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Profession
Wikipedia: “A profession is a vocation founded upon specialised educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain”
(New Statesman, 21 April 1917)
Have a look at the Wikipedia page because it is contested precisely on the distinction between the vernacular and technical meanings.
What Makes a Profession?
“To me, the essence of professionalism is a commitment to develop one’s skills to the fullest and to apply [them] responsibly to the problems at hand. Professionalism requires adherence to the highest ethical standards of conduct and a willingness to subordinate narrow self-interest in pursuit of the more fundamental goal of public service”
(Justice Sandra Day O’Connor — US Supreme Court)
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The Computing Profession
- The nature of a profession
- Professional Bodies
- Reservation of title and function
- Software Development as engineering
- The Status of Engineers
- International Recognition of Engineering Qualifications
- Compulsory Registration of Software Engineers
Slide 4: The Computing Profession
Slide 5: Professional Bodies in Computing
- The development of Professional Bodies [p. 25]
- Professional Conduct [p. 26]
- Education [p. 29]
- Continuing Professional Development [p. 31]
- The advancement of Knowledge [p. 33]
- Membership Grades [p. 34]
- Official Advice [p. 36]
(Bott, Chapter 3)
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The Collective Body
- The collective body controls entry to the profession
- The collective body is self governing and self regulatory, in the sense that it establishes and enforces a code of conduct on its members
- The collective body is established either by a Royal Charter or an Act of Parliament which defines the extent of its authority and requires it to undertake certain duties and responsibilities
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...in USA
- Term ‘engineer’ much more strictly applied than here
- State licensing boards
- Applying strict regulation to software engineers would cripple the sector
9
...in UK, BCS Codes
...of Conduct
- Sets out the professional standards required by the Society as a condition of membership
- Covers public interest, duty to relevant authority, duty to the profession, professional competence and integrity
...of Good Practice
- “Describes standards of practice relating to contemporary demands found in IT”
- Covers practices common to all disciplines plus some specific to IT, business, education...
IFIP — no Code of Conduct
- Attempts were criticised as being from the perspective of white well-off males
- Instead it issued guidelines but left this to member organisations
- For instance, on viruses IFIP urges:
- Computer professionals to recognise the disastrous potential of viruses and not to distribute viruses knowingly
- Educators to impress upon students the dangers of viruses
- Publishers to refrain from publishing details of virus programs
- Developers of virus detectors not to distribute viruses as tests
- Resources to be devoted to R & D of protection mechanisms
- Governments to make distribution an offence
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ACM — General Moral Imperatives
As an ACM member I will:
- Contribute to society and human well being
- Avoid harm to others
- Be honest and trustworthy
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Practices Common to all Engineering Disciplines
- Maintain your technical competence
- Adhere to regulations
- Act professionally as a specialist
- Use appropriate methods and tools
- Manage your workload efficiently
- Participate maturely
- Respect the interests of your customers
- Promote good practices within the organisation
- Represent the profession to the public
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Practices covered by the BCS
- Information Technology
- Programme/Project Management
- Relationship Management
- Security and Safety
- Change Management
- Quality
- Business Processes
- Research & Development
