ENGR 201Final Exam Review Condensed Notes and Quiz
Concordia University
What is a Profession?
Lesson 1
Professions in the past
Ancient World
• Professions did not yet exist; lawyers and doctors were not organized professions
• A Professional was someone who “professed” his/her faith (religious background to
theword)
Medieval Europe
• Two types of associations present: Religious Order and Secular Guilds
• Guilds are exclusive organizations (authorized by the king, clergy or city hall) to preserve
the rights and privileges of members
• Two types of guilds present: Merchant Guilds protect traders and Craft Guilds to
protect craftsman (i.e. bakers, cobblers, carpenters etc.)
• Guilds operated in a feudal society thus being in a guild provided an upward
movementin status and wealth
• Feudalism: the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service while
the peasants were obliged to live on their lord's land and give him homage, labor, and a
share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection
• Organizational Level of Guilds:
1. Guilds
2. Craftsman (Business Owner)
3. Apprentice (Works for Craftsman to Learn the Craft Unpaid)
4. Journeyman (Paid Helper for the Craftsman)
Responsibilities Services
- Restrict Poor Workmanship - Health insurance
- Forbade Advertising -Supported Families After Death of a Worker
- Regulated Prices -Made Donations To The City
- Exerted Monopoly Control -Served As Councillors
- Limited The Number Of Members -Constructed Public Buildings
1
,Post-Industrial Society
• Shifts from manufacturing-based massed production service oriented
economy(finance, real estate, supply chain management)
• 3 types of workers: Business Entrepreneur, White Collar, Blue collar
2
, • Business Entrepreneur: Someone who owns a business that generates revenue
throughhuman, financial or physical capital
• White Collar Worker: Highly paid workers that do administrative or technical work.
• Blue Collar Worker: Low skilled workers that in general do manual labor that does not
require high skill training (Paid hourly)
• Being a professional brings high social status because society values their skill and
expertise in the betterment of society
Attributes of a Modern Professional
1. Skill: Individuals are required to undergo an extensive and formal education usually
atthe university level which teaches varied and intellectually demanding techniques
and practices. Many of the techniques require science, technology or mathematics; it
is therefore not enough to have an individual serve as an apprentice for practical
training.
2. Judgement: Since the work is varied and not routine work, it cannot be mechanized. The
variation in the requirements of work means that individuals as part of their work have
to make choices. These choices while based on the training they receive, have to be
made bythe understanding of the individual.
3. Membership in a Self-Governing Society: Modern professionals need to be members of
self-governing professional associations. These associations are usually established
by the government to govern the actions of professionals to ensure that they practice
theirprofession to further public welfare.
4. Advancing Public Welfare: If they practice their profession in an ethical fashion,
professionals make a significant contribution to improving the welfare of citizens.
Conversely, malpractice or the unethical practice of the profession can have a
significantly adverse effect on citizens and society. For example, consider the effect that
bad construction in a bridge could have on the general population that relies on the
bridgeto meet their transportation needs.
There are two kinds of professionals: independent professionals and employed professionals.
• Independent professionals as the name indicates work independently and are paid
directly by the client for the service provided by the professional. As a result of
theirindependence in employment these professionals have much greater
autonomy in their actions.
• Employed professionals: usually hired by a company or organization. In return for a
monthly salary, the professional provides their services to their employer. It is the
employer that usually sets the terms of their work and so the professional has much
less autonomy in their actions.
3
, Professional System
A formalized organization that links professionals with society they operate within. The
key objective of the professional system is to ensure that professions are organized to
be accountable to society. Professional associations composed of professionals
practicing thesame profession are a key aspect of the linkage between professionals and
society.
1. Most professional systems have formal rules (sometime laws) that govern
theactions of individual professionals.
2. Professionals become members of a profession when they receive a license to
practice the profession. The professional license, just like a driver’s license,
allows the individual to practice that profession.
3. Breaking formal rules can result in penalties and depending on the nature of
violation even loss of license. It is through the licensing system that the actions of
professionals are governed by the government.
Professional values are those that guide the nature of professional relations with clients,
employers, and fellow professionals. This includes aspects such as values of honesty, integrity,
loyalty and responsibility.
Professional values relate to societal leadership that relate to how the professional should
relateto the values that underpin a particular society or nation they work within. These relate
to such aspects as law, prejudice, and safety.
According to the OIQ four values derived from its social mission Competence, Ethical Conduct,
Responsibility, Social Commitment
Mixing personal and professional values is considered a “conflict of interest” and should
beavoided. For example, wearing a religious symbol is not usually considered in
appropriate display of personal values, but giving jobs to people of the same faith could
be considered conflict of interest or discrimination, depending on the professional system.
Possible Questions
The four attributes of a profession are skill, judgement, membership in a publicly governed
society, welfare to the public. T or F
A waiter is a blue collar worker.
T or F
4
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