The purpose of this article is to provide information describing the characteristics of a profession. The objective is to present documentation and an educated opinion of how these characteristics may relate to instructional technology and distance education (ITDE). A brief look at the history of ITDE leads us to James Finn and his six…

This article proposes the expansion of the definition and scope of a "profession" to explicitly incorporate issues of ethics, equity, environment and philanthropy to meet the demands of the 21st century. Governing bodies (professional designations, certificates and licensures) that develop and advance fields of study are tasked with…

The assumed impossibility of forming a widely accepted view of social work is explained on the one hand by the contesting nature of social work definitions and on the other by a loss of professional identity since the 1960s. The aim of the article is to elaborate a third explanation based on the hypothesis that social workers adhere to their…

Purpose: The focus on innovation as a foundational element of enhanced organisational performance has led to the promoting and valuing of greater levels of employee participation in innovation processes. An emergent concept of employee-driven innovation could be argued to have hindered understandings of the creative and transformative nature of…

Abraham Flexner contended that "something more than a degree or claim" is needed to make a profession. He further asserted that the definitions of a profession require recasting over time. This article critically considers recasting licensing as something more for social work. Analysis of past and present discourse on licensing in social…

Efforts to professionalize counseling practice have yielded extraordinary benefits to counselors. However, professionalization has also caused counselors to adopt strict definitions of their education, practices, and ethics. In order to combat the ideological insularity brought on by professionalization, several marginalized ideas are considered.…

It has been generally accepted that teaching does not meet the criteria of a profession, at least as exemplified by the more mature professions of medicine and law (Abbott, 1988; Darling-Hammond & Youngs, 2002; Etzioni, 1969; Howsam, Corrigan, Denemark, & Nash, 1976). Teaching is most often referred to as a semiprofession; Myers's (2008 [this…

This booklet, which is designed to help individuals match themselves with jobs, discusses the common skills, abilities, and habits all employees need to bring to a job, as well as occupation-specific characteristics and skills. The first half of the booklet is a discussion of considerations in choosing a career that covers the following topics:…

This document, which contains information relevant to individuals planning their careers, employers, human resource planners, and training institutions, examines the skill needs of the South African labor market in 1998-2003. The preface presents a brief overview of the factors that have contributed to the high levels of unemployment and patterns…

The rising wage inequality in U.S. urban labor markets during the 1980s was examined in a study of 20 metropolitan area labor markets. The study's perspective differs from the prevailing perspective on the problem in three ways: (1) it focuses on changes in the wage structure in a sample of local labor markets; (2) it examines changes in the…

Presents ideas which reflect author's search for the meaning of professionalism. Provides working definition of professionalism, examines significant progress counselors have made in attaining professional status, and proposes challenges for counselors to consider in examining their own professionalism. (NB)

Meeting held in Nice, France, May 23-24, 1972. (VM)

In the midst of unprecedented knowledge generation in the field of education, the definition of learning disabilities and the methods used for its identification have essentially remained the same for nearly 30 years. Working from a sociohistorical perspective, the authors' distinct professional positions within education (university academic,…

Definitions of social work that describe what social workers do often become unwieldy because social workers do so many different things. Here is a concise definition built around the common goals that unify the profession's diverse fields and specialties and make them social work. (Author)

Exhorts 1994 University of San Diego graduates to invest their talents in serving the common good, whatever their chosen professions. Professionals have the capacity for welcoming complexity, acquiring information without being overwhelmed by it, planning without being controlled by their plans, discovering relationships, and creating meaning from…