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39-479: The Society of Professional Journalists was established on April 17, 1909, as a men's professional fraternity named Sigma Delta Chi . Its ten founding members were: The organization continued to function as a fraternity until 1960 when it became a professional society. At the 1969 San Diego convention, Sigma Delta Chi decided to begin admitting women into the society. In 1973, the society changed its name to Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi. In 1988,

78-627: A body of knowledge , actual behavior in terms of actions and decisions, and expectations held by societal stakeholders. The etymology and historical meaning of the term professional is from Middle English, from profes , adjective, having professed one's vows, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin professus , from Latin, past participle of profitēri to profess, confess, from pro- before + fatēri to acknowledge; in other senses, from Latin professus , past participle. Thus, as people became more and more specialized in their trade, they began to 'profess' their skill to others, and 'vow' to perform their trade to

117-472: A conference in 2024. The society's chapters bring educational programming to local areas and offer regular contact with other media professionals. SPJ initiatives include a Legal Defense Fund that wages court battles to secure First Amendment rights; the Project Sunshine campaign, to improve the ability of journalists and the public to obtain access to government records ; the magazine Quill ; and

156-476: A hospital before the issuance of a diploma, and professional participation in some licensing scheme for physicians. Indeed, the issue of education was considered so important by the AMA that one of its first acts was the establishment of a Committee on Medical Education..." As technology progressed throughout the twentieth century, the successful professionalization of a given field was increasingly made possible through

195-406: A key element of what constitutes any profession. Others have argued that strict codes of conduct and the professional associations that maintain them are merely a consequence of 'successful' professionalization, rather than an intrinsic element of the definition of professional (ism); this implies that a profession arises from the alignment between a shared purpose (connected to a 'greater good'),

234-555: A modern form of feudalism. Although professional training appears to be ideologically neutral, it may be biased towards those with higher class backgrounds and a formal education. In his 2000 book, Disciplined Minds : A Critical Look at Salaried Professionals and the Soul-Battering System that Shapes Their Lives , Jeff Schmidt observes that qualified professionals are less creative and diverse in their opinions and habits than non-professionals, which he attributes to

273-619: A particular field are typically agreed upon and maintained through widely recognized professional associations , such as the IEEE . Some definitions of "professional" limit this term to those professions that serve some important aspect of public interest and the general good of society. In some cultures, the term is used as shorthand to describe a particular social stratum of well-educated workers who enjoy considerable work autonomy and who are commonly engaged in creative and intellectually challenging work. In narrow usage, not all expertise

312-466: A particular field of study, like a professional fraternity, they are single-sex social organizations because their purposes focus only on the social development of their members. Examples of groups that have been officially granted exemption from Title IX by the DOE to remain single-sex include Sigma Alpha Iota in 1981 and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in 1983. Many professional fraternities, particularly those of

351-564: A resolution against All Comers policies. Professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skills necessary to perform their specific role within that profession. In addition, most professionals are subject to strict codes of conduct, enshrining rigorous ethical and moral obligations . Professional standards of practice and ethics for

390-544: A trade (i.e. the successful professionalization of a trade) had to be achieved via other means such as licensing practices, of which might begin as an informal process established by voluntary professional associations, but then eventually become law due to lobbying efforts. Paralleling or soon after the fall of guilds, professional associations began to form in Britain and the US. In the US, several interested parties sought to emulate

429-876: A women's professional law fraternity, merged with Phi Alpha Delta (law) in 1972. Even though Title IX was enacted in 1972, there are still professional fraternities and sororities or their chapters that have not become coeducational and therefore, do not conform to Title IX. Generally, these groups still claim to be both professional and social organizations, for instance, Alpha Gamma Rho (men in agriculture), Alpha Omega Epsilon (women in engineering), and Sigma Phi Delta (men in engineering). Several social fraternities and sororities have membership practices of selecting their members primarily from students enrolled in particular majors or areas of study, including Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia , Phi Sigma Rho , and Triangle . Nevertheless, these groups are social, rather than professional, organizations. Although they select members from students in

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468-486: Is community service, and social fraternities and sororities , whose primary purposes are generally aimed towards some other aspect, such as the development of character, friendship, leadership, or literary ability. Professional fraternities are often confused with honor societies because of their focus on a specific discipline. Professional fraternities are significantly different from honor societies in that honor societies are associations designed to provide recognition of

507-472: Is considered a profession. Occupations such as skilled construction and maintenance work are more generally thought of as trades or crafts . The completion of an apprenticeship is generally associated with skilled labour, or trades such as carpenter , electrician , mason , painter , plumber and other similar occupations. In his study The Rise of Professional Society historian Harold Perkin characterizes professional society; "Where pre-industrial society

546-533: Is exclusive; however, they may initiate members who belong to other types of fraternities. The first professional fraternity was founded at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky in 1819: the Kappa Lambda Society of Aesculapius, established to bring together students of the medical profession. The fraternity lasted until about 1858. Of the professional fraternities still in existence,

585-547: The U.S. Virgin Islands . Professional fraternity Professional fraternities , in the North American fraternity system , are organizations whose primary purpose is to promote the interests of a particular profession and whose membership is restricted to students in that particular field of professional education or study. This may be contrasted with service fraternities and sororities , whose primary purpose

624-470: The 20th century whereas in British English it started in the 1930s and grew fastest in the 1960s and 1970s. The notion of a professional can be traced to medieval European guilds, most of which died off by the middle of the nineteenth century, except the scholars guild or university. With most guilds formally abolished outside of the realm of academia, establishing exclusivity and standards in

663-549: The American Medical Association (AMA). According to Miller et al., "Lazzaroni opposed reforms for no apparent reason other than that scientists outside of their tight-knit group proposed them.". In his seminal work The Transformation of American Medicine (1982) Paul Starr argues that a significant motivation in the development of the AMA was to gain authority over unlicensed practitioners to minimize competition among medical practitioners, thereby enhancing

702-709: The First Amendment." Responding to concerns originating in the Gamergate controversy , in 2015 the SPJ launched the Kunkel Awards (named after pioneering video game journalist Bill Kunkel ) for game journalism. The award was folded into the Mark of Excellence Awards in 2020. The Helen Thomas lifetime achievement award was awarded by the SPJ between 2000 and 2010. It was named after Helen Thomas , who received

741-579: The Middle Ages flourished when guilds were abolished and that there is much evidence to support the notion that individuals prefer a wide variety of products of varying quality and price to be granted protections which they did not ask for, and which artificially constrain consumer options. Concerning modern forms of professional specialization, does specialization that accompanies technological advances naturally result in exclusivity, or have our licensing systems and laws been artificially engineered to limit

780-505: The SPJ has been best known for. SPJ has had as many as 300 chapters across the United States, which Sarah Scire wonders how well this system is well-suited for the digital age. As of 2023, membership has declined from its peak around 10,000 members to more than 4,000 members. The declining number of journalists in the United States appears largely responsible for the decline as well as the organization's inability to afford to put on

819-460: The annual Sigma Delta Chi Awards , which honor excellence in journalism. The Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award is awarded annually by the Society of Professional Journalists in honor of publisher Eugene S. Pulliam 's dedication to First Amendment rights and values. The award seeks "to honor a person or persons who have fought to protect and preserve one or more of the rights guaranteed by

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858-433: The country, and the facility with which the degree is obtained, have exerted a most pernicious influence" on the profession. With the object of alleviating this situation, recommendations were carried out calling for a specified minimum preliminary education as a prerequisite for admission to a medical college, a lengthening of the period of study for graduation from a medical school, including compulsory clinical instruction at

897-406: The earning power and prestige of medical professionals. The licensing process Starr argues, was unnecessarily prolonged and the costs were artificially enhanced with the specific aim of deterring potential practitioners from entering the field. In his book, The Early Development of Medical Licensing Laws in the United States, 1875–1900 , Ronald Hamowy wrote: "The American Medical Association (AMA)

936-874: The first award in 2000. The award was discontinued in 2011 due to the controversy surrounding Thomas's statements about Jews and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . The SPJ also administers the Green Eyeshade Awards and the Sunshine State Awards. The Green Eyeshade Awards annually recognize journalists in Alabama , Arkansas , Florida , Georgia , Kentucky , Louisiana , Mississippi , North Carolina , South Carolina , Tennessee , and West Virginia . The Sunshine State Awards are given each year to journalists in Florida, Puerto Rico , and

975-742: The highest esteem and reputation, are members of the Professional Fraternity Association (PFA). This group resulted in 1978 from a merger of the Professional Interfraternity Conference (PIC) (for men's group) and the Professional Panhellenic Association (PPA) (for women's groups). In 2013, faced with an increase in campus policies that require student organizations to take all students, the PFA adopted

1014-478: The highest known standard. With a reputation to uphold, trusted workers of a society who have a specific trade are considered professionals. Ironically, the usage of the word 'profess' declined from the late 1800s to the 1950s, just as the term 'professional' was gaining popularity from 1900 to 2010. Notably, in American English the rise in popularity of the term 'professional' started at the beginning of

1053-500: The idea of specialization. As was the case with guilds who claimed to establish exclusivity in a trade in the name of serving the public good, there are often subtle dichotomies present in the idea of professionalizing a field, whether in the name of serving some notion of the public good or as a result of specialization. For example, while defenders of guilds have argued that they allowed markets to function by ensuring quality standards, Sheilagh Ogilvie had instead argued that markets of

1092-606: The membership practices of social fraternities and sororities are exempt from Title IX in section (A)(6)(a). The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) regulations adopted under Title IX also allow such an exception for "the membership practices of social fraternities and sororities." (34 C.F.R. Sec. 106.14(a)). Before Title IX, many professional fraternities were all male and most professional sororities/women's fraternities were all female. Several of these professional fraternities and sororities even considered themselves both professional and social organizations because they often emphasized

1131-664: The model of apprenticeship that European guilds of the Middle Ages had honed to achieve their ends of establishing exclusivity in trades as well as the English concept of a gentleman which had come to be associated with higher income and craftsmanship. Examples are the Lazzaroni who lobbied to create the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and professional associations who lobbied to create

1170-724: The number of individuals who reach the point of specialization? In certain cases, the want to specialize can adversely and negatively affect an industry. In his seminal work From Poor Law to Welfare State: A History of Social Welfare in America (1994) Walter Trattner argues that social workers began to emphasize individualized casework at the expense of alternative methods which utilize holistic approaches to address social issues. In many cases, granting degrees through universities serves as one major component of licensing practices. Still, numerous legal stipulations and, in some cases, even informal social norms act in this capacity. Nevertheless,

1209-654: The oldest is Phi Delta Phi founded at the University of Michigan in 1869; however, Phi Delta Phi changed its mission in 2012 to become an honor society for law school students. In the United States fraternity system, professional fraternities are usually co-educational in accordance with Federal Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (commonly referred to as " Title IX "). This federal law discourages discrimination based on sex in any college or university receiving federal financial assistance. However,

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1248-461: The other hand, work to build brotherhood among members and cultivate the strengths of members to promote their profession and to provide assistance to one another in their mutual areas of professional study. Membership in a professional fraternity may be the result of a pledge process, much like a social fraternity, and members are expected to remain loyal and active in the organization for life. Within their professional field of study, their membership

1287-450: The past achievement of those who are invited to membership. Honor society membership, in most cases, requires no period of pledging , and new candidates may be immediately inducted into membership after meeting predetermined academic criteria and paying a one-time membership fee. Because of their purpose of recognition, most honor societies will have much higher academic achievement requirements for membership. Professional fraternities, on

1326-618: The present Society of Professional Journalists name was adopted. The stated mission of SPJ is to promote and defend the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and freedom of the press ; encourage high standards and ethical behavior in the practice of journalism ; and promote and support diversity in journalism. It has also drawn up a Code of Ethics that aims to inspire journalists to adhere to high standards of behavior and decision-making while performing their work. Last updated in 2014, this code of ethics has been what

1365-550: The social aspects of their activities. During the ensuing years since the enactment of Title IX, single-sex professional fraternities and sororities became coeducational to conform to Title IX. Several organizations simply opened their membership to both men and women. For example, Phi Chi (medicine) opened membership to women in 1973; Phi Beta (music and speech) opened membership to men in 1976; and Delta Omicron (music) opened membership to men in 1979. A few single-sex groups merged with other organizations, such as Phi Delta Delta ,

1404-603: The subtle indoctrination and filtering which accompanies the process of professional training. His evidence is both qualitative and quantitative, including professional examinations, industry statistics and personal accounts of trainees and professionals. A key theoretical dispute arises from the observation that established professions (e.g. lawyers, medical doctors, accountants, architects, civil engineers, surveyors) are subject to strict codes of conduct. Some have thus argued that these codes of conduct, agreed upon and maintained through widely recognized professional associations, are

1443-527: The university system constitutes one of the last remaining widely spread guild (or quasi-guild) and continues to serve as an indispensable means for the professionalization of fields of work. While it is true that most guilds disappeared by the middle of the nineteenth century, the scholars guild persisted due to its peripheral standing in an industrialized economy. In the words of Elliot Krause, "The university and scholars' guilds held onto their power over membership, training, and workplace because early capitalism

1482-431: Was based on passive property in land and industrial society on actively managed capital, professional society is based on human capital created by education and enhanced by strategies of closure, that is, the exclusion of the unqualified." Specifically, it is the management of human capital, and not just specialized skill which Perkin argues is a mark of the professional classes, at one point going so far as to compare it to

1521-456: Was established as a permanent national organization at Philadelphia in 1847 at a convention attended by some 230 delegates representing more than forty medical societies and twenty-eight schools. From its inception, one of its primary aims was upgrading medical education and a concomitant reduction in the number of physicians. Its committee on raising medical standards reported at its first meeting that "the large number of Medical Colleges throughout

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