THE NATURE, EFFECT, SCOPE AND CHALLENGES OF PROFESSIONS IN 21ST CENTURY

What are the established ideas of professions, and how do 21st century circumstances challenge them? Thomas Clarke, Justine Rogers and Dimity Kingsford Smith

This stream of inquiry asks what does it mean to be a profession, and in particular, what is the meaning of professions in the 21st century. What can professions promise or do, and can it work? What can we learn from established professions for emerging ones? Later we will go on to inquire into the effects of entrepreneurship, globalisation and a culture of innovation on the ethics, conduct and relations of trust, typical of professional experience in the past.

Mapping differences in professional models and professional practice across the globe Justin O’Brien, George Gilligan and Alex Roberts

This project seeks to map the variations across the globe in which professional practice is carried on. What seems to work: conduct standards, training, ethical training or mentorship? Do more developed counties have higher professional standards? Or, has organisation size and globalisation submerged professions in corporations so that they struggle to survive in a distinctive and familiar cluster of structures and practices? Does professionalism thrive in small scale contexts, and struggle when scale becomes industrial as it has in many financial conglomerates? Our review of professional standards and practices world-wide hopes to answer these questions and more. 

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