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The paper concludes with implications for practice and research in higher education.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/professionalizing-student-affairs-five-tensions/599282/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/professionalizing-student-affairs-five-tensions/599282.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"WPS_1790064749","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-01","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",9,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the paper’s main goal regarding student affairs professionalization?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"To identify points of tension that show both efforts to professionalize the field and barriers to achieving professional status.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What are the five tensions proposed by the authors?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"They are lack of specialized knowledge, lack of unified purpose and focus, a divided professional community, diversity gaps in student affairs credentialing, and lack of autonomy for practitioners at individual and organizational levels.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How do earlier scholars assess whether student affairs is a profession?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"They evaluate student affairs against characteristics such as professional consciousness and groups, specialized knowledge and skills, a code of ethics, selection/training standards, job definitions, admission and performance standards, and legal recognition.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},599282,1792893016,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,30,"research-report",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":112,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},3985747859154,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","PROFESSIONALIZING STUDENT AFFAIRS: FIVE TENSIONS  \nCraig M . McGill  \nKansas State University  \nTonette S . Rocco  \nFlorida International University  \nAntonio Delgado  \nWest Chester University  \nJohn Wesley Lowery  \nIndiana University of Pennsylvania  \nScholars and practitioners have discussed the professionalization of student affairs almost since the birth of the field in 19th century. Professionalizinga field can improve its status and better serve members of an occupation and their clients (Pavalko, 1988) . The purpose of this paper is to identify points of tension that illustrate efforts to professionalize and barriers to achieve professional status. As scholars and practitioners of student affairs, we offer five tensions: lack of specialized knowledge, lack of unified purpose and focus, divided professional community, diversity of student affairs credentialing, and lack of autonomy for student affairs practitioners at both the individual and organizational levels. We conclude with implications for practice and research.  \nKeywords: professionalization, profession, student affairs profession  \nPlease direct inquires about this manuscript to: Craig M. McGill, [cmcgill@ksu.edu](cmcgill@ksu.edu)  \nCollege Student Affairs Journal, Volume 39(2), pp. 123-135 ISSN 2381-2338  \nCopyright 2021 Southern Association for College Student Affairs All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.  \n124 College Student Affairs Journal Vol. 39, No. 2, 2021  \nrofessionalization is a process where  \nPbtyhroanugh “occtheu patdevioenlo tpramnesnfto rmofsfoitrsemalfl  \nqualifications based upon education, apprenticeship, and examinations, the emergence of regulatory bodies with powers to admit and discipline members, and some degree of monopoly rights” (Bullock & Trombley, 1999, p. 689) . A great deal is at stake for people working in areas that have not yet been deemed a profession because“professionals wield great power in determining what goes on in our society”(Merriam & Brockett, 2007, p. 218) . Professionalizing occupations is one means of improving reputation and public understanding of their work (Pavalko, 1988) .  \nProfessionalization has been systematically studied since the beginning of the twentieth century. Early in the twentieth century, Flexner (1915/2001) questioned if social work had met the criteria to be considered a “profession” and outlined the ways in which several occupations were or were not professions. Since the 1960s, the sociological literature has moved beyond discussing what constitutes a profession to matters of how occupations become professions and the process by which fields are professionalized. For instance, Pavalko (1988) developed a model from the study of occupations from the 1930s-1970s. In his model of professionalization, Pavalko (1988) described classical features of a profession including theory and intellectual technique, relevance to social values, training period, motivation, autonomy, commitment, sense of community, and codes of ethics. His model is concerned with “understanding the sources of occupational differentiation, the motivations and strategies used by occupational groups in the quest for power and prestige in the workplace, and the consequences of achievement or failing to achieve collective power and prestige” (Pavalko, 1988, pp. 11-12) . He explored the various roles work plays in our lives—as a social role, link to the social structure, and source of identity—and ability a profession has to yield power in  \nsociety through social stratification.  \nScholars and practitioners have discussed the professionalization of student affairs almost since the birth of the field in 19th century (Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007) . In the mid-20th century, scholars (Darley, 1949; Wrenn, 1949) assessed the professional status of student affairs against the following eight characteristics: professional consciousness and professional groups, a socially needed function, specialized knowledge and skills, code ","cbCaigqxLm5bDPnT","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigqxLm5bDPnT","pdf",233654,13,"English","# Introduction\n## Five tensions and the purpose of the study\n# Background: what makes a profession\n## Early and sociological approaches\n# Student affairs and contested professional status\n## Mid-20th-century criteria and critiques\n## Debates and barriers through the 1980s\n# Contemporary characterization\n## Ongoing limits and unresolved issues","[{\"question\":\"What is the paper’s main goal regarding student affairs professionalization?\",\"answer\":\"To identify points of tension that show both efforts to professionalize the field and barriers to achieving professional status.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the five tensions proposed by the authors?\",\"answer\":\"They are lack of specialized knowledge, lack of unified purpose and focus, a divided professional community, diversity gaps in student affairs credentialing, and lack of autonomy for practitioners at individual and organizational levels.\"},{\"question\":\"How do earlier scholars assess whether student affairs is a profession?\",\"answer\":\"They evaluate student affairs against characteristics such as professional consciousness and groups, specialized knowledge and skills, a code of ethics, selection/training standards, job definitions, admission and performance standards, and legal recognition.\"}]","Professionalizing Student Affairs - Five Tensions | PDF",1792088482,33]