| The purpose of this study wa sto use a quantitative online survey to investigate the professional identities held by nursing faculty teaching in registered nursing programs in the Mountain Statesof the United States. Identity refers to the sets of meanings/factors that define whoone is while one is fulfilling a specific role in society or acting as a member of a specific group (Burke & Stets, 2009). These sets of meanings and factors ultimately establish behavioral expectations for the role (Stryker & Burke, 2000). The lens of identity theory guided the development of the survey and allowedme to investigate what items and factorsare salient to the reported identitiesof nursing facultyand how these identities compare to the perceived counter identities of nursing student, practicing nurse, and physician.Using exploratory factor analysis, I determinedthe factorsassociated withnursing faculty, nursing student, practicing nurse, and physician identities(Burke & Tully, 1977). Exploratory factor analysis demonstrated that nursing faculty archetypal identity was most similar to nursing student archetypal identity, followed by practicing nurse and lastly physicianarchetypal identities. Demographics had little effect on respondent feedback. Loaded items for nursing faculty, nursing student, and practicing nurse archetypal identitiesdemonstrated patterns that supports Roberts (1983) hypothesis that the nursing profession exists in anoppressed state. Leaders, therefore, may find value in using the lens of oppression theory to understand and ameliorateincivility in nursing education and perhaps nursing practice in general.Key Words: Nursing Education, Identity, Incivility, Oppression |