I'm not certain of 'Houghton Mifflin' (and whatever traces of etymology
they use in that particular edition), but the word itself actually comes
from the monastics/priests, in which one would 'profess' their belief.
It was later adapted to professional, or 'one who professed an
understanding of a skill'. It has never been attached to formal
education or academic achievement; that would be 'academic',
'baccalaureate </index.php?term=baccalaureate>', 'esquire' or 'master'.
(And I hope you're not seeking your etymological proofs from wikipedia)
Clearly the word has been equivocated in this discussion, and I strongly
suggest that a Webmaster is a 'professional', in his capacity (not
requiring a third party approval), for he is not 'professing' to have
skills of basket-weaving or ministry, but to have skills of a specific
nature and practice pertaining solely to 'webmastering'. These skills
could be verified by a third party, but that verification is not the
foundation upon which a profession is established. Professions are
established by a particular set of skills being required to perform a
particular task, or set of tasks. Hence a professional 'handy-man',
'professional student', 'professional football player', 'professional
actor'. The entire concept to be carried in the word is to cognitively
separate those who have mastered particular skills from those who are
acquiring particular skills (aka Professional VS Amateur).
Then again, the word itself began in a society and time of greater moral
concentration, so perhaps you assume that anyone who refers to
themselves as a professional today, is either lying (if they haven't a
third party 'approval' or tertiary educational document) or is
equivocating upon the word, and actually means 'academic',
'baccalaureate </index.php?term=baccalaureate>', 'esquire' or 'master'
of 'webmastering'.
Never-the-less, referencing oneself as a 'professional' is not based
upon academic merit, but upon personal, occupational self-reflection.
Whether-or-not that reflection is an accurate one leads to a different
discussion.
As an old friend once told me: "If you call yourself professional, don't
turn out to be a Shmegegge"
-My two (well ok three) cents
Urb LeJeune wrote:
By definition, programming and website design is not a
profession.
Really? What specifically is that definition?
profession: "An occupation, such as law, medicine, or engineering,
that requires considerable training
and specialized study"
Houghton Mifflin Dictionary.
Even an engineer must have a professional engineering (PE) designation
to perform certain types of design.
I don't have a problem with a self taught programmers, I've known some
great ones, however, a field having
a large number of practitioners without formal training is a trade not
a profession. A profession is also
self-regulated.
It's another thread but, should there be certification available for
programmers and web designers? If we
ever want to be considered a profession, that's the first step. I was
in the stock brokerage business when
the designation Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) first came into
being. It was extraordinarily difficult
and it took almost two years after the announcement before the first
designation were awarded. It required
two 8 hour day testing sessions. It made a huge difference in the
industry and these days you will not get
a senior level job in a research department without a CFA. Same thing
happened with Chartered Financial
Planner (CFP).
I'm unsure of the procedure, but how/when does one change the subject
when we have drifted into a new
area?
Urb
Dr. Urban A. LeJeune, President
E-Government.com
609-294-0320 800-204-9545
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
E-Government.com lowers you costs while increasing your expectations.
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