Professions
Opening up the meanings of “the professional,” professional ORGANIZATIONS, and professionalism in communication studies
A post-conference of the 2021 annual meeting of the International Communication Association
June 1st - 2nd, 2021
This post-conference will array multiple synchronous and asynchronous sessions that together comprise a day of intellectual exploration over multiple days to accommodate time zones across the globe. Read the full description for a sense of the focus of the post-conference. Abstract submission guidelines follow the description. Because this virtual post-conference is a little unorthodox compared to a typical, in-person post-conference, we describe how it will work.
We have also included a tentative schedule. The post-conference includes three, 1.5-hour sessions with asynchronous discussion and socializing throughout the days. To support our engagement with each other, the post-conference will take advantage of multiple technologies, so take note that there is a bit of preparation to complete. The post-conference will start with a keynote presentation from the esteemed Professor Karen Lee Ashcraft with synchronous and asynchronous discussion to follow. Session 2 will focus on dialogue about research projects, and Session 3 will focus on developing an agenda for scholarship inspired by the post-conference and aimed at a special issue of the Journal of Professions and Organization (JPO). If you have any questions, please contact the organizers.
Please submit your abstract today! If you plan to attend the conference, but you do not plan to present, please let us know by emailing Kirstie McAllum, Université de Montréal, Canada (kirstie [dot] mcallum [at] umontreal [dot] ca) by no later than February 15, 2021 at 11:59 PM.
Post-Conference Description
Given the importance of knowledge workers in postindustrial organizing, the emergence of new professions, and the number of occupations claiming and resisting professionalization (Anteby, Chen & DiBenigno, 2016; Brock et al., 2014; Fleming, 2015), this preconference aims to stimulate dialogue about how communication scholarship can open up research on new forms of professionalism.
Because claiming professional status increases the prestige of the occupational collectives to which individuals belong (Dutton et al., 2010), with some foresight, Wilensky (1964) predicted the “professionalization of nearly everyone.” Many categories of workers clamor for recognition as “professionals,” such as accountants (Suddaby & Greenwood, 2005), aromatherapists (Fournier, 2002), financial planners and IT specialists, (Noordegraaf, 2007), management consultants (McKenna, 2006), pilots (Ashcraft, 2007), sustainability practitioners (Mitra & Buzzannell, 2018), and fundraisers (Meisenbach, 2008), among many others. Their success obscures the fact that similar claims made by other groups such as librarians (Garcia & Barbour, 2018) remain unheeded (Scott, 2008).
Beyond this search for recognition of a professional status by many practitioners, a discursive shift from professionalism as a noun (“being a professional”) to an adjective (“being professional”) also masks important changes in how different types of workers and work are valued. Professionalism, then, focuses on how individuals carry out types of work with knowledge and skill rather than limiting the “professions” to particular types of work (Caza & Creary, 2016). In a similar vein, others have argued that professionalism entails carrying out one’s activities with a “professional spirit” (Hodgson, 2002, p. 805) or “conducting and constituting oneself in an appropriate manner” (Fournier, 1999, p. 287).
Building on Ashcraft and Cheney’s (2007) landmark text on “the professional,” we foreground and celebrate the multi-faceted nature of professionalism as an “essentially contested concept” (Gallie, 1956), characterized by internal complexity, conceptual diversity, and reciprocal recognition of the concept’s contested character among contending parties. Rather than championing any one definition or perspective, this preconference aims to map out and contextualize the multiple, contested meanings of professionalism, particularly in novel or “non-standard” contexts.
Keynote
We are honored and excited to announce that Dr. Karen Lee Ashcraft will give the keynote to kickoff the post-conference.
Dr. Ashcraft is a Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado at Boulder: “Her research examines how relations of difference—such as gender, race, and sexuality—shape various scenes of work and organization, ranging from social services to commercial aviation to academic labor. Her scholarship appears in such venues as Academy of Management Review, Communication Theory, Administrative Science Quarterly, and Management Communication Quarterly. Most recently, she is exploring the relationship between communication and affect and, specifically, how occupational identities arise and circulate through affective economies. She teaches undergraduate courses that address difference and communication, especially in the context of work life, as well as graduate seminars in organizational communication and qualitative research methods.”
Topics may include but are not restricted to:
How is professionalism defined and operationalized in communication studies? How are we, as researchers, contributing to institutionalize particular understandings of professionalism? How might we develop more communicative understandings of professionalism?
How do the meanings of professionalism shift across varied institutional, organizational, and cultural contexts?
Through what analytical and empirical lenses should we study professional workers, professional work, and professionalization?
How can we open up the meanings of professionalism to include emotion work and embodied work experiences?
How is professionalism critically used to push back against organizational and social control?
Is professionalism an aspirational concept? How does professionalism act as a resource and as a constraint? Whose interests does professionalism serve? How might we disrupt contemporary meanings of professionalism?
How might communication scholars contribute to interdisciplinary dialogues and/or practitioner-researcher collaborations about professionalism and professionalization?
How has the post-industrial economy contributed to establishing new forms or definitions of professionalism? (In the sense that others - often unqualified - decide how professional you are? E.g., the Uber world; online reviews of almost everything and everyone including professors, doctors and medical specialists, restaurants, etc.)
How will the automation of work and the work of automation form and affect professions and professionals in the future?
Submission Guidelines
Abstract submissions to the post-conference (500-1000 words, not including tables and references) are invited from all divisions of ICA. Submissions will be evaluated competitively by anonymous referees, and preference will be given to submissions that address the topical themes of the preconference and advance a distinctively communication-centered approach. All submissions must be uploaded here no later than February 15, 2021 at 11:59 PM in the submitter’s time zone.
Accepted presenters will create a poster about their work/work-in-progress. We will provide presenters with a poster template on their acceptance. However, all interested participants are invited to attend this post-conference, and you may participate in the virtual post-conference without presenting a poster. If you plan to attend the conference, but you do not plan to present, please let us know by emailing Kirstie McAllum, Université de Montréal, Canada (kirstie [dot] mcallum [at] umontreal [dot] ca) by no later than February 15, 2021 at 11:59 PM.
How Will the Post-Conference Work?
This post-conference will array multiple synchronous and asynchronous sessions that together comprise a day of intellectual exploration over multiple days to accommodate time zones across the globe.
Before We Gather
A week before the virtual post-conference starts, we will send you an email containing links to the three platforms that we will use to host the post-conference – (1) Zoom, (2) Slack, and (3) Miro whiteboards – as well as instructions on how to use them. This world clock time converter may also be handy as we will all be working across multiple time zones. Please download the latest versions of Zoom, Slack, and Miro for the device(s) you will use for the post-conference.
To become familiar with these platforms before we start using them to interact together, we will ask you to do the following a week before the post-conference begins (before or on May 25, 2021):
Write a short message about what you hope to get out of the post-conference in the # general channel of Slack (link forthcoming).
Place a small photo of yourself on our Miro white board on the world map to let us know where you will be during the post-conference (Link forthcoming).
If you are a presenter, submit your poster (created using the poster template forthcoming) and a 1-minute recording that describes your work in progress and a question or questions you are thinking about and would like this community of scholars to help you engage via this submission link. Be sure to include your name in the file names. We ask that presenters submit these to us sooner so we can setup. Please submit them by May 15, 2021.
Social Spaces
We will publicize opportunities to chat and catch up informally/have breakfast-lunch-dinner (we think that it’s okay to eat and drink on Zoom) between and after sessions, depending on your time zone and availability.
Tentative Schedule
Session 1. Opening up the meanings of “the professional,” professional organizations, and professionalism: Where are we at?
Professor Karen Ashcraft (University of Boulder, Colorado) will deliver our keynote presentation via Zoom. We will email you the link for this session on May 31 and the link will also be shared on Slack using the # keynote channel.
Session 1 will take place on June 1st, 2:00-3:30 PM UTC:
Boulder, Colorado, United States: June 1, 8:00-9:30 am (UTC-6)
Montréal, Canada: June 1, 10:00-11:30 am (UTC-4)
São Paulo, Brazil: June 1, 11:00 am-12:00 PM (UTC-3)
Lagos, Nigeria: June 1, 3:00-4:30 pm (UTC+1)
Paris, France: June 1, 4:00-5:30 pm (UTC+2)
Mumbai, India: June 1, 7:30-9:00 pm (UTC+5:30)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: June 1, 10:00-11:30pm (UTC+8)
Tokyo, Japan: June 1/2, 11:00 pm-12:30 am (UTC+9)
Sydney, Australia: June 2, 12:00-1:30 am (UTC+10)
Auckland, New Zealand: June 2, 2:00-3:30 am (UTC+12)
Synchronous session:
Those participating in real-time will have the opportunity to engage in discussion with Karen on Zoom and through the #keynote channel on Slack, which will be moderated for the duration of Session 1.
Asynchronous session:
For participants in time zones that are less accessible, the keynote and ensuing discussion will be recorded and a link to the recording provided via the #keynote channel in Slack. Participants will also be able to comment, ask questions, and engage with each other regarding the keynote throughout the conference using this channel.
Session 2. Opening up the meanings of “the professional,” professional organizations, and professionalism: What do we (not) know?
Posters relating to the post-conference topic and recorded 1-minute talks about questions that presenters hope to engage with post-conference participants will be available via our Miro whiteboard and Slack workspace 48 hours before Session 2 begins.
Session 2 will take place on June 1st, 6:00-7:30 PM UTC:
Boulder, Colorado, United States: June 1, 12:00-1:30 pm (UTC-6)
Montréal, Canada: June 1, 2:00-3:30 pm (UTC-4)
São Paulo, Brazil: June 1, 3:00-4:30 pm (UTC-3)
Lagos, Nigeria: June 1, 7:00-8:30 pm (UTC+1)
Paris, France: June 1, 8:00-9:30 pm (UTC+2)
Mumbai, India: June 1/2, 11:30 pm - 1:00 am (UTC+5:30)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: June 2, 2:00-3:30 am (UTC+8)
Tokyo, Japan: June 2, 3:00-4:30 am (UTC+9)
Sydney, Australia: June 2, 4:00-5:30 am (UTC+10)
Auckland, New Zealand: June 2, 6:00-7:30 am (UTC+12)
Synchronous session:
We will email you the Zoom link for Session 2 on June 1, and we will also share the link via Slack in the #opening_up channel. Participants who can engage in real-time will join the Zoom session to watch the 1-minute talks about questions that presenters seek to engage with participants. Each poster will be clustered with relevant others in a breakout room. Participants will be able to select a cluster’s room to join for small-group discussion. These small-group discussions will occur in 2-3, twenty minute rounds, so that participants can engage with multiple presenters through the session. Then the group will reconvene to identify common themes and pressing questions. To be able to select a breakout room, please ensure that you have the latest version of Zoom installed on your device. Finally, we will reconvene as a big group to identify common themes and pressing questions.
Asynchronous session:
Participants in time zones that do not allow for easy synchronous participation can look at and comment the posters via Miro and view and respond to the 1-minute talks on Slack, using the #opening_up channel. A document containing notes about common themes and pressing questions identified by the participants in the synchronous session will also be shared using Slack, and asynchronous participants will be able to add ideas to this document.
Session 3: Opening up the meanings of “the professional,” professional organizations, and professionalism: Where should we go from here?
Session 3 will allow synchronous participation by all participants by holding the multiple instances of Session 3 at different times. Please select your preferred Session 3 instance via the poll available in the #where_to_next Slack channel. The Zoom links for Session 3 will be sent out on June 1 and will also be available on Slack.
Session 3.1 will take place on June 1/2, 11:00 pm -12:30 am UTC
Montréal, Canada: June 1, 7:00-8:30 pm (UTC-4)
São Paulo, Brazil: June 1, 8:00-9:30 pm (UTC-3)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: June 2, 7:00-8:30 am (UTC+8)
Tokyo, Japan: June 2, 8:00-9:30 am (UTC+9)
Sydney, Australia: June 2, 9:00-10:30 am (UTC+10)
Auckland, New Zealand: June 2, 11:00 am-12:30 pm (UTC+12)
Session 3.2 will take place on June 2, 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm UTC
Montréal, Canada: June 2, 11:00 am-12:30 pm (UTC-4)
São Paulo, Brazil: June 2, 12:00-1:30 pm (UTC-3)
Lagos, Nigeria: June 2, 4:00-5:30 pm (UTC+1)
Paris, France: June 2, 5:00-6:30 pm (UTC+2)
Mumbai, India: June 2, 8:30-10:00 pm (UTC+5:30)
A Special Issue in the Journal of Professions and Organization
Through this post-conference, participants will help craft a call for a peer-reviewed special issue focused broadly on communication perspectives on the study of professions in the Journal of Professions and Organization (https://academic.oup.com/jpo) to be guest edited by the post-conference organizers.
The goal of this special issue is to bridge allied disciplines interesting in the study of the professions, professional organizations, and professionalism by articulating the distinctively communication-centered contributions to this domain of research and generative possibility for collaboration across disciplines. As the final version of the call will build on the themes elaborated in this initial call for papers, the Journal welcomes early submissions aligned with these themes. However, early submissions may need to be revised to address the final call for papers to be produced and refined during the post-conference. The following is a rough timeline for the special issue.
June 2021 – ICA Post-conference
June 2021 – JPO Call for submissions
November 1, 2021 –Submissions due
December 15, 2021 – First round decisions
February 15, 2022 –Revisions due
April 1, 2022 – Second round decisions
May 1, 2022 –Revisions due
May 2022 – Follow-up panel discussion on new/emerging forms of professionalism at ICA 2022 in Paris
July 2022 – Special issue or section published
References
Anteby, M., Chan, C. K., and DiBenigno, J. (2016). Three lenses on occupations and professions in organizations: Becoming, doing, and relating. The Academy of Management Annals, 10(1), 183–244.
Ashcraft, K. L. (2007). Appreciating the “work” of discourse: Occupational identity and difference as organizing mechanisms in the case of commercial airline pilots. Discourse and Communication, 1, 9-36.
Brock, D. M., Leblebici, H., & Muzio, D. (2014). Understanding professionals and their workplaces: The mission of the Journal of Professions and Organization. Journal of Professions and Organization, 1, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpo/jot006
Caza, B. B., & Creary, C. (2016). The construction of professional identity. In A. Wilkinson, D. Hislop, & C. Coupland (Eds.), Perspectives on contemporary professional work: Challenges and experiences (pp. 259-285). Cheltenham, UK: Elgar.
Cheney, G., & Ashcraft, K. (2007). Considering “the professional” in communication studies: Implications for theory and research within and beyond the boundaries of organizational communication. Communication Theory, 17, 146-175.
Fleming, P. (2015). The mythology of work: How capitalism persists despite itself. Chicago: University of Chicago Press Economics Books.
Fournier, V. (1999). The appeal to ‘professionalism’ as a disciplinary mechanism. The Sociological Review, 47, 280-307.
Fournier, V. (2002). Amateurism, quackery and professional conduct: The constitution of ‘proper’ aromatherapy practice. In M. Dent & S. Whitehead (Eds.), Managing professional identities: Knowledge, performativity and the ‘new professional’ (pp. 116-137). London: Routledge.
Gallie, W. B. (1956). Essentially contested concepts. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 56, 167-198.
Garcia, M. A., & Barbour, J. B. (2018). “Ask a professional— ask a librarian”: Librarianship and the chronic struggle for professional status. Management Communication Quarterly, 32, 565-592.
Hodgson, D. (2002). Disciplining the professional: The case of project management. Journal of Management Studies, 39, 803-821.
McKenna, C. (2006). The world’s newest profession. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Meisenbach, R. J. (2008). Materiality, discourse, and (dis)empowerment in occupational identity negotiation among higher education fund-raisers. Management Communication Quarterly, 22(2), 258–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318908323150
Mitra, R., & Buzzanell, P. M. (2018). Implementing sustainability in organizations: How practitioners discursively position work. Management Communication Quarterly, 32, 172-201.
Noordegraaf, M. (2007). From “pure” to “hybrid” professionalism: Present-day professionalism in ambiguous public domains. Administration & Society, 39, 761-785.
Real, K., & Putnam, L. L. (2005). Ironies in the discursive struggle of pilots defending the profession. Management Communication Quarterly, 19, 91-119.
Scott, R. W. (2008). Lords of the dance: Professionals as institutional agents. Organization Studies, 29, 219-238.
Suddaby, R., & Greenwood, R. (2005). Rhetorical strategies of legitimacy. Administrative Science Quarterly, 50, 35-67.
Wilensky, H. L. (1964). The professionalization of everyone? American Journal of Sociology, 70, 137-158.
Organizers
Kirstie McAllum, Université de Montréal, Canada (kirstie [dot] mcallum [at] umontreal [dot] ca)
Frédérik Matte, University of Ottawa, Canada (fmatt3 [at] uottawa [dot] ca)
Joshua B. Barbour, University of Texas at Austin, United States (barbourjosh [at] utexas [dot] edu)