The changing world of professions and professional workers (original) (raw)
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Positioning a Post-professional Approach to Studying Professions
The term post‑professional has had minor use outside sociology but has not been deployed within the sociology of professions. A post‑professional approach is argued to have major utility for studying professions, against the backdrop of the traditional trait and power approaches. First, a range of empirical changes in recent decades, such as the conjunction of professions and organisations, constitutes new data needing new theorisation. Second, inspection of changing theoretical configurations in these decades indicates the field has multiple contributory perspectives available. Finally, several key elements of a post‑professional perspective are outlined, indicating potential for elaboration of the idea.
Professionalisation – the struggle within
European Journal For Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 2011
The professionalisation of the field of adult and continuing education has been a source of intense debate and controversy in the last few years, although this debate has been patchy over the European nations and perhaps more intense in some areas (cf. Nuissl & Lattke 2008; European Journal of Education 2009; Research voor Beleid 2010). Germany, for example, is one of the countries where the 'professionalisierung' has been on the political and academic agenda more than elsewhere (Gieseke, 2005). National and European Union policies argue strongly for an increase in the quality of adult and continuing education through professionalisation (cf. European Commission 2006; Research voor Beleid & PLATO 2008; Research voor Beleid 2010), and the European Commission identifies 'challenges' to be addressed by those who have a stake in adult learning (2006). The Commission plans action to address these challenges and proposes to manage the adult and continuing education terrain by encouraging nations across Europe to accept their arguments for quality improvement through adoption of their performance indicators and benchmarks. In this debate there has been a tendency to follow the lead of the European Commission and understand professionalisation in terms of functional markers of professionalism-increasing competence, quality and qualification. Other markers, such as those of academic qualification, professional organisation and autonomy have been disregarded. Of course, professionalisation does not have a single definition. It is sometimes conceived as a normative ideal state, corresponding to that of the traditional professions (medical doctors, architects and lawyers). Others argue that the terms 'semiprofession' or 'incomplete professionalisation' express a distinction between the traditional professions and those that do not to fully qualify as professional. Incomplete professions lack some of the requisite markers, for example, professional organisation and entry through academic qualification. This debate is important in that there are very real social and material implications in accepting the arguments for change implicit in dominant descriptions and discussion. There are questions over adopting specific abstract and generalised notions of professionalisation as the basis for that change. There are, for us, various points for
Editorial: Professionalisation – the struggle within
European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 2011
The professionalisation of the field of adult and continuing education has been a source of intense debate and controversy in the last few years, although this debate has been patchy over the European nations and perhaps more intense in some areas (cf. Nuissl & Lattke 2008; European Journal of Education 2009; Research voor Beleid 2010). Germany, for example, is one of the countries where the 'professionalisierung' has been on the political and academic agenda more than elsewhere (Gieseke, 2005). National and European Union policies argue strongly for an increase in the quality of adult and continuing education through professionalisation (cf. European Commission 2006; Research voor Beleid & PLATO 2008; Research voor Beleid 2010), and the European Commission identifies 'challenges' to be addressed by those who have a stake in adult learning (2006). The Commission plans action to address these challenges and proposes to manage the adult and continuing education terrain by encouraging nations across Europe to accept their arguments for quality improvement through adoption of their performance indicators and benchmarks. In this debate there has been a tendency to follow the lead of the European Commission and understand professionalisation in terms of functional markers of professionalism-increasing competence, quality and qualification. Other markers, such as those of academic qualification, professional organisation and autonomy have been disregarded. Of course, professionalisation does not have a single definition. It is sometimes conceived as a normative ideal state, corresponding to that of the traditional professions (medical doctors, architects and lawyers). Others argue that the terms 'semiprofession' or 'incomplete professionalisation' express a distinction between the traditional professions and those that do not to fully qualify as professional. Incomplete professions lack some of the requisite markers, for example, professional organisation and entry through academic qualification. This debate is important in that there are very real social and material implications in accepting the arguments for change implicit in dominant descriptions and discussion. There are questions over adopting specific abstract and generalised notions of professionalisation as the basis for that change. There are, for us, various points for
Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling
The sociological analysis of professional work has differentiated professionalism as a special means of organizing work and controlling workers. After clarifying the three concepts of profession, professionalization and professionalism, the paper continues with a section on professionalism, its history and current developments. The second section considers the main challenges to, and the third section the opportunities for, professionalism as an occupational value and for this category of professional practitioners and employees in the labour market.
Professions today: self-criticism and reflections for the future
Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas
This article revisits my 1977 work The Rise of Professionalism, outlining what I now believe was wrong in my book and what I think may still be useful in order to move on to some ideas about the present situation. One of the predominant questions is whether we should completely merge the study of professions with that of knowledge-based occupations. And if we accept that the age of experts has entirely supplanted the former public life of trustee professions, what consequences derive? What trends will future research need to consider? These tentative and incomplete ideas should be read as calls for further research.