Professional Occupations and Organizations

Abstract

This Element engages with fundamental questions concerning the future trajectory of professions as a distinct occupational category and of the formal organizations, which represent, employ or host professionals. It begins with a literature review that identifies a functionalist, power and institutionalist lens for the study of professional occupations and organizations. It then reviews a series of challenges which face the contemporary professions. Finally, the Element explores contemporary developments in the worlds of professions applying three units of analysis: macro (professional occupations and their associations), meso (professional organizations) and micro (professional workers).

Responding to imposed job redesign: The evolving dynamics of work and identity in restructuring professional identity

“…Our model suggests that when a job redesign is first introduced, professionals are likely to resist changing either their work or their identity. Professionals are autonomous workers and highly resistant to change (Currie et al, 2012;Reay et al, 2013); however, as professionals are increasingly employed in organizations, they face situations where they are required to work in different ways (Muzio et al, 2020). Professionals in our case mourned the loss of their previous work role in the following two ways.…”

“…However, identity parking is understandably difficult for professionals who strongly identify with their profession (Abbott, 1988;Freidson, 2001). With an increasing number of professionals employed in organisations and with 'institutional decay' in terms of professionals regulating their own profession (Muzio et al, 2019), professionals must find ways to adapt to employer required changes. Identity parking provides people with the opportunity to try out new ways of working, similar to findings by Reay et al (2013); however, our study provides additional insights into the process of putting new ideas into practice by showing how professionals can develop more positive evaluations of required new work if they have the opportunity to develop their own ways of accomplishing the new tasks.…”

“…This situation often occurs as part of professional advancement, such as when physicians learn to become specialists (Pratt et al, 2006). And yet, with increasing numbers of professionals employed in organizations, professionals may be required to adopt new work practices where they do not initially see value, and where the required new practices are not well aligned with their identity (Muzio et al, 2020;Reay et al, 2013). To better understand such situations of organizational change, we need to know more about how professional identity and professional work can become unbundled and potentially realigned.…”

Health Care Research and Organization Theory

“…Healthcare settings are characterized by a highly professionalized workforce, providing an excellent opportunity to examine professions and how they are maintained in organizational environments. Traditionally, the study of professions was considered part of the sociological literature, focusing on how professions develop and change over time (see Muzio et al, 2019 for a comprehensive review). As a prototypical profession, physicians and their role in organizations have been an ongoing focus for researchers.…”

Professional Values and Managerialist Practices: Values work by nurses in the emergency department

“…More recently, potential for values-based conflict between organization and profession has grown following the implementation of managerialist practices inside organizations (Kirkpatrick et al, 2005; Muzio, Kirkpatrick, & Aluack, 2020). These practices focus on structuring the work of professionals to promote organizational productivity and economic efficiency.…”