Introduction
Does the concept of professionalism apply to the creative industries? To answer this question, we first need to answer what is meant by professionalism at which point we can then go on to look at why it's important in the creative industries, and more specifically the field I intend on working in - web and mobile Development.
To sum it up, professionalism is the demonstration of commitment, integrity, responsibility, and accountability in your work, aligning with any relevant or required industry standards and ethical principles to maintain a respected reputation and ensure success in a chosen field. This summary will be the basis of my post.
What do we mean by the concept of professionalism?
The concept of professionalism covers the manner in which a person presents themselves in the workplace and their adherence to any standards that may apply to their respective profession - therefore becoming a professional. This can apply not only
through any set out standards but also ethical behaviour and reputation.
In the creative industries this covers specific regulatory bodies, in my field specifically a professional would need to consider the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for example, which will be discussed later in more detail. Adherence to these standards benefits both you and users, and in some cases depending on the industry may be required.
Speaking from an ethical standpoint, the W3C also covers some topics such as (https://www.w3.org/TR/ethical-web-principles/#expression) 2.6 The web must enable freedom of expression - in which it states;
We will create web technologies and platforms that encourage free expression, where that does not contravene other human rights. Our work should not enable state censorship, surveillance or other practices that seek to limit this freedom.
While the above is not something that you may think about going into web development straight away, these types of standards and controversies have become more common with topics such as Twitter/X and the banning of politicians (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/04/twitter-permanently-bans-news-aggregation-service-politics-for-all)
Why does professionalism matter in the creative industries?
As mentioned above, in the creative industry this is important as there are defined guidelines and standards (depending on your field) you are expected to follow and adhere to. This however is not the only factor to consider, as you still need to assure your reputation and skills that apply to professionalism that can be beneficial to work on.
As well as guidelines and standards, having professionalism or being a professional is vital whether you are a freelancer or employee as either way you want to assure you have a respected reputation to assure your success in the field.
In a study performed by Dr Gavin Baxter - University of the West of Scotland lecturer ("An investigation of employability skill sets required by graduates in Scotland's Creative Industries sector") in which the respondents provided their opinions to questions pertaining to the relevancy of certain transferable skills in the creative industries, it was concluded that out of the top 10 options nearly half were relevant to professionalism (diagram below) -
Time management, communication skills, team working skills, self-management, and leadership skills; all transferrable skills which directly correlate with what I view as professionalism. Whilst the others are not excluded from being relevant, the fact that most of these skills tie directly into professionalism shows the importance that professionalism plays in the creative industries.
Upholding the integrity of your industry discipline area - why bother?
Not only do upholding standards offer benefits to your clients by assuring that any work provided follows these set out guidelines and will cover topics such as accessibility, speed, and stability, but they will also benefit you by providing you with the professional reputation required to succeed in your field.
Reputation matters - promoting a good image for yourself within your respective industry.
As well as guidelines and standards, having professionalism or being a professional is vital whether you are freelance or employed as either way you want to assure you have a respected reputation to assure your success in the field as any sort of brand damage whether it be due to unethical behaviour or not following guidelines and standards may hamper your chances of not only succeeding but even working within the field as some companies may turn you away.
The concept of the "pillars of professionalism - Commitment, integrity, responsibility and accountability"
Within my field, Web and Mobile development, I believe it is vital to adhere to a view of being a professional, and part of this is assuring that you are covering what is referred to the "pillars of professionalism" - According to Kizza (2013, pp. 57-60) professionalism is supported by four pillars:
- Commitment - Completion of work or tasks as agreed despite any obstacles that may occur. This also includes assuring adherence to any timescales agreed.
- Integrity - Honesty, incorruptibility, and self-value.
- Responsibility - Identifying who you are responsible to/for, avoiding risk which may compromise any responsibilities and assurance of being up to date on anything that may affect these responsibilities.
- Accountability - Assurance that you not only act honestly but are capable of answering for any responsibilities you have, these can be things such as penalties or incentives for not meeting these responsibilities.
While the above may seem quite general and would apply to most fields, in my field these can be extremely important and vital to adhere to as websites these days going down or not functioning properly can cost a company millions. Looking an at article written online by JULY 31ST, 2023 By Shaun Anderson gives examples of why these are so important. (https://www.hobo-web.co.uk/your-website-design-should-load-in-4-seconds/)
- Two-thirds of UK consumers (67%) cite slow loading times as the main reason they would abandon an online purchase.
- 47 percent of consumers expect a web page to load in two seconds or less.
- 40 percent of consumers will wait no more than three seconds for a web page to render before abandoning the site.
Quickly going over each pillar one by one to show this, you can quickly see why these become vital.
- Commitment - Had this been a case of work not being completed on time or not to the standard agreed, you would lose any reputation as your commitment would come into question.
- Integrity - Perhaps you knew there were issues that had to be addressed up front but were not honest about it or took on more than you could chew - suddenly we take a look at your integrity.
- Responsibility - Did you act responsibly by identifying the possible risks that could have resulted in a web page running slow or even going down?
- Accountability - What penalties would face you had this been your fault the site went down or was running slow; would it be simply reputation damage or possibly financial too?
The above clearly shows why consideration and adherence to these standards is a key part to not only professionalism but success too.
Conclusion
To conclude, after having went over professionalism in general, how it applies to creative industries and more personal to my own field, what the expectation of professionalism brings, and how it can affect you directly - I hope the importance of professionalism is clear and has fully answered the question; does the concept of professionalism apply to the creative industries?
Yes, most definitely, in more ways than some consider initially.
