Professionalism in an Era of Change

In this course we aim to provide you with an insight into how recent societal and technological developments have changed the work of professionals in a variety of professional domains and how this in turn affects professionalism. The course highlights core themes, discusses main insights and theories, raises questions and presents cases, and links insights to practical challenges in various professional domains. It provides a state of the art assessment of professionalism in transition, by looking back and looking forward.

Target group

Everyone interested in societal change, professional work, working with professionals, policy making, and how professionals think, act and thrive.

This course is a so-called Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). You can enroll and find more information about this MOOC on the Coursera website.

The programme of the course Professionalism in an Era of Change has an interdisciplinary approach and will focus on different levels.

At macro level the course presents a historical and sociological view on past and future changes in professions, focused on:

• how do professional fields develop?
• how is professionalism promoted and encouraged among professionals?
• how do professional fields control and empower their members?

At meso level the course presents an organisational view on changes within professional partnerships and institutions, focused on the following questions:

• how do norms and routines affect professionals and professional work?
• how do professionals organise and lead professional work?

At micro level a psychological perspective on changing work and a changing work environment of professionals is presented. This part focuses on the following questions:

• how do professionals deal with work pressure and remain motivated?
• which competencies do professionals require to be able and capable to deliver?