S4. Professions in crisis: prospects for reenchantment 

Abstract

In this proposed session, we look at the workforce crisis from the viewpoint of professions within contemporary societies. We contend that such crisis is both intriguing and revealing of profound changes that are taking place in numerous professional fields.  These changes both affect the status of professions within societies and the day-to-day experience of professional work. For decades, being a professional symbolized personal achievement coupled with a strong vocational commitment to work. Professionals were highly valued in many societies and sectors. Current lack of attractiveness, labour shortages and turnover, absenteeism, occupational reconversion picture a very different representation of professions in many sectors of activities. We propose to explore this emerging malaise, the basis of a crisis of professions in today’s world. While these phenomena are experienced at first at the individual level, it is interesting to examine how they are linked to broader social changes, such as the crisis of core societal institutions, the managerialisation of work settings, and norms and values related to work and others forms of aspirations within the private and public spheres. Despite the apparent magnitude of the phenomenon, which affects several professions and professionals, little is known about how this crisis is likely to transform professions in a significant way. The session looks at three questions: How do we define this crisis of professions? How to describe and assess its manifestations and impacts? What strategies can revigorate professions and the experience of work?

Organizers

Nancy Côté, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada, nancy.cote@soc.ulaval.ca.

Jean-Louis Denis, Université de Montréal, Quebec, Canada, jean-louis.denis@umontreal.ca.

Jean-Luc Bédard, Université TÉLUQ, Quebec, Canada, jean-luc.bedard@teluq.ca.

Brief bios

Nancy Côté is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the Université Laval (Quebec, Canada). She holds a Canada Research Chair on sociology of work and healthcare organizations and is a researcher at VITAM, a sustainable health research center. Her work is at the crossroads of the sociology of work, professions, and organizations. 

Jean-Louis Denis is professor of health policy and management at the School of Public Health at the Université de Montréal and researcher at the CRCHUM. He holds a Canada Research Chair on health system design and adaptation (Quebec, Canada). His current research is on the transformative capacities of health systems.

Jean-Luc Bédard is associate professor in adult education at the Education Department of Université TÉLUQ in Montréal (Canada). Trained as an anthropologist, his main research interests include admission of foreign-trained professionals, interactions between regulators, the State and professions, evolution of regulated professions and prior learning recognition.