What are the educational and training requirements for a competent profession?

Abstract

This paper looks at the educational and training requirements for competent professionals, albeit in the context of project management, for which the author provides postgraduate studies in a Master of Business Administration program. With increasing expectations of excellence in the delivery and implementation of services in management sectors such as occupational safety, health and environmental risk, the community today demands a level of education and training appropriate for such professions. From a time when on-the-job training was deemed more than adequate for many service industries, and through a subsequent period that focussed on vocational competencies, we have now reached an era where educational and training programs are expected to be of the highest standards so that service industries can take their place among the 'recognised' professions. Tertiary institutions are now looking at what defines the attributes of a member of a 'profession', and how those attributes can best be achieved. Going far beyond delivery of simple knowledge and skills, professional education demands that students undergo a personal and professional transformation to deal with the range of qualitative issues that require higher levels of judgement and compliance with ethical standards. The author is a senior lecturer with the University of Southern Queensland in Australia specialising in professional education in project management as part of a Master of Business Administration program offered in multiple modes including face-to-face, print-based, online and in a new hybrid model utilising the multimedia capabilities offered through the use of CD-ROM digital technologies. He is currently engaged in doctoral studies and research into professional education, distance education and adult education, and this paper presents the findings of the early stages of that research, offering insights into the important issues and suggesting guidelines for the development of effective professional education programs that will also have implications for the occupational safety, health and environmental risk sector.