ICMS Faculty Forum: Embedding Professional Identity in Education

What does it mean to prepare students for the future? At ICMS, the answer lies in professional identity: helping students develop the skills, values, and judgment they need to thrive in their chosen industries.  

This was the focus of the recent Faculty Forum, held at the City Campus in May, where staff and guest speakers came together to explore the theme ‘Educating for Professional Identity’ through the lenses of integrity, impact, and inclusion. 

Professional Identity: A New Focus for ICMS

Deputy Vice Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) Professor Heidi Le Sueur opened the forum by reflecting on the changing purpose of higher education and the importance of developing professional identity.  

“We have an incredibly important job to do, which is to prepare our students for the workplace they’re heading into,” she said.  

Professor Le Sueur explained that ICMS is embedding professional identity as a course learning outcome in all undergraduate degree programs.  

In this way, professional identity links directly to impact: enabling students translate knowledge into judgement, action and meaningful contribution in their industries and communities. 

Higher education is no longer only about transmitting knowledge. Increasingly, it is about helping students develop a sense of who they are becoming as professionals, collaborators, responsible decision-makers and contributors to society.  

This ensures students graduate not only with technical knowledge, but with judgement, integrity, adaptability and the capacity to work well with others. 

“Professional identity is about embracing values in career aspirations and exercising judgment in diverse business contexts,” Le Sueur said.  

She emphasised that this learning outcome is tailored to each discipline, ensuring it aligns with the specific industries ICMS students are preparing to enter. Professional identity develops through challenge, reflection, collaboration, feedback, and authentic learning experiences. 

“It’s a powerful focus in our curriculum and reflects the sum of the education our students go through by the time they graduate.” 

Keynote Address: The Role of AI in Shaping Professional Identity

The forum also explored how artificial intelligence (AI) is influencing education and professional preparation. 

Professor Danny Liu, an expert in education technologies from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), delivered the keynote address.  

He spoke about the importance of focusing on the learning process rather than just the end result.  

Using the analogy of “taking the stairs” versus “taking the escalator,” Professor Liu explained that education is about building skills and resilience.  

“Learning is not taking the escalator; learning is taking the stairs,” he said. “You need the desirable difficulties to actually encourage learning.” 

Professor Liu also shared insights into how AI can impact professional identity.  

He presented a framework categorising AI use into three approaches: surrender, offloading, and agency.  

The framework highlighted the risks of passively accepting AI outputs (surrender), the potential pitfalls of delegating tasks entirely to AI (offloading), and the benefits of actively engaging with AI to enhance learning (agency).  

For example, surrender might involve uncritically accepting AI-summarised search results, while agency could mean setting up a custom AI that students can “teach” to simulate real-world scenarios. 

“AI is a tool, not a shortcut,” Professor Liu said.  

“We need to help students think about how they can use AI in ways that are actually going to be helpful for them, building their professional identity and critical thinking skills along the way.” 

Interactive Orals: A Practical Approach to Professional Identity

One of the ways ICMS is supporting the development of professional identity is through interactive orals.  

These are oral assessments where students explain their thought processes and how they arrived at their answers. The aim is to ensure students are learning through the process, rather than just focusing on the final outcome. 

Dr Johnnel Smith, Senior Program Manager (Tourism and Hospitality), facilitated this session on interactive orals and assessment design, supporting academic staff to consider how secured assessment approaches can be integrated into subjects and courses. 

Renata Matthew Lee, a current Bachelor of Business (Fashion and Global Brand Management) student, shared her perspective on these assessments.  

“I think it’s very interesting because you have the chance to present your ideas and gain useful skills,” she said. 

The discussion highlighted that interactive orals can support authenticity, confidence and professional communication, while also helping educators make more informed judgements about student learning.  

It was noted that students often learn effectively by observing and collaborating with their peers, as seeing others succeed can boost their own confidence. 

Inclusion by Design: Supporting Diverse Learners from the Outset

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) was also explored through a workshop delivered by Professor Taha Chaiechi, Dean (Academic), titled Inclusive by Design: Applying Universal Design for Learning Across the Student Learning Experience.  

The session integrated the Forum’s inclusion theme by focusing on how learning, teaching and assessment can be intentionally designed to support diverse learners from the outset, rather than relying only on individual adjustments.  

It highlighted how small, deliberate design choices in curriculum and teaching practice can significantly influence student participation, confidence, sense of belonging, and the development of professional identity. 

As Professor Chaiechi noted, “While diversity is an important input, inclusion is a deliberate design choice and an outcome shaped by how we structure learning experiences.  

“This is why intentionality in learning design is critical, ensuring that participation, engagement, and success are enabled rather than assumed.” 

The workshop positioned inclusion as a core element of academic quality, student engagement and professional identity development. 

The Takeaway

The Faculty Forum concluded that professional identity is not developed through a single subject, assessment or activity. It is formed progressively through the whole student experience, through curriculum, in-class activities, assessment, feedback, reflection, industry engagement, peer learning and inclusive teaching practice. 

By embedding professional identity into its curriculum, ICMS is strengthening its commitment to graduates who are not only knowledgeable, but able to exercise judgement, act with integrity and work inclusively with others to succeed in their careers.  

As Professor Liu said, “The point is the process. The point is the journey.”