Andrew Abbott

The work of certain groups of specialists in society is a crucial theme for those interested in organizations. And it became particularly relevant in light of the COVID-19 pandemic as debates emerge on whether “experts” got things wrong or how decision-makers have decided (or not) to listen to the professionals. But who exactly are the “professionals” anyway? Is it just doctors, lawyers, educators? How do they work? Are all professionals created equally? Why some wield more attention than others? Sociologist Andrew Abbott does more than answer these questions, he constructed a comprehensive framework to analyze the meaning of professional work and how professions form and compete with each other.

The text for this episode is Andrew Abbott’s 1989 book The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor. This book is a watershed in our understanding of professions and their work. While previous literature had a focus on distinctive occupational groups and their professionalization projects, Abbott invited us to think more systemically about the interdependencies and how professions compete with each other over “jurisdictions,” claims of ownership and responsibility over expert knowledge and its applications.

This is the first of two planned episodes covering this magnificent work. In this episode, the focus is on how Abbott defines the major constructs of his framework — professionalization, professional work (diagnosis, inference, treatment), and claims of jurisdiction. We concentrate on their application in individual professions and subdivisions therein, followed by a discussion of one of Abbott’s case studies — that of the information professions (e.g., librarian, statistician, computer programmer). The insights shed light the modern-day issues facing professions today such as the public health sector who have been under intense scrutiny in the pandemic.

Part 1. What distinguishes professional work?

Part 2. Contemporary challenges for professions and professionals 

Click here to listen to Tom’s sidecast, “Is Anti-Professionalism on the Rise?” from the Reflections on Management program!

Read With Us:

Abbott, A. (2014). The system of professions: An essay on the division of expert labor. University of Chicago press.

To Know More:

Abbott, A. (1995).  Boundaries of Social Work or Social Work of Boundaries?: The Social Service Review Lecture. Social Service Review. 69 (4),  545-62.

Bechky, B. A. (2003). Object lessons: Workplace artifacts as representations of occupational jurisdiction. American Journal of Sociology, 109(3), 720-752.

Related Episodes:

Episodes 7&8: Two episodes covering Chester Barnard’s The Functions of the Executive — Episode 7 on “Phases of Cooperation” and Episode 8 on “The Ends of Men“

Episode 43: Centralization / Decentralization Debate — The Federalist Papers

Episode 47: Organizational Identity — Albert & Whetten

Reflections on Management with Tom Galvin, Episode 5-2. Is Anti-Professionalism on the Rise?