Professional

Last updated
Doctor explains x-ray to patient Doctor explains x-ray to patient.jpg
Doctor explains x-ray to patient

A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skills necessary to perform their specific role within that profession. In addition, most professionals are subject to strict codes of conduct, enshrining rigorous ethical and moral obligations. [1] Professional standards of practice and ethics for a particular field are typically agreed upon and maintained through widely recognized professional associations, such as the IEEE. [2] Some definitions of "professional" limit this term to those professions that serve some important aspect of public interest [3] and the general good of society. [4] [5]

Contents

In some cultures, the term is used as shorthand to describe a particular social stratum of well-educated workers who enjoy considerable work autonomy and who are commonly engaged in creative and intellectually challenging work. [6] [7] [8] [9]

Trades

In narrow usage, not all expertise is considered a profession. Occupations such as skilled construction and maintenance work are more generally thought of as trades or crafts. The completion of an apprenticeship is generally associated with skilled labour, or trades such as carpenter, electrician, mason, painter, plumber and other similar occupations.

Theory

In his study The Rise of Professional Society historian Harold Perkin characterizes professional society; "Where pre-industrial society was based on passive property in land and industrial society on actively managed capital, professional society is based on human capital created by education and enhanced by strategies of closure, that is, the exclusion of the unqualified." Specifically, it is the management of human capital, and not just specialized skill which Perkin argues is a mark of the professional classes, at one point going so far as to compare it to a modern form of feudalism. [10]

Although professional training appears to be ideologically neutral, it may be biased towards those with higher class backgrounds and a formal education. In his 2000 book, Disciplined Minds: A Critical Look at Salaried Professionals and the Soul-Battering System that Shapes Their Lives, Jeff Schmidt observes that qualified professionals are less creative and diverse in their opinions and habits than non-professionals, which he attributes to the subtle indoctrination and filtering which accompanies the process of professional training. His evidence is both qualitative and quantitative, including professional examinations, industry statistics and personal accounts of trainees and professionals. [11]

A key theoretical dispute arises from the observation that established professions (e.g. lawyers, medical doctors, accountants, architects, civil engineers, surveyors) are subject to strict codes of conduct. [12] Some have thus argued that these codes of conduct, agreed upon and maintained through widely recognized professional associations, are a key element of what constitutes any profession. [13] Others have argued that strict codes of conduct and the professional associations that maintain them are merely a consequence of 'successful' professionalization, rather than an intrinsic element of the definition of professional (ism); this implies that a profession arises from the alignment between a shared purpose (connected to a 'greater good'), a body of knowledge, actual behavior in terms of actions and decisions, and expectations held by societal stakeholders. [14]

Etymology

The etymology and historical meaning of the term professional is from Middle English, from profes, adjective, having professed one's vows, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin professus, from Latin, past participle of profitēri to profess, confess, from pro- before + fatēri to acknowledge; in other senses, from Latin professus, past participle. Thus, as people became more and more specialized in their trade, they began to 'profess' their skill to others, and 'vow' to perform their trade to the highest known standard. With a reputation to uphold, trusted workers of a society who have a specific trade are considered professionals. Ironically, the usage of the word 'profess' declined from the late 1800s to the 1950s, just as the term 'professional' was gaining popularity from 1900 to 2010. [15] [16] Notably, in American English the rise in popularity of the term 'professional' started at the beginning of the 20th century [17] whereas in British English it started in the 1930s and grew fastest in the 1960s and 1970s. [18]

Guilds and licensing practices

The notion of a professional can be traced to medieval European guilds, most of which died off by the middle of the nineteenth century, the exception being the scholars guild, or university. [19]

With most guilds formally abolished outside of the realm of academia, establishing exclusivity and standards in a trade (i.e. the successful professionalization of a trade) had to be achieved via other means such as licensing practices, of which might begin as an informal process established by voluntary professional associations, but then eventually become law due to lobbying efforts. Paralleling or soon after the fall of guilds professional associations began to form in Britain and the US. In the US a number of interested parties sought to emulate the model of apprenticeship which European guilds of the Middle Ages had honed to achieve their ends of establishing exclusivity in trades [20] as well as the English concept of a gentleman which had come to be associated with higher income and craftsmanship. [19] [21] Examples are the Lazzaroni who lobbied to create the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and professional associations who lobbied to create the American Medical Association (AMA). According to Miller et al., "Lazzaroni opposed reforms for no apparent reason other than that they were proposed by scientists outside of their tight knit group.". [22] In his seminal work The Transformation of American Medicine (1982) Paul Starr argues that a significant motivation in the development of the AMA was to gain authority over unlicensed practitioners so as to minimize competition among medical practitioners, thereby enhancing the earning power and prestige of medical professionals. [23] The licensing process Starr argues, was unnecessarily prolonged and the costs were artificially enhanced with the specific aim of deterring potential practitioners from entering the field. In his book, The Early Development of Medical Licensing Laws in the United States, 1875–1900, Ronald Hamowy wrote:

"The American Medical Association (AMA) was established as a permanent national organization at Philadelphia in 1847 at a convention attended by some 230 delegates representing more than forty medical societies and twenty-eight schools. From its inception, one of its primary aims was the upgrading of medical education and a concomitant reduction in the number of physicians. Its committee on raising medical standards reported at its first meeting that "the large number of Medical Colleges throughout the country, and the facility with which the degree is obtained, have exerted a most pernicious influence" on the profession. With the object of ameliorating this situation, recommendations were carried calling for a specified minimum preliminary education as a prerequisite for admission to a medical college, a lengthening of the period of study for graduation from a medical school, including compulsory clinical instruction at a hospital prior to the issuance of a diploma, and professional participation in some licensing scheme for physicians. Indeed, so important was the issue of education considered by the AMA that one of its first acts was the establishment of a Committee on Medical Education..."

As technology progressed throughout the twentieth century, the successful professionalization of a given field was increasingly made possible through the idea of specialization. [10] [23]

As was the case with guilds who claimed to establish exclusivity in a trade in the name of serving the public good, there are often subtle dichotomies present in the idea professionalizing a field, whether in the name of serving some notion of the public good or as a result of specialization. For example, while defenders of guilds have argued that they allowed markets to function by ensuring quality standards, Sheilagh Ogilvie has instead argued that markets of the Middle Ages flourished when guilds were abolished and that there is much evidence to support the notion that individuals prefer a wide variety of products of varying quality and price to being granted protections which they did not ask for, and which artificially constrain consumer options. [20] With regard to modern forms of professional specialization, does specialization which accompanies advances in technology naturally result in exclusivity, or have our licensing systems and laws been artificially engineered with the intention of limiting the number of individuals who reach the point of specialization?

In certain cases the want to specialize can have adverse and bias effects on an industry. In his seminal work From Poor Law to Welfare State: A History of Social Welfare in America (1994) Walter Trattner argues that social workers began to emphasize individualized casework at the expense of alternative methods which utilize holistic methods to address social issues. [24]

The granting of degrees through universities in many cases serves as one major component of licensing practices, but there are numerous legal stipulations and in some cases even informal social norms which also act in this capacity. Nevertheless, the university system constitutes one of the last remaining widely spread guild (or quasi-guild) and continues to serve as an indispensable means for the professionalization of fields of work. While it is true that most guilds disappeared by the middle of the nineteenth century, the scholars guild persisted due to its peripheral standing in an industrialized economy. In the words of Elliot Krause, "The university and scholars' guilds held onto their power over membership, training, and workplace because early capitalism was not interested in it...". [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

Professional certification, trade certification, or professional designation, often called simply certification or qualification, is a designation earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task. Not all certifications that use post-nominal letters are an acknowledgement of educational achievement, or an agency appointed to safeguard the public interest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guild</span> Association of artisans or merchants

A guild is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They sometimes depended on grants of letters patent from a monarch or other ruler to enforce the flow of trade to their self-employed members, and to retain ownership of tools and the supply of materials, but most were regulated by the local government. Guild members found guilty of cheating the public would be fined or banned from the guild. A lasting legacy of traditional guilds are the guildhalls constructed and used as guild meeting-places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawyer</span> Practitioner of law

A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, solicitor, legal executive, or public servant — with each role having different functions and privileges. Working as a lawyer generally involves the practical application of abstract legal theories and knowledge to solve specific problems. Some lawyers also work primarily in advancing the interests of the law and legal profession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Physician</span> Professional who practices medicine

A physician, medical practitioner, medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of disease, injury, and other physical and mental impairments. Physicians may focus their practice on certain disease categories, types of patients, and methods of treatment—known as specialities—or they may assume responsibility for the provision of continuing and comprehensive medical care to individuals, families, and communities—known as general practice. Medical practice properly requires both a detailed knowledge of the academic disciplines, such as anatomy and physiology, underlying diseases and their treatment—the science of medicine—and also a decent competence in its applied practice—the art or craft of medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Profession</span> Vocation founded upon specialized educational training

A profession is a field of work that has been successfully professionalized. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, professionals, who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognised body of learning derived from research, education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to apply this knowledge and exercise these skills in the interest of others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Engineer</span> Professional practitioner of engineering and its subclasses

Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limitations imposed by practicality, regulation, safety and cost. The word engineer is derived from the Latin words ingeniare and ingenium ("cleverness"). The foundational qualifications of a licensed professional engineer typically include a four-year bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline, or in some jurisdictions, a master's degree in an engineering discipline plus four to six years of peer-reviewed professional practice and passage of engineering board examinations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychologist</span> Professional who evaluates, diagnoses, treats and studies behavior and mental processes

A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how individuals relate to each other and to their environments.

Professional development, also known as professional education, is learning that leads to or emphasizes education in a specific professional career field or builds practical job applicable skills emphasizing praxis and practice-based professional learning in addition to the transferable skills and theoretical academic knowledge found in traditional liberal arts and pure sciences education. It is used to earn or maintain professional credentials such as professional certifications or academic degrees through formal coursework at institutions known as professional schools, or attending conferences and informal learning opportunities to strengthen or gain new skills.

Osteopathic medicine is a branch of the medical profession in the United States that promotes the practice of science-based medicine, often referred to in this context as allopathic medicine, with a set of philosophy and principles set by its earlier form, osteopathy. Osteopathic physicians (DOs) are graduates of American osteopathic medical colleges and are licensed to practice the full scope of medicine and surgery in all 50 US states. The field is distinct from osteopathic practices offered in nations outside of the U.S., whose practitioners are generally not considered part of core medical staff nor of medicine itself, but rather are alternative medicine practitioners. The other major branch of medicine in the United States is referred to by practitioners of osteopathic medicine as allopathic medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Medical Association</span> United States association of physicians and medical students

The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 in 2022.

A professional association is a group that usually seeks to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that profession, and the public interest. In the United States, such an association is typically a nonprofit business league for tax purposes. In the UK, they may take a variety of legal forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Medical Association</span> Organization for African American physicians

The National Medical Association (NMA) is the largest and oldest organization representing African American physicians and their patients in the United States. As a 501(c)(3) national professional and scientific organization, the NMA represents the interests of over 30,000 African American physicians and their patients, with nearly 112 affiliated societies throughout the nation and U.S. territories. Through its membership, professional growth, community health education, advocacy, research, and collaborations with public and private organizations, the organization is dedicated to enhancing the quality of health among minorities and underprivileged people. Throughout its history, the NMA has primarily focused on health issues related to African Americans and medically underserved populations. However, its principles, goals, initiatives, and philosophy encompass all ethnic groups

Conceived in no spirit of racial exclusiveness, fostering no ethnic antagonism, but born of the exigencies of the American environment, the National Medical Association has for its object the banding together for mutual cooperation and helpfulness, the men and women of African descent who are legally and honorably engaged in the practice of the cognate professions of medicine, surgery, pharmacy and dentistry.
— C.V. Roman, M.D. NMA Founding Member and First Editor of the Journal of the National Medical Association (NMA) 1908

Professionalization or professionalisation is a social process by which any trade or occupation transforms itself into a true "profession of the highest integrity and competence." The definition of what constitutes a profession is often contested. Professionalization tends to result in establishing acceptable qualifications, one or more professional associations to recommend best practice and to oversee the conduct of members of the profession, and some degree of demarcation of the qualified from unqualified amateurs. It is also likely to create "occupational closure", closing the profession to entry from outsiders, amateurs and the unqualified.

Health advocacy or health activism encompasses direct service to the individual or family as well as activities that promote health and access to health care in communities and the larger public. Advocates support and promote the rights of the patient in the health care arena, help build capacity to improve community health and enhance health policy initiatives focused on available, safe and quality care. Health advocates are best suited to address the challenge of patient-centered care in our complex healthcare system. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines patient-centered care as: Health care that establishes a partnership among practitioners, patients, and their families to ensure that decisions respect patients’ wants, needs, and preferences and that patients have the education and support they need to make decisions and participate in their own care. Patient-centered care is also one of the overreaching goals of health advocacy, in addition to safer medical systems, and greater patient involvement in healthcare delivery and design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of chiropractic</span> History of chiropractic

The history of chiropractic began in 1895 when Daniel David Palmer of Iowa performed the first chiropractic adjustment on a partially deaf janitor, Harvey Lillard. Palmer claims to have had principles of chiropractic treatment passed along to him during a seance by a long-dead doctor named Dr. Jim Atkinson. While Lillard was working without his shirt on in Palmer's office, Lillard bent over to empty the trash can. Palmer noticed that Lillard had a vertebra out of position. He asked Lillard what happened, and Lillard replied, "I moved the wrong way, and I heard a 'pop' in my back, and that's when I lost my hearing." Palmer, who was also involved in many other natural healing philosophies, had Lillard lie face down on the floor and proceeded with the adjustment. The next day, Lillard told Palmer, "I can hear that rackets on the streets." This experience led Palmer to open a school of chiropractic two years later. Rev. Samuel H. Weed coined the word "chiropractic" by combining the Greek words cheiro (hand) and praktikos.

In sociology, an occupational closure is the process whereby a trade or occupation (vocation) transforms itself, or tries to transform itself, into a true profession by closing off entry to the profession to all but those people who are suitably qualified, as defined by the practitioners already practicing the occupation in any given jurisdiction. This can be achieved by licensure and professional certification, barring entry to all except those who have passed certain entrance examinations and grades of training, or by allowing entry only to those who have gained membership of a specific professional body. It can also be achieved by trade unionism, and most especially craft unionism as contrasted with industrial unionism, in countries where sufficient union membership can be achieved despite the prevailing gradient of union busting.

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) is an accreditation agency for postsecondary education programs in 30 health science fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argentine Medical Association</span>

The Argentine Medical Association is the principal professional association of physicians in Argentina. It is a medical non-profit organization with headquarters in Buenos Aires.

A technical trainer is an educator or teacher who trains or coaches others in some field of technology. The task requires a certain set of competencies, but many technical trainers do not hold specific technical-training qualifications. Although there are professional organizations and publications of relevance to technical trainers, few of these are specifically focused on that profession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph N. McCormack</span> American politician

Joseph Nathaniel McCormack was an American surgeon, a leader in several national medical organizations and a member of the Kentucky General Assembly. He served as executive officer of the Kentucky State Board of Health for thirty years and he led the reorganization of the American Medical Association (AMA) during its formative years of 1900 to 1911. James Burrow, historian of the AMA, has written that McCormack was "the most influential political leader of the profession in the Progressive Era, or perhaps in the AMA's entire history." McCormack served for six years as president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and for two years as president of the Federation of State Medical Boards. In 1907 the American Association for the Advancement of Science included him in its list of the 100 most influential leaders in the fields of medicine, public health, science and social reform.

References

  1. ↑ Postema, Gerald J. (1980). "Moral responsibility in professional ethics". N.Y.U. L. Rev. 55. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "IEEE.org Index Page". IEEE.ORG. Archived from the original on 15 May 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  3. ↑ Harvey, L.; Mason, S.; Ward, R. (1995). Role of Professional Bodies in Higher Education Quality Monitoring. Birmingham: Quality in Higher Education Project. ISBN   1-85920-108-3.
  4. ↑ Sullivan, William M. (2nd ed. 2005). Work and Integrity: The Crisis and Promise of Professionalism in America. Jossey Bass.
  5. ↑ Gardner, Howard and Shulman, Lee S., The Professions in America Today: Crucial but Fragile. Daedalus, Summer 2005. (pgs. 13–14)
  6. ↑ Gilbert, D. (1998). The American class structure: In an age of growing inequality. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Press.
  7. ↑ Beeghley, L. (2004). The structure of social stratification in the United States. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
  8. ↑ Eichar, D. (1989). Occupation and Class Consciousness in America. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN   978-0-313-26111-4
  9. ↑ Ehrenreich, B. (1989). Fear of falling: The inner life of the middle class. New York: Harper Perennial.
  10. 1 2 Perkin, Harold (1989). The Rise of Professional Society; England Since 1885. Routledge Inc.
  11. ↑ Schmidt, J. (2000). Disciplined Minds – A Critical Look at Salaried Professionals and the Soul-Battering System that Shapes their Lives. Rowman & Littlefield, pp.293.
  12. ↑ Conflict of Interest in Four Professions: A Comparative Analysis. Washington (DC): National Academy Press. National Academy Press. 30 September 2009. ISBN   978-0-309-13188-9 . Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  13. ↑ Barker, Richard (July 1, 2010). "The Big Idea: No, Management Is Not a Profession". Harvard Business Review (July–August 2010). Retrieved 16 October 2019– via hbr.org.
  14. ↑ Romme, G. (2016). The Quest for Professionalism: The Case of Management and Entrepreneurship. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Oxford University Press. 28 January 2016. ISBN   978-0-19-873773-5 . Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  15. ↑ "Simple Definition of profess". merriam-webster.com. Merriam Webster. 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  16. ↑ "Google Books NGram Viewer". books.google.com/ngrams. 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  17. ↑ "Google Books NGram Viewer (American English)". books.google.com/ngrams. 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  18. ↑ "Google Books NGram Viewer (British English)". books.google.com/ngrams. 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  19. 1 2 3 Krause, Elliot (1996). Death of Guilds: Professions, States, and The Advance of Capitalism, 1930 to The Present. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.
  20. 1 2 Ogilvie, Sheilagh (2019). The European Guilds: An Economic Analysis. Princeton University Press.
  21. ↑ Perkin, Harold (1993). The Rise of Professional Society. Routledge, London and New York.
  22. ↑ Miller, Lillian (1972). The Lazzaroni: Science and Scientists in The Mid Nineteenth Century America. Smithsonian Institution Press.
  23. 1 2 Starr, Paul (1982). The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry. Basic Books, Inc., New York.
  24. ↑ Trattner, Walter (1994). From Poor Law to Welfare State: A History of Social Welfare in America, 5th Edition. The Free Press.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.