The Professionalization of Higher Education.

Overview & Synopsis

The degree of professionalization of the field of higher education was investigated. To determine if higher education possesses unique knowledge and skills, a curriculum analysis was undertaken at Indiana University, Columbia University's Teachers College, and the University of Michigan. Using student transcripts, program handbooks, and university catalogs, attention was focused on four concerns: locus of learning (campus-based or experiential), curriculum content (breadth versus depth), program design (faculty, contractal, or student), and program flexibility (required, distribution, or elective). The results confirm the existence of a core of courses that define the unique skills and knowledge of higher education. A comparison of higher education curricular characteristics to those of other occupations was also undertaken. The findings describe higher education as being more professionalized in terms of curriculum characteristics than the emerging professions of business and library science but less so than law and medicine. The field of higher education appears to have become more professionalized in terms of the maturity of its curriculum vis-a-vis other professions. Information is included on the 10 most frequently taken courses in higher education graduate programs at the three sample universities. Transcript and catalog/student handbook information forms are included. (SW)