Profession

A profession is a specialized work function within society, generally performed by a professional. For the monastic sense, see Profession (religious).

Definitions

In a more restrictive sense, profession often refers specifically to fields that require extensive study and mastery of specialized knowledge, such as law, medicine, finance, the military, nursing, the clergy or engineering. In this sense, profession is contrasted with occupation, which refers generally to the nature of a person's employment. Indeed, the word comes from profess, such as a professor would lecture on his or her area of experise. (Classically, there were three only professions in that sense - the church, medicine and law.)

Related Topics:
Study - Knowledge - Law - Medicine - Finance - Military - Nursing - Clergy - Engineering - Employment - Professor - Church

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Terms such as occupational serve the purpose of upholding the distinction between professionals and others who for their living are dependent on their work rather than on their economic wealth. Such usage avoids the confusion caused by vague usage of the words professional and professionalism to express prestige, approval or a sense of exclusivity.

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Sociologists have been known to define professionalism as self-defined power elitism or as organised exclusivity along guild lines, much in the sense that George Bernard Shaw characterised all professions as "conspiracies against the laity". Sociological definitions of professionalism involving checklists of perceived or claimed characteristics (altruism, self-governance, esoteric knowledge, special skills, ethical behavior, etc) became less fashionable in the late 20th century.

Related Topics:
Sociologist - Power - Guild - George Bernard Shaw - Altruism - Knowledge - Ethical

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The distinction between laypersons and professionals denotes the critical aspect of more liberal definitions of a profession: being paid for the work. As such, ball players and movie makers may be professionals, although their work does not fit the strict definition offered above.

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