Professionalization or professionalisation is a social process by which any trade or occupation transforms itself into a true "profession of the highest integrity and competence.
Critique of professionalization views overzealous versions driven by perverse incentives (essentially, a modern analogue of the negative aspects of guilds) as a form of credentialism.
The process of professionalization creates "a hierarchical divide between the knowledge-authorities in the professions and a deferential citizenry.
"[7] The origin of this process is said to have been with guilds during the Middle Ages, when they fought for exclusive rights to practice their trades as journeymen, and to engage unpaid apprentices.
[8] It has also been called credentialism, a reliance on formal qualifications or certifications to determine whether someone is permitted to undertake a task or to speak as an expert.
[9] It has also been defined as "excessive reliance on credentials, especially academic degrees, in determining hiring or promotion policies.".
[11] Professions also possess power,[12] prestige, high income, high social status and privileges;[13][14] their members soon come to comprise an elite class of people, cut off to some extent from the common people, and occupying an elevated station in society: "a narrow elite ... a hierarchical social system: a system of ranked orders and classes.
"[15] and abide more or less strictly with the established procedures and any agreed code of conduct, which is policed by professional bodies, for "accreditation assures conformity to general expectations of the profession.
Official associations and credentialing boards were created by the end of the 19th century, but initially membership was informal.
A code of ethics for professionals ensured that the public receiving the service was well served and set guidelines for their behavior in their professions.
This code also ensured that penalties were put in place for those who failed to meet up to the standards stated.
Possible causes include societal infrastructure, population density, social ideologies, and political mandates.
Competition and overcrowding (two or three decades after 1930) also put pressure on governments to establish a system of registration and requirements for those who wished to practice.
The act required their members to oversee medical education, keep track of the numbers of qualified practitioners, and regulate it for the government.
Along with the act, the qualified practitioners came to be known as the “officially recognized” healers, and as such had a competitive advantage in the job market.
Unlike the pre-industrial age, distinctions between say surgeons and physicians were greatly reduced, to replace a division of mostly consultants and general practitioners.
It led to more competition as their various field of expertise was not made clear and thus resulted in accusations of unprofessional conduct among each other to protect their own interests.
[22] In the second half of the 19th century, ethics were more severely monitored and disciplinary action against violators was put in effect.
Skepticism grew in the profession as fellow physicians watched each other for proper treatment of patients.
[23] The invention of the stethoscope in 1816 made auscultation and percussion regularly employed to help in the physical diagnosis process.
Society had a hard time accepting the procedures required for the routine physical examination and its necessity.
In Canada, the industrializing towns and cities of the Maritimes gave plenty of opportunities for their physicians to show their skills as emerging professionals.
For example, medical doctors were needed to inspect tenement housing, and sanitary conditions of factories and schools.
[23] Medical failures often hampered the reputation of these physicians which made their status as professionals harder to implement and make the general population accept them as this.
Provincial medical boards, allowance of registration for practice across all provinces, better schools, protection against the unlicensed physicians and unskilled persons, were some other actions taken.
It was a semi-autonomous profession because it could still require extended training and it formed body of specialized knowledge.
This was because the mining industry was afraid the act would alert business and the ability to hire whoever they wanted During times of rapid growth, regulations were added or altered to starve off over crowding.
For example, in Ontario Canada, for each different class of engineer certificate obtained, certain math skills must be met first.
Engineers were okay being classified "professionals of a corporation", because they were still mostly industry workers anyway and valued the ideology of no government intervention in the economy.
It struggles to this day to gain similar status as members of autonomous, self-regulating professions such as lawyers and physicians.