  As part of a longitudinal study into identity development in upper-level
physics students, a phenomenographic research method was used to examine
students' perceptions of what it means to be a physicist. The results revealed
four different categories of perception of what it means to be a physicist,
with a clear distinction in the level of exclusivity students associate with
being a physicist and differences of importance of research and its association
with being a physicist. We find a relationship between students' perceptions of
physicists and students' goal orientation. The paper highlights a need for
faculty to not just emphasize the importance of research to students' academic
development but also to further demonstrate and explain what research entails
and the role it plays in a physicist's identity.
