Characteristic of a profession
Profession
Definition:
A profession is a group of people in a learned occupation, the members of which agree to abide by specified rules of conduct when practicing the profession.
There are many professions and they are controlled to varying degrees by professional, regulatory or governmental bodies. Typical professions are medicine, dentistry, law, engineering, architecture, social work, nursing, accountancy. Most definitions of profession identify ‘working for the public good’ as among the characteristics of the profession.
The terms ‘profession’ (the area of study and work) and ‘professional body’ (the organisation that regulates or has oversight of the profession) sometimes merge in popular usage.
The Australian Council of Professions (2004) defines ‘a profession’ as follows:
A profession is a disciplined group of individuals who adhere to ethical standards and uphold themselves to, 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 exercise this knowledge and these skills in the interest of others.
It is inherent in the definition of a profession that a code of ethics governs the activities of each professional. Such codes require behaviour and practice beyond the personal moral
obligations of an individual. They define and demand high standards of behaviour in respect to the services provided to the public and in dealing with professional colleagues. Further, these codes are enforced by the profession and are acknowledged and accepted by the community.
Boone states:
Professions are based on scientific and philosophical facts acquired through academic effort. Individuals who enter a profession do so for reasons that distinguish them from other work or vocations. They understand that their work renders a unique public service with a scientific or philosophical basis and/or body of knowledge that requires an extended period of academic and hands-on preparation. Professions are also based on specialized skills necessary for the professional to perform the public service.
Southern Illinois University (2004) proposes that professions have the following common characteristics:
· · Associated with a profession is a great body of special knowledge.
· · Preparation for a profession includes training in applying that knowledge.
· · The standards of a profession are maintained at a high level through the force of organization or concerted opinion.
· · Each member of a profession recognizes his or her responsibilities to the public over and above responsibilities to clients or to other members of the profession.
This matches the earlier views of Burbules and Densmore (1991) identify the characteristics of a profession as:
professional autonomy; a clearly defined, highly developed, specialized, and theoretical knowledge base; control of training, certification, and licensing of new entrants; self-governing and self-policing authority, especially with regard to professional ethics; and a commitment to public service.
Pratte and Rury (1991), focus more on status and remuneration in their list of the characteristics of a profession:
remuneration, social status, autonomous or authoritative power, and service.
Characteristic of a profession
A profession arises when any trade or occupation transforms itself through "the development of formal qualifications based upon education and examinations, the emergence of regulatory bodies with powers to admit and discipline members, and some degree of monopoly rights."
The process by which a profession arises from a trade or occupation is often termed professionalization and has been described as one, "starting with the establishment of the activity as a full-time occupation, progressing through the establishment of training schools and university links, the formation of a professional organization, and the struggle to gain legal support for exclusion, and culminating with the formation of a formal code of ethics.
1. Regulation
Regulation enforced by statute distinguishes a profession from other occupations represented by trade groups who aspire to professional status for their members. In all countries, professions have their regulatory or professional bodies, whose function is to define, promote, oversee, support and regulate the affairs of its members. For some professions there may be several such bodies.
2. Autonomy
Professions tend to be autonomous, which means they have a high degree of control of their own affairs: "professionals are autonomous insofar as they can make independent judgments about their work" This usually means "the freedom to exercise their professional judgement." However, it has other meanings. "Professional autonomy is often described as a claim of professionals that has to serve primarily their own interests...this professional autonomy can only be maintained if members of the profession subject their activities and decisions to a critical evaluation by other members of the profession "The concept of autonomy can therefore be seen to embrace not only judgement, but also self-interest and a continuous process of critical evaluation of ethics and procedures from within the profession itself.
3. Status and prestige
Professions enjoy a high social status, regard and respect [conferred upon them by society. This high esteem arises primarily from the higher social function of their work, which is regarded as vital to society as a whole and thus of having a special and valuable nature. All professions involve technical,
specialized and highly skilled work often referred to as "professional expertise." Training
for this work involves obtaining degrees and professional qualifications (see Licensure) without which entry to the profession is barred (occupational closure). Training also requires regular updating of skills.
4. Power
All professions have power. This power is used to control its own members, and also its area of expertise and interests. A profession tends to dominate, police and protect its area of expertise and the conduct of its members, and exercises a dominating influence over its entire field which means that professions can act monopolist, rebuffing competition from main trades and occupations, as well as subordinating and controlling lesser but related trades. A profession is characterized by the power and high prestige it has in society as a whole. It is the power, prestige and value that society confers upon a profession that more clearly define it. This is why Judges, Lawyers, Clerics, and Medical personnel enjoy this high social status and are regarded as true professionals
Some more Characteristic of a profession by Bob Kizlik
I. Professions are occupationally related social institutions established and maintained as a means of providing essential services to the individual and the society.
2. Each profession is concerned with an identified area of need or function (for example, maintenance of physical and emotional health, preservation of rights and freedom, enhancing the opportunity to learn).
3. The profession collectively, and the professional individually, possesses a body of knowledge and a list of behaviors and skills (professional culture) needed in the practice of the profession; such knowledge, behavior, and skills normally are not possessed by the nonprofessional.
4. Members of the profession are involved in decision making in the service of the client. These decisions are made in accordance with the most valid knowledge available, against a background of principles and theories, and within the context of possible impact on other related conditions or decisions.
5. The profession is based on one or more undergirding disciplines from which it builds its own applied knowledge and skills.
6. The profession is organized into one or more professional associations, which, within broad limits of social accountability, are granted autonomy in control of the actual work of the profession and the conditions that surround it (admissions, educational standards, examination and licensing, career line, ethical and performance standards, professional discipline).
7. The profession has agreed-upon performance standards for admission to the profession and for continuance within it.
8. Preparation for and introduction into the profession is provided through a protracted preparation program, usually in a professional school on a college or university campus.
9. There is a high level of public trust and confidence in the profession and in individual practitioners, based upon the profession's demonstrated capacity to provide service clearly beyond that which would otherwise be available.
10. Individual practitioners are characterized by a strong service motivation and lifetime commitment to competence.
11. Authority to practice in any individual case derives from the client or the employing organization; accountability for the competence of professional practice within the particular case is to the profession itself.
12. There is relative freedom from direct on-the-job supervision and from direct public evaluation of the individual practitioner. The professional accepts responsibility in the name of his or her profession and is accountable through his or her profession to the society.
Websites: www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.8670
Profession
Definition:
A profession is a group of people in a learned occupation, the members of which agree to abide by specified rules of conduct when practicing the profession.
There are many professions and they are controlled to varying degrees by professional, regulatory or governmental bodies. Typical professions are medicine, dentistry, law, engineering, architecture, social work, nursing, accountancy. Most definitions of profession identify ‘working for the public good’ as among the characteristics of the profession.
The terms ‘profession’ (the area of study and work) and ‘professional body’ (the organisation that regulates or has oversight of the profession) sometimes merge in popular usage.
The Australian Council of Professions (2004) defines ‘a profession’ as follows:
A profession is a disciplined group of individuals who adhere to ethical standards and uphold themselves to, 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 exercise this knowledge and these skills in the interest of others.
It is inherent in the definition of a profession that a code of ethics governs the activities of each professional. Such codes require behaviour and practice beyond the personal moral
obligations of an individual. They define and demand high standards of behaviour in respect to the services provided to the public and in dealing with professional colleagues. Further, these codes are enforced by the profession and are acknowledged and accepted by the community.
Boone states:
Professions are based on scientific and philosophical facts acquired through academic effort. Individuals who enter a profession do so for reasons that distinguish them from other work or vocations. They understand that their work renders a unique public service with a scientific or philosophical basis and/or body of knowledge that requires an extended period of academic and hands-on preparation. Professions are also based on specialized skills necessary for the professional to perform the public service.
Southern Illinois University (2004) proposes that professions have the following common characteristics:
· · Associated with a profession is a great body of special knowledge.
· · Preparation for a profession includes training in applying that knowledge.
· · The standards of a profession are maintained at a high level through the force of organization or concerted opinion.
· · Each member of a profession recognizes his or her responsibilities to the public over and above responsibilities to clients or to other members of the profession.
This matches the earlier views of Burbules and Densmore (1991) identify the characteristics of a profession as:
professional autonomy; a clearly defined, highly developed, specialized, and theoretical knowledge base; control of training, certification, and licensing of new entrants; self-governing and self-policing authority, especially with regard to professional ethics; and a commitment to public service.
Pratte and Rury (1991), focus more on status and remuneration in their list of the characteristics of a profession:
remuneration, social status, autonomous or authoritative power, and service.
Characteristic of a profession
A profession arises when any trade or occupation transforms itself through "the development of formal qualifications based upon education and examinations, the emergence of regulatory bodies with powers to admit and discipline members, and some degree of monopoly rights."
The process by which a profession arises from a trade or occupation is often termed professionalization and has been described as one, "starting with the establishment of the activity as a full-time occupation, progressing through the establishment of training schools and university links, the formation of a professional organization, and the struggle to gain legal support for exclusion, and culminating with the formation of a formal code of ethics.
1. Regulation
Regulation enforced by statute distinguishes a profession from other occupations represented by trade groups who aspire to professional status for their members. In all countries, professions have their regulatory or professional bodies, whose function is to define, promote, oversee, support and regulate the affairs of its members. For some professions there may be several such bodies.
2. Autonomy
Professions tend to be autonomous, which means they have a high degree of control of their own affairs: "professionals are autonomous insofar as they can make independent judgments about their work" This usually means "the freedom to exercise their professional judgement." However, it has other meanings. "Professional autonomy is often described as a claim of professionals that has to serve primarily their own interests...this professional autonomy can only be maintained if members of the profession subject their activities and decisions to a critical evaluation by other members of the profession "The concept of autonomy can therefore be seen to embrace not only judgement, but also self-interest and a continuous process of critical evaluation of ethics and procedures from within the profession itself.
3. Status and prestige
Professions enjoy a high social status, regard and respect [conferred upon them by society. This high esteem arises primarily from the higher social function of their work, which is regarded as vital to society as a whole and thus of having a special and valuable nature. All professions involve technical,
specialized and highly skilled work often referred to as "professional expertise." Training
for this work involves obtaining degrees and professional qualifications (see Licensure) without which entry to the profession is barred (occupational closure). Training also requires regular updating of skills.
4. Power
All professions have power. This power is used to control its own members, and also its area of expertise and interests. A profession tends to dominate, police and protect its area of expertise and the conduct of its members, and exercises a dominating influence over its entire field which means that professions can act monopolist, rebuffing competition from main trades and occupations, as well as subordinating and controlling lesser but related trades. A profession is characterized by the power and high prestige it has in society as a whole. It is the power, prestige and value that society confers upon a profession that more clearly define it. This is why Judges, Lawyers, Clerics, and Medical personnel enjoy this high social status and are regarded as true professionals
Some more Characteristic of a profession by Bob Kizlik
I. Professions are occupationally related social institutions established and maintained as a means of providing essential services to the individual and the society.
2. Each profession is concerned with an identified area of need or function (for example, maintenance of physical and emotional health, preservation of rights and freedom, enhancing the opportunity to learn).
3. The profession collectively, and the professional individually, possesses a body of knowledge and a list of behaviors and skills (professional culture) needed in the practice of the profession; such knowledge, behavior, and skills normally are not possessed by the nonprofessional.
4. Members of the profession are involved in decision making in the service of the client. These decisions are made in accordance with the most valid knowledge available, against a background of principles and theories, and within the context of possible impact on other related conditions or decisions.
5. The profession is based on one or more undergirding disciplines from which it builds its own applied knowledge and skills.
6. The profession is organized into one or more professional associations, which, within broad limits of social accountability, are granted autonomy in control of the actual work of the profession and the conditions that surround it (admissions, educational standards, examination and licensing, career line, ethical and performance standards, professional discipline).
7. The profession has agreed-upon performance standards for admission to the profession and for continuance within it.
8. Preparation for and introduction into the profession is provided through a protracted preparation program, usually in a professional school on a college or university campus.
9. There is a high level of public trust and confidence in the profession and in individual practitioners, based upon the profession's demonstrated capacity to provide service clearly beyond that which would otherwise be available.
10. Individual practitioners are characterized by a strong service motivation and lifetime commitment to competence.
11. Authority to practice in any individual case derives from the client or the employing organization; accountability for the competence of professional practice within the particular case is to the profession itself.
12. There is relative freedom from direct on-the-job supervision and from direct public evaluation of the individual practitioner. The professional accepts responsibility in the name of his or her profession and is accountable through his or her profession to the society.
Websites: www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.8670
1 comment:
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Iram gul
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