Heterogeneity Among Professions and Professionals

The society in which we are currently immersed is the result of a long-period transformation that sociologists have framed under the concept of post-industrial society. Some of the main characteristics identified by this concept, such as the importance of knowledge as a factor of production, the rising centrality of expert labor and the progressive dematerialization of professional activities, have been heuristic tools useful to explain the rising importance of professions and professionalism to understand current social change. However, we argue that the transformation towards a post-industrial society has impacted on the composition of professional groups, on the relations between different professional groups, as well as on the role of professionals in society.