A semiprofession is an occupation that requires advanced knowledge and skills but is not widely regarded as a true

profession A profession is a field of Work (human activity), work that has been successfully professionalized. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, professionals, who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are ...

. Traditional examples of semiprofessions include

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

librarianship Library and information science (LIS)Library and Information Sciences is the name used in the Dewey Decimal Classification for class 20 from the 18th edition (1971) to the 22nd edition (2003). are two interconnected disciplines that deal with inf ...

teaching Teaching is the practice implemented by a ''teacher'' aimed at transmitting skills (knowledge, know-how, and interpersonal skills) to a learner, a student, or any other audience in the of an educational institution. Teaching is closely related ...

and

nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

. Such fields often have less clear-cut barriers to entry than traditional professions like

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

, and their practitioners often lack the degree of control over their own work that has been traditionally associated with professionals such as doctors and lawyers. In addition, semiprofessions tend to have been historically identified as "women's work," which has exacerbated prejudices against regarding them as "true" professions regardless of the amount of skill involved. In most semiprofessional fields, efforts at

professionalization Professionalization or professionalisation is a social process by which any tradesman, trade or occupation transforms itself into a true "profession of the highest integrity and competence." The definition of what constitutes a profession is often ...

are ongoing. The question of whether nursing is properly considered a semiprofession in the present day is hotly debated. Arguments in favor of continuing to regard nursing as a semiprofession have included the toleration of part-time work and nursing's traditional subordination to medicine in making treatment decisions. Arguments in favor of regarding nursing as a profession, rather than a semiprofession, include the extensive postsecondary training requirements, formal certification as a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a healthcare professional who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized ...

, self-regulation, and the existence of formal codes of professional ethics.

AACTE list

One group especially tied to this term, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), published a list of twelve checkpoints they believe help define a semiprofession.Howsam, RB et al (1976).
"Educating a Profession"ERIC - Institute of Education Science
/ref> # Lower in occupational status # Shorter

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

periods # Lack of societal acceptance that the nature of the service and/or the level of expertise justifies the autonomy that is granted to the professions # A less specialized and less highly developed body of

knowledge Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...

and

skills A skill is the learned or innate ability Abilities are powers an agent has to perform various Action (philosophy), actions. They include common abilities, like walking, and rare abilities, like performing a double backflip. Abilities are in ...

# Markedly less emphasis on theoretical and conceptual bases for practice # A tendency for the individual to identify with the

employment Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

institution An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

more and with the profession less # More subject to administrative and

supervisor A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position and role that is primarily based on authority over la ...

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

and control # Less

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

in professional

decision making In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be either ra ...

, with accountability to superiors rather than to the profession #

Management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

by persons who have themselves been prepared and served in that semiprofession # A preponderance of women # Absence of the right of

privileged communication In the law of evidence, a privilege is a rule of evidence that allows the holder of the privilege to refuse to disclose information or provide evidence about a certain subject or to bar such evidence from being disclosed or used in a judicial or ...

between client and professional # Little or no involvement in matters of life and death

Works cited

References

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AACTE list

Works cited

References

See also