A study of academic and industry conceptions of professional knowledge.

Abstract

This study explored conceptions of professional knowledge among academic and industry personnel in the field of chemical engineering. Its main purpose was to abstract from the participant narratives, industry and higher education institutions’ conceptions of the constructions of professional knowledge that are at play within and across their sites in relation to how graduates are prepared for the workplace. Construction implies a conceptual understanding of what professional knowledge is (product) as well as a conception of how this knowledge is acquired or learnt (process). In presenting their conceptions, the participants invoke their reasons why such constructions of professional knowledge exist (purpose) from their points of view. While there are striking convergences within and across the study sites, divergences abound with regard to the constructions. The study thus unveils the complexities of what, how and why these constructions prevail in the way they do. This research was located within an interpretive case study design. The sample consisted of 16 participants, eight from industry and eight from academia. A multi-method approach was employed to generate data, including semi-structured interviews with each participant. This was followed up with a virtual transect walk, a relatively new methodology drawn from agrarian studies which provided deeper insights into the phenomenon. Document analysis was also used to interrogate the genesis and development of the research sites. The participants’ understandings converged around the themes of theoretical knowledge, practice knowledge and personal knowledge, as well as on the factors that drive these conceptions, namely, competence in problem solving, the use of soft skills, professional identity and the role of work integrated learning. The many divergences within and across the sites suggest that context plays a key role in shaping conceptions. For example, the industry site that was profit driven tended to produce hierarchical and compliant knowledge workers whose conceptions tended to characterise professional knowledge as compliance and regulation. The other site within industry which was service driven produced conceptions focused on creativity and problem solving. Academic conceptions mainly focused on the importance of theoretical knowledge and while they viewed the regulatory function as pervasive and useful, they also regarded its gatekeeping function as prescriptive. Two notions of professionalism emerge from these conceptions, namely, an emancipatory and a regulatory conception. The study recommends that a relational phonetic professionalism be applied to better understand graduates’ transition to engineering professionals.