Hospital administrators as professionals: a study of occupational role identity

This study set out to examine how hospital administrators see themselves in relation to their occupational role, that is, do they see themselves primarily as professionals, as organizational men and women, or as some combination of both. The determinants of their perceptions of occupational role identity were also examined. Canadian hospital CEOs numbering 361 were surveyed with a 72 percent response rate showing wide variation in education and length of work experience. Findings indicate these CEOs manifest a combination of professional and organizational role identities with no apparent conflict between these identities and no systematic differences in role identity by type of education or by length of work experience. The structure of this integrated model of professionalism and its potential impact on the leadership role of the CEO is examined in this article.