Abbott … was less interested in the ethical and the moral dimensions of professionalism. But for many of us who are professionals in some fashion, the moral dimension is extremely important.

Season 5, Episode 2 — and Sidecast for Talking About Organizations, Episode 67, “Professions and Professionalism — Abbott“

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There has been a lot of commentary talking about how experts and expertise are being marginalized in the present society, following a trend that has been with us for decades, according to some. The TAOP episode on Andrew Abbott’s book, The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor, brought attention to this concern because of contemporary challenges facing professions due to expanses of technology, growing distrust toward professional workers in some areas, and media coverage; all of which are challenging the autonomy and status of professionals and their work. We used public health as an example, but it is far from alone.

I expressed some concerns indirectly during the episode that the criticisms against professions and professionalism on the one hand, and against the ignorant or unknowing critics on the other, are oversimplified. There are rational and logical reasons why professions are under this pressure, and in this episode I offer three. First is unprofessional conduct or accumulation of professional mistakes that erodes trust. Second is the laicization or democratization of expert knowledge that causes nonprofessionals to question the need for experts. And the third, and the most disconcerting, is anti-professionalism whereby the honor associated with professional work is eroded, replaced by bureaucratization and disconnection with the client.

At the center is the notion of honor in professional work, something that Abbott does not focus on in his framework of interprofessional competition. But ‘honor’ and what it means to do professional work is very important for understanding both how professions are perceived and what they can potentially do about it to restore trust from society.

Works Referenced:

Abbott, A. (1989). The system of professions: An essay on the division of expert labor. University of Chicago press.

Fish, S. (1985). Anti-professionalism. Cardozo L. Rev., 7, 645.

Woods, D. (1986). The rising tide of anti-professionalism. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 134(7), 697.

Related Reflections on Management Episodes:

3-2. On Counternarratives: Alternative Stories about the Organization