challenging work as important for veterinarians in all stages of their career 23 24 . Motivations related to challenge and learning were amongst the highest rated, most universal and most influential on overall motivation and job satisfaction in that study 24 . Practitioners low in motivation can reflect on what professional and personal factors may be contributing to this, as well as deliberately focusing on what compelled them to become a veterinarian and what motivates them in their current work 23 .…”

“…An example of a contextualised measure of resilience is seen in the development of the Multidimensional Teacher Resilience Scale to evaluate the personal resources, contextual resources and strategies for resilience used by early career teachers 20 21 . As the Multidimensional Teacher Resilience Scale measures motivational, social and emotional aspects of professional resilience 20–22 that are also relevant for veterinarians, 23 24 it was chosen as the starting point for examining the resilience of veterinarians. The 26 items in the Multidimensional Teacher Resilience Scale 20 21 were contextualised for veterinary practice as the starting point for the veterinary resilience measure.…”

Resilience of veterinarians at different career stages: The role of self‐efficacy, coping strategies and personal resources for resilience in veterinary practice

“…There is an emerging emphasis on well-being in veterinarians, 1,2 as well as positive aspects of complete mental health more generally. 3 Initial empirical studies have examined aspects of well-being such as motivation, 4,5 self-compassion, 6 mindfulness, 6 meaningfulness, 7 pleasure in work 8 and other personal resources for resilience. 9,10 However, these studies open only a small window into positive mental health states and protective factors in veterinary work.…”