Occupational closure is the sociological term given to the process whereby a trade or occupation transforms itself into a true profession by closing off entry to the profession to all but those suitably qualified. The profession

Profession

A profession is a vocation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain....

 then becomes closed to entry from outsiders, amateurs and the unqualified. This is also sometimes called "professional demarcation." This can be achieved by licensure

Licensure

Licensure refers to the granting of a license, which gives a "permission to practice." Such licenses are usually issued in order to regulate some activity that is deemed to be dangerous or a threat to the person or the public or which involves a high level of specialized skill...

, through barring entry to all except those who have passed certain entrance examinations and grades of training, or by allowing entry only to those who have gained membership of a specific professional body. In most professions all three methods are in regular use. What this means in practical terms, is that an architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 or physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

, for example, will firstly be a university graduate in their main subject, second, will have passed entrance examinations to join a recognised professional body and thirdly, will also be licensed to practise medicine or architecture, usually also obtained through sitting examinations. Therefore, such professions are open only to those who satisfy these requirements and are closed to everyone else. It is thus illegal for any other person to practise medicine or to pose as an architect.

The origin of this process is said to have been with guilds during the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, when 'professionals' fought for exclusive rights to practice their trades as journeymen, and to engage unpaid apprentices.

See also

• Credentialism
  Credentialism
  Credentialism is a term used to describe a primary reliance on credentials for purposes of conferring jobs or social status. In some jobs, employers require a diploma, academic degree, security clearance, or professional license for a job which does not require the specific training that is part of...
  
  
• Licensure
  Licensure
  Licensure refers to the granting of a license, which gives a "permission to practice." Such licenses are usually issued in order to regulate some activity that is deemed to be dangerous or a threat to the person or the public or which involves a high level of specialized skill...
  
  
• Employment
  Employment
  Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
  
  
• Profession
  Profession
  A profession is a vocation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain....
  
  
• Professionalization
  Professionalization
  Professionalization is the social process by which any trade or occupation transforms itself into a true "profession of the highest integrity and competence." This process tends to involve establishing acceptable qualifications, a professional body or association to oversee the conduct of members...
  
  

Further reading

• S. A. L. Cavanagh, The Gender of Professionalism and Occupational Closure: the management of tenure-related disputes by the 'Federation of Women Teachers' Associations of Ontario' 1918-1949, Gender and Education, 15.1, March 2003, pp.39-57
• Karen Mahony & Brett Van Toen, Mathematical Formalism as a Means of Occupational Closure in Computing--Why "Hard" Computing Tends to Exclude Women, Gender and Education, 2.3, 1990, pp.319-31
• Mesch, Gustavo S. & Czamanski, Daniel, Occupational closure and immigrant entrepreneurship: Russian Jews in Israel, The Journal of Socio-Economics, vol: 26.6 (1997), pp.597-610
• Kim A. Weeden, Why Do Some Occupations Pay More than Others? Social Closure and Earnings Inequality in the United States, American Journal of Sociology, 108, 2001, pp.55–101
• Anne Witz, Patriarchy and Professions: The Gendered Politics of Occupational Closure, Sociology, 24.4, 1990, pp.675-690