Dr. William J. Gartland, Jr. 
January 29, 1982 
Page four 
of learners in other occupations. 
Second, a system of monetary and psychic rewards exists, 
symbolic of achievement and therefore ends in themselves. 
Income and prestige increase as professionalism increases. 
Members strongly indent ify with their profession, usually on 
a long-term basis and with little desire to leave it. Pro- 
fessionals are not uniquely motivated by altruism, although 
the institutional structure of the profession typically has 
an ideological commitment to serve society. Science in particu- 
lar lacks a clear service orientation, such as law and medicine 
have, since the client or client group is not clearly delineated 
in science. While the work of most professionals is defined 
by the needs of a particular client, the cause for which a 
scientist works is more diffuse. The dominant idealogy of 
science is in fact that the scientist serves only the large 
goal of scientific truth in his pure research, a commitment 
to the value of advancing knowledge. In reality the motives 
of the scientist, like those of any professional, are a complex 
mixture of altruistic and egoistic behavior, with the ultimate 
goal the receipt of recognition of priority of discovery, with 
its attendant psychic and career benefits. The client group 
for the scientist is either a funding agency or scientific 
peers, in that the work performed and its success will be judged 
by peers and it is they who are being served in the sense by 
seeing unanswered questions resolved. Because of this lack 
of accountability to a specific client group, the informal code 
of scientists lacks prescriptions for how to conduct themselves 
with regard to either hazards arising out of research or harmful 
applications as outgrowths of a line of work. 
Third, a profession possesses substantial autonomy and 
powers of self-control, gained either through professional 
associations which foster group consciousness and integration, 
protecting members from outside interference and imposition of 
standards, or through informal networks of collegial relation- 
ships. Typical traits include self-determination of educational 
standards; legislation affecting the profession shaped by the 
profession; and little lay evaluation and control, with norms 
of practice often more rigorous than legal controls. Autonomy 
may in fact be the core characteristic of a profession. If 
autonomy tests professional status, self-regulation is then 
the test of the autonomy of a professional grouping. Claims 
of autonomy are tested, in science as in medicine, by three 
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