Maybe so when it comes to their views of what constitutes a profession and whether public relations qualifies. Betteke van Ruler of the Amsterdam School of Communications Research, University of Amsterdam, describes four well-known models of professionalism that shed light on the debate within PR.
For academic scholars, professionalism entails a pre-defined body of expert knowledge and skills – a knowledge model oriented to rational intelligence. When practitioners show little interest in theory, and formal PR education is not a requirement for employment, academics conclude that public relations is far from being a profession.
Yet practitioners readily proclaim their own professionalism. Perhaps, says van Ruler, they are instinctively basing their views on more client-oriented models: the competition model that defines a profession based on permanent competition to provide expert services; and the personality model, in which commitment, creativity and enthusiasm are hallmarks of a professional.
To add to the confusion, public relations associations lean toward the status model, which defines a profession as an elite group using specialized knowledge to gain status, power and autonomy. The emphasis on accreditation is one indication of status model orientation.
Who’s right? van Ruler suggests that no single model is optimal for public relations. What would clearly advance the profession, however, is for practitioners and scholars to listen to each other and combine aspects of each model to reshape how public relations is taught and practiced.
van Ruler’s paper was awarded the 2004 Robert Heath Top Paper Award of the Public Relations Division of the International Communication Association, and appeared in the June 2005 issue of Public Relations Review.
Diverging Views of Professionalism
Four well-known models of professionalism are differentiated by the type of knowledge required and the professional-client relationship. In public relations, academics, practitioners and associations lean toward different models, fueling the debate over professionalism.
