1.1 What is a Profession?

What does it mean to be in a “profession”?

This book is set in the context of a professional program – law. Law schools and legal education look different around the world, but in most programs students aim to practice in the profession of law. Students in law placements will be practicing under a supervisor whose chosen profession is law.

There is much written on the sociology of work and the sociology of the professions. John Sutton (building on the work of Parsons (1937), Abel and others) outlines two dominant theories of a profession: functionalist theory (Durkheim) and Weberian theory.

He sets out the three elements of a functionalist theory of the professions:

1) “the public interest is best served when professions are autonomous from other centers of power – that is, when each group of experts regulates its own affairs, and when practitioners operate independently of government or corporate bureaucracies.”

2) “professionals create pockets of community identity based on shared expertise and a moral orientation toward service. Professional practice is structured not in the form of hierarchy but in the form of collegial relations.”

3) “the only people capable of judging the competence of professional experts are other experts… [S]elf-regulation is a mechanism for defending professional autonomy”

In contrast, critics of this approach (citing to the work of Weber) present a more skeptical – or perhaps “realist” view; namely,

“workers in every occupation seek to maximize their prestige, incomes, and practical autonomy, and the most effective way to do that is by acting collectively to establish a monopoly over the work they do. Once workers achieve control over who enters their occupation, they also gain substantial power to regulate competition, wages, and the work process itself.”

John Sutton, Law/Society: Origins, Interactions, and Change (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc., 2012), 225-7.

In the context of medical education, Sylvia and Richard Cruess set out characteristics of a profession in their article “Professionalism must be taught” (1997) 315(7123) BMJ: British Medical Journal 1674 at 1675.

“Characteristics of a profession

• A profession possesses a discrete body of knowledge and skills over which its members have exclusive control
• The work based on this knowledge is controlled and organised by associations that are independent of both the state and capital
• The mandate of these associations is formalised by a variety of written documents, which include laws covering licensure and regulations granting authority
• Professional associations serve as the ultimate authorities on the personal, social, economic, cultural, and political affairs relating to their domains. They are expected to influence public policy and inform the public within their areas of expertise
• Admission to professions requires a long period of education and training, and the professions are responsible for determining the qualifications and (usually) the numbers of those to be educated for practice, the substance of their training, and the requirements for its completion
• Within the constraints of the law, the professions control admission to practice and the terms, conditions, and goals of the practice itself
• The professions are responsible for the ethical and technical criteria by which their members are evaluated, and they have the exclusive right and duty to discipline unprofessional conduct
• Individual members remain autonomous in their workplaces within the limits of rules and standards laid down by their associations and the legal structures within which they work
• It is expected that professionals will gain their livelihood by providing service to the public in the area of their expertise
• Members are expected to value performance above reward, and are held to higher standards of behaviour than are non-professionals.”

How do we understand “work” in a professional context?

In a clinic, externship, co-op, or articling experience, students are placed into a context where the primary source of learning comes from working; that is, engaging in tasks and duties that make up legal work. Most law placements also have a focus on learning. The degree to which each student’s placement focuses on work and learning (and the intersection of the two) varies significantly between student, supervisor, and program.

Work plays an important part of our daily lives. Sociologist Professor Tracey Adams studies the sociology of work. As she notes, “When work is defined in [a] broad sense, as human effort generating useful products and services, it should be evident that most adults spend most of our days – most of our lives – working.” She sets out several characteristics of work that demonstrate its impact:

1) “Work provides us with an income that allows us to support ourselves (we hope) and sometimes to support others…”

2) Our health and well-being are also impacted by our work… In this manner, our work can shape our physical and mental well-being.

3) Work affects our social relationships…

4) Work can be a source of prestige and/or stigma…

5) Work is often an important component of identity – who we think we are, or how others perceive us. Some of us define who we are through what we do…

6) “[W]ork can also shape our attitudes and outlook – the ways we think or feel about people, places, and things. That is, people in different occupations and those at different levels of organizational hierarchies express different attitudes concerning material success and achievements, politics, and social rights. “

“Working in Canada: A Sociological Exploration” (Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press, 2022), 4-5.