The Concepts of Professional and Professionalism - Essay Example

The concepts of professional and professionalism 1. Introduction The concepts of professional and professionalism have undergone considerable sociological change, and as they have the function of the professional association has necessarily evolved with the changing times. The role of the professional association has changed based on a complex set of variables that include economics, information, technology, and changing worldviews on class theory and organizational behaviour. While some theorists may see some degradation in the status of the professional association, others see a shift in responsibility and accountability as a means to accommodate a change in scarce resources and a modernisation of demands made by a more educated and aware public. The professions have fallen under criticism for being elitist and protectionist in their efforts to act as a barrier to entry into the profession and a social shield for their members to protect their income as well as their reputation. Professional associations today are required to be more responsive, informed, ethical, and conscientious in their role of protecting the profession from unwarranted disgrace, while reinforcing the public's perception of integrity and honour within the professional association. Technology and specialization have resulted in the fragmentation of many professions. Membership in a professional association is most often based on specific skills and qualifications. Today, an association defines the occupation and categorizes the knowledge and skills according to the rigorous guidelines set by the state or the industry. The traditional model of the Professional Association as a limitation to entry into the profession has evolved into a post-modern taxonomic model at the cost of producing a student's well-rounded experience in teaching and learning. 1.1 History of the Professional Association The professional association (PA) has been a natural outgrowth from the antiquated system of apprenticeship that gained acceptance into craft, tradesmen, and occupational guilds of the middle ages. With the advent of the 16th century, more complex systems of economics, trade, specialization, and accountability emphasized the critical need of specific occupations to maintain the social order and provide for the govermentality of the nation state (Evetts, 2003, p.405). By the middle of the 19th century, professionals would form associations that would serve to differentiate their members from the excluded non-members. Scottish accountants were forming PAs under the Royal Charter system for the purpose of gaining legitimacy and providing a competitive economic advantage over non-chartered competitors (Lee, 1995, p.51). This same system would promote the professions of law, medicine, academics, and theocracy as elitist occupations that had the common requirements of a system of complex knowledge and difficult entry requirements. Recent history has led to a great deal of contention and disagreement over the definition of the professional and the role of the PA in modern society. PAs have sprung up in every conceivable specialty with little or no relevance to assuring the competence of its members or enhancing the profession. This is evidenced in the "deprofessionalisation of public sector workers, the commercialisation of the professional and the contrived relevance of professionalism" (Gleeson, Davies, & Wheeler, 2005, p.445). PAs can be seen as a self-regulating mechanism that serves the public by operating in an ethical culture and pro-actively policing the behaviour and fees of their own members (Millerson, 1964, p.161). However, according to Evetts (2003, p.404), "The process of occupational closure will result in the monopoly supply of the expertise and the service, and probably also in privileged access to salary and status". Technology, budget constraints, ideology, and globalisation have also contributed to the modern redefinition of the professional and the role of the PA. 2. Relevance of the Topic The public has an interest is assuring that professional associations act in the best interest of society and the public good. The political shift to the right in the UK during the 1980s generated greater budget constraints in the public sector, whilst generating some backlash against existing professional institutions as excessive and poorly managed (Ackroyd, Kirkpatrick, & Walker, 2007, p.9; Hanlon, 1998, p.46). PAs have a legitimate role to play and are in a unique position to understand the rapidly changing innovations and the requirements for their field. Professions such as medicine are in a position to dictate the competence required to practice in their given profession. Still, in light of scarce resources PAs should be discouraged from being the protector of power, status, and economic reward without due justification. The redefinition of professional in recent years has also mandated that the public have a better understanding of the role of the PA. PAs can give the public a sense of assurance, either rightly or wrongly, in regards to the competence and training of its members. According to Millerson (1964, p.209), "Perhaps half the associations add an apparently dubious qualification, an indifferent journal and extra mystification for everyone. Alternatively, the best make significant contributions". It is important for the public to be able to make the distinction between a PA whose function is to reduce competition and enhance their status, as opposed to the PA whose motivation is to improve the profession and maintain the respectability of its members. There is an additional relevance to the topic in the field of education and its impact on the curricula and the delivery of educational requirements. The growth of technical colleges, online schools, and correspondence courses has resulted in a dilution of the emphasis placed on higher education and has had the downsides of "emphasis on part-time education; continuation of uneven standards; stagnation of higher education; encouragement of worthless associations and correspondence colleges" (Millerson, 1964, p.209). How is the public to know which PAs are worthwhile and which are merely self-serving entities designed to garner artificial professional status? It is in the interest of the employers, institutions, the state, and the citizens to be able to understand the role of the PA and determine whether it is a self-serving protector of its status and salary advantages, or if it is motivated by providing the profession with a well rounded student. 3. Definitions The words professional, professionalism, and the professional association have worked their way into the popular culture and are often misused or taken as a broad and meaningless application of words. A professional is often loosely applied to indicate anyone who works in an occupation, which could include hairdresser or interior designer. For the purposes of this paper, a professional is one who has attained extensive knowledge, generally through higher education. Hanlon (1998, p.45) lists, but not limited to, "doctors, academics, teachers, accountants, lawyers, engineers, [and] civil servants". Professionals and professions "are essentially the knowledge based category of occupations which usually follow a period of tertiary education and vocational training and experience" (Evetts, 2003, p.397). In addition, the professional must have a certain degree of autonomy, meet rigorous entrance criteria, and practice an ethical code of responsible conduct, which may be written or implied (Robson, 2006, p.11: Millerson, 1964, p.149). Strauss (1963, p.8, 9) lists the four criteria as expertise, autonomy, responsibility, and commitment. A professional is additionally engaged in "dealing with work associated with the uncertainties of modern lives in risk societies" and "enabling customers and clients to deal with uncertainty" (Evetts, 2003, p.397). Though this is still a broad definition, these are the generally agreed upon attributes that are required to be labelled as a professional. A professional association is an organization whose members are professionals that share a common profession and has established standards that must be met and maintained to acquire and sustain membership. For the purpose of this paper the definition of a Professional Association will be Millerson's (1964, p.37) definition of the Qualifying Association, "which aims to examine and qualify individuals, wishing to practise in the subject". The Qualifying Association is in the unique position to be able to exert sufficient control over the profession, its entry requirements, credentials, and the expected level of professional behaviour as to be capable of significantly regulating the entry into the field. This barrier to entry can then be used to enhance the status, power, and perceived value of their work with the intention of increasing their economic rewards. A well rounded student experience in teaching and learning is a process whose learning outcome is highlighted by attributes that have traditionally been considered to be professional. It includes the depth of knowledge necessary for vocational competence at a high level. It encompasses mathematical, reading, and writing skills that are in excess of the minimum rudimentary requirements of the occupation. In addition, it fosters an environment that encourages reflective, analytical, and critical thinking. The well rounded student experience promotes value and moral structures that help develop a deeper understanding of the implications of history, culture, and social interactions. These are skills and behaviors that are transmitted from the institution through the teachers and produce a well-rounded student capable of working effectively in the professions. 4. Theoretical Perspectives The modern PAs are dynamic organizations that change over time and are in a constant state of flux. This has generated myriad sociological viewpoints in regards to the concept of the PA. Evetts (2003, p.401) reports that they have been examined as value systems, ideologies, discourses, and "powerful, privileged, self-interested monopolies, that were prominent in the neo-Weberian research literature on the 1970s and 1980s". Historically, PAs can be viewed as evolving through the sociological lenses of Marxist theory, neo-Weberian criticism, and the post-modern taxonomic model. When examined from these perspectives it becomes more apparent that the barriers to entry that existed in the early 20th century have been reduced. It will also show that educational patterns have shifted from the concept of a classical education to a process of continuing education and a process of career professional development. 4.1 Marxist Theory Marx's criticism of the capitalist system of professionalism is based on the theories of class, socio-economic status, stratification, and capital. A heritage of higher education, knowledge of entrance requirements and protocol, and a family history of higher education is a form of cultural capital that could eventually be traded for economic returns. It has been argued that, "the critical aspect of cultural capital is that it allows culture to be used as a resource that provides access to scarce rewards, is subject to monopolization, and, under certain conditions, may be transmitted from one generation to the next" (Lareau & Weininger, 2003, p.587). Status, class, and culture heavily influence educational endpoints and outcomes. Social standing, gender, and race further stratified this class. 4.2 Neo-Weberian Criticism Beginning in the 1970s and the emergence of the new right, the Weberian bureaucratic system and the welfare state came under attack. At the centre of the debate was the PA, which was criticised by both the right and the liberal left, though for different reasons. "For the right, the customer suffers from the exercise of monopoly power; for the left, professional mystification is a source of systematic disempowerment for clients, particularly of state bureaucracies" (Aldridge, 1996, p.178). Mintzberg (1983) argued that, "there is a danger that the discretion and autonomy possessed by professionals lead them to ignore the needs of their clients, customers and organization" (as cited in Lomas, 2003, p.110). The ages old argument over the public good and private markets continues to rage as education, services, and professions fall victim to new ideals and theories. 4.3 The Post-modern Taxonomic Model It has been established that just about any occupation intent on raising its status, and social value, can do so by legitimising its services through the establishment of a professional association. The danger here is that the public, employers, and institutions may use the associated credentials as a substitute for proven competence. Viewing the workforce through the taxonomic perspective defines the profession and PA as having a unique set of characteristics including robust education requirements, collective responsibility for the association's and profession's credibility, and codes of conduct (Watkins, 1999a, p39). Yet, "the conditions of trust, discretion and competence which historically have been deemed to be necessary for professional practice are continually being challenged or certainly changed" (Evetts, 2005, p.12). In this state of change, defining the role of the PA in modern society becomes problematic. In fact, there is no one role and no definitive meaning for a PA, except the common shared interest and goals. However, many modern PAs have been formed in the model of the traditional professions of medicine, law, and academics (Millerson, 1964, p.39). By analysing the structure, entry requirements, and goals of the modern PAs in these professions, as well as the forces that have impacted their change, a clearer picture will emerge of the degree of control to entry they exhibit as well as the characteristics of the students who enter. 5. Role of the Modern Professional Association The modern PA has altered many of the educational requirements to entry and in doing so has made education more accessible and less valuable. In many professions, autonomy has been reduced by outside influence to improve performance or because of public pressure. Making the educational requirements, and the expertise, available to more people reduces the monopolistic hold that the associations have previously held. Reductions in autonomy have served to reduce the power that the PA has and in turn has resulted in some deprofessionalisation. Managerialism has further eroded autonomy and placed the PA at the mercy of the public's scrutiny and their perception as elitist. The definition of 'professionalism' by managers has removed the control of the professional occupations from the practitioners and placed it in the hands of supervisors and quality control standards (Evetts, 2005, p.8). All these forces have reduced the power of the PA and have limited their status. The result has been to make the PA more accessible, but less professional. It has reduced the economic and cultural capital necessary to gain entry, and as a result has demanded and produced a student with a less well-rounded experience. 5.1 PAs Traditionally Created a Climate of Competence Traditionally, doctors and lawyers were held to high educational requirements, rigorous entrance examinations, and were held to a high degree of personal responsibility in their relationships with their clients. All these factors contributed to the profession's perceived competence and elevated their status (Millerson, 1964). Recent years have seen some erosion of these factors in the legal profession. In regards to educational requirements, until recently, "the professional bodies held considerable control over both content and approach" (Sherr & Webley, 2006, p.2). However, this control has been relinquished with the introduction of the Common Professional Exam (CPE), which has a lower threshold of education and degree requirements (Sherr & Webley, 2006, p.2). This has created a tension between the academic profession, whose importance has been diminished, and a legal profession hungry for new entrants. According to Sherr and Webley (2006, p.3), "If students can enter law more easily through other disciplines this would, in the long term, undermine the numbers going into law degrees and therefore the status of the law degree". While this has reduced the barriers to gaining a law degree for many students, it has also eroded the monopolistic hold as well as the public's perception of competence in the legal profession. It has further reduced the status of the legal academicians. The medical profession has faced a similar fate, but for the reasons of a loss of autonomy and personal responsibility. Public scrutiny and budget constraints during recent decades have dictated a call for the medical field to be more cost conscious. Hanlon (1998. p.53) contends that while organizations within the NHS and scientific research community once controlled the profession, "recent changes have created new professional groups or allowed previously excluded professionals into these organisations". This has diminished the exclusivity of medicine and created new opportunities to entry. In addition, reforms in the health care industry have resulted in a "not insignificant decline in the autonomy and dominance of British medicine" over the last three decades (Harrison & Ahmad, 2000, p.138). Medical practitioners generally view the management discourse of titles and enterprise as restrictive and have "expressed considerable dissatisfaction with limited resources, declining autonomy and the growing emphasis on financial (over clinical) goals" (Ackroyd, Kirkpatrick, & Walker, 2007, p.20). Loss of control over resources, a reduction in autonomy, and a shifting loyalty from client to economics has lowered the professional status of the medical profession and resulted in a loss of control over the entry into the field. While the legal profession has been demystified by the lowering of entrance exams and the medical PAs have seen a loss of autonomy, the field of academics has suffered from deprofessionalisation. The numerous routes into the field have blurred the professional boundaries, and the requirements are so varied that professional closure is very weak (Robson, 1998, p.588). PAs compete for members rather than being exclusionary. In higher education lecturers and professionals have lost control of the content and pedagogy. This loss of control has resulted in a homogenized standard that is a less full teaching and learning experience. Academics have suffered a lowering of status from two directions; the faculty has suffered from loss of control and the student has become a mass produced product (Lomas, 2003, p.102). Competency based programmes and degrees have made entry into the professions easier, but "cannot develop or assess higher-level cognitive skills" or "provide an integrated and holistic view of an individual's skills" (Watkins, 1999a, p.41). In addition, the expansion of managerialism in higher education has been focused on throughput and quality has been "predicated upon the need for restraint in public expenditure" (Lomas, 2003, p.106). Students have become a market commodity whose quality is measured in cost per student rather than academic competence. Lomas, (2003, p.110) contends that the "Recent developments in the higher education sector have elevated the application of managerialism whilst undermining professionalism". With this loss of professionalism comes a loss of status, elitism, and exclusivity at the cost of the teaching and learning experience necessary to produce a critical and well-rounded student. 5.2 Ethics, Conduct, and the Loss of Self-Regulation One of the requirements for a qualifying association (one which could control entry) is that it has an explicit or implicit code of conduct. These may be a formalized written set of guidelines or an unwritten set of rules that are based on societal and professional traditions, as is the norm for many PAs (Millerson, 1964). However, Goode (1969, p.292) warns that "Any operative code of ethics can be read either as a set of protections for the client or a coolly executed plan for serving the ends of the profession". Codes of conduct and ethics would be accompanied by a disciplinary system for the members that violated the code or in some cases worked outside fee schedules set by the PA. By the middle of the 20th century, this internalisation of behaviour and punishment caused Millerson (1964, p. 165) to argue that, "Associations show greatest concern over competition: firstly, in terms of finding work; secondly, with the method of payment. Very little emphasis appears to centre on service to clients, or on any duty to expose professional incompetence". Soliciting to displace a colleague's client either directly or through advertising was severely restricted by codes of ethics (Millerson, 1964, p.162-163). PAs were able to misapply the codes to enhance their market position, maintain their monopoly, and increase their status. All of these worked to maintain their control over the entry into the profession. PAs today are much more transparent, more highly scrutinised, and subject to greater outside regulation than in the past. Managerialism in higher education, as opposed to ethics, has implemented "line management, together with strategic planning, mission statements, objectives, action plans, and performance indicators" that have become a surrogate for individual accountability to the student (Lomas, 2003, p.107). These actions, along with non-traditional students, standardized outcome expectations, and homogenised quality standards have devalued the pedagogy of the professional academic. Compulsory benchmarking has further driven higher education into the arena of external control where the fundamental purpose is to inform the purchaser (IE the state) of educations comparable worth (Bowerman, Francis, Ball, & Fry, 2002, p.437). Traditionally, medicine was able to express a wide margin of personal responsibility to meet the demands and needs of the individual patient. However, it has been reported that medicine is moving away from individual responsibility and that, "doctors must adopt a managerial perspective in order to progress within their profession, and that clinical decisions must be justified by reference to external research findings" (Harrison & Ahmad, 2000, p.138). The doctor is no longer afforded the personal judgement that may improve the condition of the patient, without the consent of others. It has been traditionally held that professionalisation is the process of resolving morally conflicting issues (Arnold, 2002, p.508). This loss of individual responsibility has eroded the value and necessity of ethical behaviour and deprofessionalised the PAs (Evetts, 2005, p.8). The result has been a loss of power and prestige in the professions and PAs are less able to require the degree of social and cultural capital that was previously demanded for entry into the professions. 6. The Changing Face of Education No profession has felt the profound pressures of reform, political agendas, and social attitudes than education. Responsibility for education, its delivery systems, content, and requirements has moved from the classroom and in to a more public forum. PAs, such as in the legal profession, have moved away from dictating specific degree requirements in preference to academic standing, while social and cultural capital has become less valuable (Sherr & Webley, 2006, p.3-4). Online degrees, workplace learning, continued professional development, and lifelong learning have moved much of the responsibility from the university and into the workplace or PA. With increased specialisation and the proliferation of occupational PAs, the workplace has become the dominant agent in the initial training and ongoing development for many skills (Billett, 2002, p.28). PAs have embraced Continuing Professional Development (CPD) as a means of keeping professionals up to date as well as assuring that they meet current professional standards (Friedman & Phillips, 2004, p.361-362). Indeed, CPD has become a necessity in a world of rapidly changing technology and innovation. However, Friedman & Phillips (2004, p.374) warn that, "CPD cannot provide a demonstration of competence". Further Education (FE) has expanded and has become more mainstreamed due to reductions in public funding, requirements of the workplace, and a "demand for greater social inclusion of a wider cross-section of the population in post-compulsory education" (Gleeson, Davies, & Wheeler, 2005, p.448). These radical changes have not only altered the form of education, but have limited the students' well-rounded experience. Many of these programmes and formats, while worthwhile, are dedicated to specialised knowledge, limited expertise, the needs of the workplace, and economic concerns. They have little or no interest in providing the student with what has traditionally been considered a professional education. Social construct and discourse has labelled them as professionals, but may be falling short of the classic definition (Evetts, 2005, p.8). While someone with an online degree in a specialty occupation may call themselves a professional and gain legitimacy by the formation of a PA, the student may lack the insight and experience needed to exhibit a professional attitude or ethic of behaviour. Billett (2002, p.40) argues that, "social inclusiveness and strategic concerns for the environment, community, and professionalism of practice, may not be learned in workplaces". The relocation from the classroom to the workplace denies the student the face-to-face contact with academia and the rich classroom debates that may revolve around ethics and professionalism. The absence of these well rounded experiences limit the student's educational outcome to the basics necessary to function in an occupation. 7. The Impact of Technology The rapid evolution of technology and the growth of the instant availability of information have significantly impacted the role and goals of the PA. Technology has been both a blessing and a curse for all of the stakeholders. On the one hand, technology has made "monitoring the body of knowledge available through the professional association and then translating this knowledge into their own industry" available to almost everyone (Swan & Newell, 1995, p.851). The Internet and electronic databases have severed the monopolistic hold on technical knowledge that the traditional PAs once enjoyed. Online classes, the Internet, and company intranets have integrated lifelong education into the lives of many people that were previously excluded from the opportunity of an educational experience. However, technology based delivery systems deprive the student of the social and cultural interaction that becomes a part of a professional attitude. McNair (2005, p.456) states that students in medicine "are entering the workforce poorly prepared for the inevitable teamwork in which they will be required to engage". Many of the professional traits of a well-rounded student such as ethics, interaction, temperament, reflection, and synthesis cannot be acquired in isolation. They should be acquired in a richly rounded learning and teaching environment. Technology has also restructured the workplace in the aspect of the types of work performed, specialisation of services, and has redefined professional identity. Technology, in many cases, has restricted the need for direct client contact by remote services and electronic communication. From this perspective, the requirements of the professional have been altered over time and the demands of technology have shifted the requirements of professionalism. Workplace learning and reflective practice have been criticised for being personally rewarding for the individual, but overly technical and of little professional value (Billett, 2002, p.40). Practitioners can enter an occupation and gain the status of professional, though the label carries little status or relevance to the social value of being a professional. Specialisation can lead to fragmentation that splinters and weakens the PA. In the field of rehabilitation counselling, the fragmentation is so severe that people are allowed to move in and out of the profession simply because they are certified in one specialty (Irons, 1989, p.43). As more specialties are recognized as professionals, this problem will continue to persist. Information specialists, medical technologists, and social workers will all weaken the closure of PAs. Often, these specialties are built around a specific and complex technology, treatment model, or theory. In education, academicians from different backgrounds and disciplines may co-mingle under the auspices of a catch all label such as oceanography, and their professional identity is derived from their professional project, and not the discipline, institution, or PA that the person is associated with (Lamb & Davidson, 2005, p.19). Appointment to a scientific or technical project may be made due to political connections, social status, credentials, or specific expertise. As the power of PAs wane and the professional project becomes a social construct of professionalism, the classic definition of professional all but disappears and is replaced by an endlessly adjusted discourse in a constant state of flux. 8. Recommendations and Conclusion Professional Associations will naturally coalesce to serve their own self-interests. They will work through discourse and social construct to elevate their status and increase their perceived economic value. Employers, the public, and customers should become more aware of the value of the PA and the process of certification and membership into the associations that are represented. The true value of the PA is to disseminate information, technology, and to elevate the members' intellectual integrity. While it may seem that many PAs have reduced their status and power as exclusive organizations, they still possess considerable control over entry requirements and can act as a factor that limits membership to protect the market position. From another aspect, the recent proliferation of occupational associations has served to elevate several trades to the level of professionalism. While this can benefit the public and clients by raising the standards and conduct of the members, it is often an attempt to increase their perceived value and financial return. Labelling as a PA may give employers a false sense of competence and training as experienced in rehabilitation counselling and their myriad specialties. In conclusion, the traditional role of the PA as a gatekeeper to the profession and a protector of its members from public scrutiny had been greatly reduced in recent years. The monopolistic hold based on mystification and cultural capital needed for membership has eroded as we have seen in the legal profession. Medicine has been exposed to greater outside pressures and has lost much of their power due to a diminished autonomy. The blurring lines in education between higher education and further education have weakened occupational closure in the field of education. New delivery systems, online learning, continued professional development, and specialty courses have made the professions more accessible than ever. The loss of power, autonomy, and status has served to lower the threshold for PA membership and has made them less able to control entry into the professions. However, these same forces have also limited the students' education and experience. Many people entering the professions may lack the skills of critical thinking, the ability to analyse and problem solve, and the critical reading and writing skills necessary for success. Training is more often taking place in the workplace where these skills cannot be acquired. While the PA has moved from the Marist view of exclusive monopolies that were able to control the service and protect the economic place in the market, they have also reduced the standards required for membership. However, in many cases the PAs have taken this move due to external pressure of budget restraints and public scrutiny, and not of their own desire for restructuring. 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