In The System of Professions Andrew Abbott explores central questions about the role of professions in modern life: Why should there be occupational groups controlling expert knowledge? Where and why did groups such as law and medicine achieve their power? Will professionalism spread throughout the occupational world? While most inquiries in this field study one profession at a time, Abbott here considers the system of professions as a whole. Through comparative and historical study of the professions in nineteenth- and twentieth-century England, France, and America, Abbott builds a general theory of how and why professionals evolve.
The librarians' traditional orientation to service, their qualifications and competence seemed no longer sufficient to ensure either user satisfaction or public benefit. The purpose of this book is to draw a picture, from the testimonies of professional librarians, manager librarians, politicians and administrators, of how public librarianship has changed its internal organisation, its relationship with the public and its professional practice and culture.
This book explores probation staff understandings of professionalism in the aftermath of the Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) reforms to services in England and Wales. Drawing on the sociology of the professions, this book offers an original and timely contribution to the criminal justice literature, examining the ways in which professionalism in probation has been reshaped and renegotiated in response to the market logic that has dominated public services in recent decades. The case of the TR reforms offers a useful platform for exploring broader shifts in understandings of professionalism. This book demonstrates the ways in which professionalism in probation can be understood as a discourse through which professionals are expected to be receptive to the demands of multiple stakeholders - offenders, taxpayers, the state, and, additionally, the market. It situates TR in a marketising continuum, the logical endpoint of a period of reform that has sought to discipline staff and reshape their understandings of professionalism. Written in a clear and direct style, this book is essential reading for researchers engaged in probation, rehabilitation, criminal justice, and organizational and professional studies.
How did the 1990s and early 21st century impact the evolution of the college presidency? The legitimacy and performance of higher education were called into question during this period, and respect for some of its leaders declined. An economic downturn and the concomitant change of student enrollment patterns have required presidents to lead in compromised conditions. The new emphasis on financial management and fund raising has opened the job of academic president to those with nontraditional backgrounds. These new presidents must gain legitimacy differently from those of more traditional backgrounds, who are struggling with their own legitimacy challenges. In order to understand legitimacy, Bornstein has spplied theory from the social sciences and higher education literature, proposing five factors that influence presidential legitimacy: Individual, Institutional, Environmental, Technical and Moral. She also proposes six threats to legitimacy: Lack of Cultural Fit, Management Incompetence, Misconduct, Erosion of Social Capital, Inattentiveness, and Gradiosity. In light of these threats, she suggests strategies for gaining and maintaining legitimacy. This book focuses on the impetus for leading change. Bornstein draws on numberouns sources for a theoretical perspective on the factors associated witht he president's role in creating legitimate change. She proposes a construct of four factors to implement legitimate change: Presidential Leadership, Governance, Social Capital, and Fund Raising. The concepts of transformational and transactional leadership are examined for their ability to facilitatle change. Bornstein finds their effectiveness limited and proposes "transformative leadership", a contextual approach that fits between transformational and transactional leadership in the conceptual continuum. Since presidents are often recruited on the basis of their academic experience, their legitimacy depends on securing resources to strengthen or transform their institution; fund raising is essential. Fina
This book guides the reader in discovering contemporary professions and the critical changes they have lived through after the post-industrial transformation of advanced capitalist societies. Two interrelated concepts are used to interpret what is happening in professional work: differentiation, namely the set of processes by which professions and professionalism have become more diverse, and heterogeneity, the outcomes of such processes. A novel analytical framework delves into differentiation and understands heterogeneity based on three dimensions: within (how professions are structured internally), between (how professions distinguish themselves from other occupations and from each other), and beyond (how professions govern societal changes and influence differentiation processes). The book presents a collection of studies covering different countries and professions to demonstrate the analytical potential of the within-between-beyond model. The conclusions show how neo-liberal professionalism is putting the very idea of collegiate professions at stake while exposing emerging professions to market risks. Lara Maestripieri is Ramon y Cajal Distinguished Researcher, IGOP/Department of Political Science and Public Right, Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona, Spain. Andrea Bellini is Assistant Professor of Sociology of Economic and Labour Processes, Department of Social and Economic Sciences (DiSSE), Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
Much has been written in academic and popular publications about organizational change. Topics have ranged from case studies to anecdotal stories of how leaders can change an organization. There is little written on changing the culture and vision of a profession at the macro level. This dissertation shows that one key to effecting change within a profession is to educate those at the entrant level and thereby effect change with the profession. Over time, these new entrants to the profession will rise to senior positions and be able to effect greater change through the hiring, training, and mentoring processes inherent in the professions and the organizations for which they work. One way to effect change in these entrants is through education in college and professional schools. This study is specifically focused on effecting change in the interdisciplinary field of engineering and public policy. Public policy involves countless infrastructure issues at all levels of government. Engineers are well-versed in dealing with the technical issues of infrastructure but their voice is often lacking at the policy level. Similarly, political scientists are well-versed in policy but are often lacking in a thorough understanding of the technical aspects of the policy. Through an introductory course in engineering and public policy, undergraduate students from the seemingly disparate fields of engineering and political science were placed in a common classroom and through lectures, writings, presentations, and guided discussions their attitudes on key areas were changed. Areas studied were professional interest, legitimacy, deference, the public policy process, and education outside of a specific field. Through the process of education, changes in each of these areas was possible. Further, the movement was towards making students in each discipline more open to the input, opinions, and attitudes of others, and specifically in shifting engineers toward a more positive view of the public policy process. Being exposed to these topics and to each other’s thought processes, changes in professional attitudes were made. While there is not a specific profession for which any research has been done, the military is used, in places, as an analog to the profession of engineering.
The discipline of public administration draws predominantly from political and organizational theory, but also from other social and behavioral sciences, philosophy, and even theology. This diversity results in conflicting prescriptions for the "proper" administrative role. So, how are those new to public administration to know which ideas are "legitimate"? Rather than accepting conventional arguments for administrative legitimacy through delegated constitutional authority or expertise, Logics of Legitimacy: Three Traditions of Public Administration Praxis does not assume that any one approach to professionalism is accepted by all scholars, practitioners, citizens, or elected representatives. Instead, it offers a framework for public administration theory and practice that fully includes the citizen as a political actor alongside elected representatives and administrators. This framework: Considers both direct and representative forms of democracy Examines concepts from both political and organizational theory, addressing many of the key questions in public administration Examines past and present approaches to administration Presents a conceptual lens for understanding public administration theory and explaining different administrative roles and practices The framework for public administration theory and practice is presented in three traditions of main prescriptions for practice: Constitutional (the bureaucrat), Discretionary (the entrepreneur), and Collaborative (the steward). This book is appropriate for use in graduate-level courses that explore the philosophical, historical, and intellectual foundations of public administration. Upon qualified course adoption, instructors will gain access to a course outline and corresponding lecture slides.
The International Handbook of Research in Professional and Practice-based Learning discusses what constitutes professionalism, examines the concepts and practices of professional and practice-based learning, including associated research traditions and educational provisions. It also explores professional learning in institutions of higher and vocational education as well the practice settings where professionals work and learn, focusing on both initial and ongoing development and how that learning is assessed. The Handbook features research from expert contributors in education, studies of the professions, and accounts of research methodologies from a range of informing disciplines. It is organized in two parts. The first part sets out conceptions of professionalism at work, how professions, work and learning can be understood, and examines the kinds of institutional practices organized for developing occupational capacities. The second part focuses on procedural issues associated with learning for and through professional practice, and how assessment of professional capacities might progress. The key premise of this Handbook is that during both initial and ongoing professional development, individual learning processes are influenced and shaped through their professional environment and practices. Moreover, in turn, the practice and processes of learning through practice are shaped by their development, all of which are required to be understood through a range of research orientations, methods and findings. This Handbook will appeal to academics working in fields of professional practice, including those who are concerned about developing these capacities in their students. In addition, students and research students will also find this Handbook a key reference resource to the field.
This book aims to explore a number of connected themes relating to compliance, legitimacy and trust in different areas of criminal justice and socio-legal regulation.
