How professionals experience critical thinking within an occupation: Peering into the phenomena

Abstract

This study explores how six professionals experience critical thinking within their occupation. The research methodology employed for this study was hermeneutic phenomenology. The aim of the research was to reveal the essence of the experience of these critical thinkers as they encountered the guidelines, standards, and policies of their work environment and how these affected their ability to think critically.

From the oral record of the lived events, five major findings surfaced from these experiences: Tactics and Values, Emotional State, Critical Questions, Pre-/Post-Expectations and Beliefs, and Inhibitors to Critical Thinking.

There was a confirmed connection to the literature for critical questions, the emotional state, and tactics and values of critical thinkers, but no apparent thematic connection in the literature was found regarding pre-/post-expectations and beliefs or a catalog of inhibitors to critical thinking.

Analysis of the findings led this researcher to the conclusion that leadership is the persistent and fundamental key to answering if an environment is appropriate or not for a critical thinker to flourish. The analysis also yielded recommendations for the critical thinker to catalog and be mindful of possible inhibitors to critical thinking within an occupation and for leaders within an organization to foster an environment that is hospitable to critical thinkers.