| Abstract: | In the social professions, is the qualifications model going to be driven out by a second model, that of the management of skills, as seen in many other sectors of activity? The social professions used to be accepted in their employment sectors in line with the statutory logic of qualifications. However, the recent introduction of a skills management logic privileging individual aptitudes, advantages gained from a variety of professional experiences, and the capacity to conform to the objectives of an employing organization could lead to less regard for original qualifications, and to a decline in any correspondence between a diploma or degree and the individual's position within the repertory of salaried jobs and classifications. One can in fact note an increased disjunction between titles, functions, and status, especially in the newer activity areas (insertion, city/town, policies, mediation, etc.). In contrast, one can still observe a very firmly maintained linkage between the qualification and the job in the traditional sectors (social services, work with the disabled, specialized education, etc.). However, the widening of social interventions beyond the frames of classical action areas, and their extension to areas such as accommodation and home help, along with the progressive modification of organizational models, leads one to wonder whether the social professions will retain their special character, or whether, to the contrary, they will experience a process of differentiation into sub-sectors with reference to alternative operational logics. Will the future of the social professions oscillate between assignation to employment sectors where the qualifications logic reigns (and which could become residual), and entry into new intervention areas where the 'battle of the skills' will be fought? Whatever the outcome, the debate about the professionalism of social workers should surely rise above any such presumed antagonisms. |
