Define profession

A profession is a set of abilities, knowledge, experiences and values that allow an individual to perform a productive role in society. This allows an individual to create and capture value. A professional may also be an outlet for creative and social energies that provides an individual with a sense of purpose, accomplishment and confidence. The following are common examples of a profession.

A professional is a member of a In some cultures, the term is used as shorthand to describe a particular social stratum of well-educated workers who enjoy considerable Trades [ ] In narrow usage, not all expertise is considered a profession. Occupations such as skilled construction and maintenance work are more generally thought of as Theory [ ] In his study The Rise of Professional Society historian Harold Perkin characterizes professional society; "Where pre-industrial society was based on passive property in land and industrial society on actively managed capital, professional society is based on human capital created by education and enhanced by strategies of closure, that is, the exclusion of the unqualified." Specifically, it is the management of human capital, and not just specialized skill which Perkin argues is a mark of the professional classes, at one point going so far as to compare it to a modern form of feudalism. Although professional training appears to be ideologically neutral, it may be biased towards those with higher A key theoretical dispute arises from the observation that established professions (e.g. lawyers, medical doctors, architects, civil engineers, surveyors) are subject to strict codes of conduct. Some have thus argued that these codes of conduct, agreed upon and maintained through widely recognized professional associations, are a key element of what constitutes any profession. Etymology [ ] The etymology and historical meaning of the term p...

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