ABSTRACT
Carr-Saunders and Wilson (1933) argue that the revival of professional training in the nineteenth century began with the formation of study societies where people doing the same kind of work facing the same problems began to get together for social discourse and the mutual exchange of ideas. One pressing concern was the public status accorded to their occupation, which they perceived as continuously undermined by those who used the same title (architect, engineer etc.) without the requisite capability. Thus members of these study associations saw themselves as skilled practitioners whose future status and livelihood was threatened by the public’s failure to distinguish those who were ‘competent’ from those who were not. This led to the introduction of qualifying examinations to give some degree of assurance to the public about the competence of members of the associations. However, the transition was usually quite lengthy because, while it was acceptable to subject new members to such hurdles, it was less acceptable for existing members, a problem which recurs on a minor scale wherever qualifications are upgraded. Similar considerations led to the development of codes of conduct to give assurance of honest as well as competent service.
