Professionals Became The Study Of Knowledge-Based Work

While the assigned article, “ “Golden Age,” Quiescence, and Revival: How the Sociology of Professionals became the Study of Knowledge-Based Work” discussed the study of professions and its decline and later resurgence under different fields, my takeaway was primarily new knowledge about the four central attributes that differentiate professions from occupations. Armed with a greater understanding of the classical definition of a profession, I believe that there is a marked difference between an occupation and a profession, and that traditional professions should be preserved, protected, and respected in society.

The article explained the definition of a profession and the four criteria that differentiate a profession from an occupation. While

Today’s mega corporations have replaced practicing professionals with a blended workforce that consists of a majority of occupational experts. In my own firm, I have seen cases where there are only a few professionals in a given discipline, surrounded by junior level professionals and occupational experts created by the firm to do the majority of the work. Without the education and licensures required of traditional professionals, these occupational experts are less expensive to the firm’s payroll. Using a combination of various standardized training tools, a repository of prior cases and research, and a select few professionals on staff to consult and sign off on major decisions and projects, firms are able to create entire departments of occupational experts and sell their services at a premium. Technology has made it very easy to create the modern occupational expert. Corporations invest millions of dollars into creating standardized training modules and information repositories to share and disseminate

To my knowledge, the job description of our project accountants requires only a high school education. The corporate office has developed standardized training for the line employees – the project accountants - that incorporates GAAP and SOX regulations, as well as standardized policies and procedures that involve various checks and balances. In addition to accomplishing separation of duties, different areas are split up in order to create occupational experts that specialize in singular accounting functions. When combined, the end result is a fully functioning accounting department that includes many experts in various areas, however very few educated and licensed