Professional Autonomy as a Cornerstone for Effective Professional and Social Activity

Current challenges in the labor market associated with rapid globalization, digitalization, and skills gaps, cause features such as a learning community, opportunities for collaboration, student self-efficacy, social skills, coherent intercultural communication, and self-realization to play a significant role in students’ professional development. Successful interpersonal and social participation in society as well as skills such as independence, self-confidence, decision-making, openness to change, and responsibility, which are emphasized in the definition of professional autonomy, are also fundamental to their development. To prepare university students for the labor market, it is necessary to consider the above and develop students’ professional autonomy to close the gap between students’ theoretical learning and the development of practical professional pursuits. Despite the importance of professional autonomy, its concept in educational sciences is not sufficiently defined and described, as it lacks a theoretical basis. For that reason, this research aims to study the etymology of professional autonomy, the typology of professional autonomy, and how professional autonomy is measured in higher education by conducting a systematic literature analysis. The results of this study reveal divergent definitions of professional autonomy, the scope of its concept, and explain the applicability of tools for measuring professional autonomy in higher education. Additionally, it identifies three levels of professional autonomy: general, collegial, and individual.