June 2010 Edition
Computer Science Department, University of Cape Town
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The computing filed is young and very broad. This is in sharp contrast to the medical and accounting fields. It is also very malleable i.e. it is used in many domains teaching, engineering, librarians etc. Some of these workers are not seen as computer professionals.
So is computing a profession? We compare computing with the five characteristics of profession.
Mastery of Esoteric Knowledge: Many do acquire knowledge through higher educational institutions. This is more true as time goes on. There also exists a division between researchers and practitioners. There is a large demand as many in the field have inadequate knowledge. However, some people have argued that computing relies on how to do things and not on a systematic and abstract body of knowledge.
Autonomy: This is not strongly differentiated i.e. there are no jobs that only professionals can do that others can not. Although this could be considered a chicken/egg problem).
Formal organisation: There are many such organisations in many countries such as CSSA (Computing Society of South Africa) and the BCS (British Computing society).
Code of ethics: There is no single code worldwide but they do exist. CSSA has such a code.
Fulfilment of a social function: Computing is a crucial part of society, but does it fulfil a need. It supports a variety of social functions but is not one in itself.
Software engineering (development of a computer system) might seem like a good area of computing for professionalism. Its activities involved unique knowledge, education, licensing of members and code of ethics. ACM and IEEE decided not to support it because it does not yet have an identifiable body of knowledge. However, this has been done in Texas - they created a society that runs licensing examinations. It helps to belong but is not essential i.e. one can get work without membership.