Elaborating Professionalism: Studies in Practice and Theory

What are the future possibilities for the standing of professional practice as it faces growingly problematic markets for services, complex demands for managerial accountability and control, and problematic circumstances and expectations in its ethical and self-regulative governance? New sources of inspiration may be needed if professionalism is to be either a viable or desirable form for the social organisation of work in the coming years of potentially deep economic and social change.

The relationship of supervisor to student has traditionally been seen as one of apprenticeship, in which much learning is tacit, with the expectation that the student will become much like the tutor. The changing demographics of higher education in conjunction with imperatives of greater accountability and support for research students have rendered this scenario both less likely and less desirable and unfortunately many supervisors are challenged by the task of guiding non-native speaker students to completion.