What is a profession? Traditionally, most people would refer to engineering, medicine, law, accountancy and architecture as a profession. Is teaching a profession? What about music or sports? Professional musicians and sportspersons are supposed to be those who earn money through music and sports (unlike amateurs); does it mean that those musicians who are not mercenaries (ask for and get paid for their music) are less competent or behave in less professional manner?

And, how did management or IT become a profession? If history of professions is studied, it may be found that demand for certain types of services creates availability of a set of competencies; when these competencies are built through regular training and education, and certified as such, that area of expertise gets labeled as a profession. That is how IT and management became a profession in the past 3-4 decades. If market demands a set of skills, and pays for them well, does it acquire the status of a profession? These are troubling questions, more so in today’s context where professional education seems to imply education in a profession.