THE ROLE OF A MODERN PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTION

INTRODUCTION
I am probably safe in assuming that every one here is a
member of a professional institution. I am also probably
safe in assuming that you each had your own reasons for
joining your professional institution, but that many of
you might today have difficulty in remembering what
those reasons were. And finally, I am sure that you have
many different reasons for continuing to be a member of
your professional institution. Presumably, those
decisions were and are based upon your perception of
what your professional institution does and, regardless
of who pays your membership fee, whether membership
continues to be worthwhile to you. It may be, of course,
that you have forgotten, or indeed have never thought
too much about what a professional institution does,
beyond perhaps publishing journals, organising
conferences and Branch technical meetings. These of
course are important activities and indeed may be your
reasons for becoming and remaining a member of your
professional institution.
However, I believe that the role of a modern
professional is, or should be, much more than this. And
that role will or should evolve to reflect changes in the
membership, in industry and in society. But of course,
you are all very aware of what your professional
institution does, and indeed have your own views on
what it should be doing today – or are you?
In presenting my personal view on the role of a modern
professional institution, I seek less to inform than to
remind. I will present no startling revelations nor, I
think, any revolutionary ideas or proposals. I will,
however, seek to present a broader perspective on the
role of a modern professional institution, which perhaps
will accord with yours, had you given the time to think
about it. However, hopefully I will also present some
aspects of the role of a professional institution which
may give you food for thought in deciding whether your
professional institution, whichever it is, is indeed a
modern professional institution.
The Royal Institution of Naval Architects was founded
in 1860, and in common with other professional
institutions at that time, its founding aim, or mission
statement in modern parlance, was “to promote and
facilitate the exchange of technical and scientific
information, views and discussion”, and through this,
“to influence and contribute towards furthering
knowledge, understanding and standards”. This aim
remains equally valid today, not only for the Royal
Institution of Naval Architects, but for other
professional institutions.
In the days before technical publications and
conferences were as widely available as they are today,
the published papers of a professional institution were
generally the only means by which developments in
such engineering disciplines as naval architecture and
marine engineering were disseminated and discussed.
Such publications and discussion additionally served to
encourage and promote further advances in knowledge
and practice. That purpose today is served by a wide
range of professional institution activities, such as the
publication of journals, and the organising of
conferences and local meetings.
But professional institutions today should be about more
than journals or conferences or local meetings. I believe
that the modern professional institution has an
important, indeed vital role to play in the education,
professional development and employment of engineers,
and in order to fulfil that role they must provide a link
between individual engineers, academia, industry and
society. I also believe that professional institutions
today have a duty to take a much wider and more
proactive role in ensuring that its members achieve and
maintain those standards of professional competence
and conduct which industry requires and society
increasingly demands.
WHAT IS A PROFESSION?
In examining the role of a modern professional
institution, it is perhaps appropriate to start by first
considering some of those factors which distinguish a
profession as an activity or a body. To quote the
Concise Oxford Dictionary, a profession is a vocation or
calling, esp. one which involves some branch of
advanced learning or science, or it is a body of persons
engaged in a profession. I do not suggest that you were
called to become a member of the naval architecture
profession following a revelation on the road to
Damascus, but I do make the distinction between a
profession and a job or trade.
Governing Body
Key amongst those factors which distinguish a
profession from other activities is the requirement for a
profession to have a governing body and for it to be a
regulated by either voluntarily or by statutory
enforcement.
This governing body should set standards of
professional competence as a condition of entry to the
profession or the achievement of professional status.
The governing body should also actively encourage and

assist the members of that profession in achieving and
maintaining those standards.
In addition to setting standards of professional
competence, the governing body of a profession should
also set and enforce standards of ethical and professional
conduct to be observed by members of that profession.
I believe that it is a function of a modern professional
institution to be such a governing body for its members.
And since the profession is also that body of individuals
engaged in an activity which counts as a profession, it is
implicit that to be a member of that body, for example to
describe oneself as a professional engineer, the
individual must accept those conditions and criteria
which define a profession, including the authority of its
governing body. Logically, therefore, to be counted as a
professional engineer, an individual must be a member
of a professional institution and accept its authority.
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE
Membership of a professional institution should be
dependent upon demonstrating the achievement of
defined minimum standards of professional competence,
and a commitment to maintaining such competence.
And for those who have not yet achieved such standards,
membership of a professional institution should
demonstrate the commitment to doing so. Membership
of a professional institution should also require the
acceptance of a commitment to act at all times with
professional integrity. A professional engineer is
defined by not only what he or she does, but the manner
in which they practise their profession.
Setting standards
Whilst acknowledging the wide range of activities which
engineers, even of the same discipline, might be
engaged on and the need therefore for differing
expertise, the professional institution should nonetheless
define the minimum standards of professional
competence to be achieved by all its members.
Measuring standards
As a governing body, a professional institution should
not only set the standards of professional competence,
but should also have clearly defined procedures for
determining whether those applying to become members
have met those standards. Such procedures must be
transparent and consistent if the governing body and
implicitly the profession is to have credibility and
respect.
Academic achievement
For most engineers, education is a means to an end, and
not an end in itself. Education should provide the
knowledge and understanding that will form the basis of
the professional skills which will be gained through
training and experience. A professional institution
should therefore define the level of academic
achievement necessary to underpin the level of
professional competence appropriate to its intended
practice, irrespective of how such academic achievement
is gained.
Initial Professional Development
That period between graduation and achieving the
minimum standards of professional competence defined
by a professional institution is generally termed Initial
Professional Development, during which time the
individual will develops the professional skills needed to
provide a sound foundation for his or her career.
The range of knowledge, understanding and skills
providing the competence required by professional
engineers will generally encompass aspects of design,
engineering practice and management, acknowledging
that the balance and emphasis between these aspects will
differ for individual engineering disciplines. A
professional institution should define competencies in
output terms, since it is the achievement of such
competencies rather than the route to achieving them
which is important. However, by its nature professional
competence is difficult to define and measure
objectively, and defined routes may provide a level of
assurance or confidence that they have been achieved.
Such a route to professional competence, for example,
may include an approved academic course at an
appropriate level, followed by a company’s structured
training programme, followed by a period of responsible
experience.
However, a modern professional institution should
recognise that it is the ultimate achievement of
professional competence that is important, and not the
achievement of the formal academic qualification or
completion of a formal training programme. The
professional institution should therefore also recognise
that the minimum standards of professional competence
which it requires for membership may be achieved
through experience, in lieu of formal academic
qualification and structured training.
Continuing Professional Development
It is self-evident that an engineer’s professional
development does not cease when he or she achieves
those minimum standards of professional competence
required by the professional institution for membership,
but that such development should continue through their
careers. Continuing Professional Development will be
necessary for the individual to remain competent to
carry out their professional duties throughout their
working life. Such development will be different for
each individual engineer and be driven by the specific
requirements of his or her current and expected
employment.

As such, whilst a professional institution may advise and
guide on activities which contribute to continuing
professional development, I believe it should not be
prescriptive about what type and how much of activity
each individual should undertake. An activity, whether
it be reading a technical journal or attending a
conference, will be relevant only if it contributes
towards the individual’s professional development.
Setting targets of achievement, be it in terms of points or
hours of activity, does not recognise the individuality of
continuing professional development. The target for an
individual should be such level and type of activity that
is both adequate and appropriate to maintain that
individual’s professional competence.
The professional institution should place an obligation
on its members who are in or seeking active work to
take all reasonable steps to maintain and develop their
professional competence. Its members should be
required to plan and record their Continuing
Professional Development. Monitoring and enforcing
the requirement for a member to maintain professional
competence through continuing professional
development is of course difficult to achieve, in view of
its individuality. However, a member’s authenticated
record of professional development should be made
available to the institution at any time, and periodic
formal reassessment of competence may also be
appropriate. The employer must also recognise its role
and vested self interest in requiring and monitoring their
employees’ continuing professional development.
However, the ultimate responsibility for continuing
professional development must rest with the individual.
The commitment and necessary action to maintaining
professional competence is a prerequisite to being a
member of a profession. Continuing Professional
Development and being a professional engineer are
synonymous.
THE PARTNERS
The modern professional institutions should provide a
link between academia, individual engineers, industry
and society, who may all be considered its partners or
stakeholders.
THE PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTION AND
ACADEMIA
For all but a few, education is a means to an end, and for
most engineers, that end is ultimately the needs of
industry, using the term in its broadest sense. Through
its individual members who will generally reflect the
full spectrum of professional activity in industry, and
through its links with industry, a professional institution
is in an ideal position be able to advise academic
institutions on the professional needs of industry, and
therefore the academic base which is necessary to
properly fit graduates to achieve the professional skills
required to meet industry’s needs. The modern
professional institution also has a role in validating the
suitability and effectiveness of an academic course in
providing that base.
THE PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTION AND
INDUSTRY
The vast majority of members of professional
institutions will develop and exercise their professional
skills in industry. How then should the membership of a
professional institution by its employees benefit
industry? What added value should membership of a
modern professional institution bring to industry?
Improving the company’s image
Membership of a professional institution should serve
identify professional engineers by substantiating their
professional competence and experience. By helping
and encouraging engineers to achieve professional
recognition through membership of a professional
institution, a company or organisation strengthens its
reputation for quality, thus improving its image with its
customers.
Making the most of a company’s most valuable asset.
By becoming members of a professional institution,
individual engineers have demonstrated that they have
achieved or are working toward achieving validated
standards of professional competence. Encouraging and
assisting their engineers to achieve that professional
validation through membership of a professional
institution shows a company’s faith in their abilities, and
commitment to making the most of the company’s most
valuable asset, its people.
Improving a company’s competitiveness.
The standing of a professional institution should be such
that employing members of a professional institution
will assure its customers that they are dealing with a
company that is so concerned with professional
standards that it has chosen to have the quality of its
staff evaluated objectively. Its customers will know that
engineers who are members of a professional institution
have an inside track to the latest developments within
their field. By employing professionally recognised
engineers, a company implicitly demonstrates its own
professionalism, thereby improving its competitiveness.
Expanding a company's knowledge
The access to up-to-date technical information that a
modern professional institution should provide through
its activities such as publications, conferences and local
meetings should ensures that its members are amongst
the most well informed people in industry. For any
company which wishes to expand its knowledge base,

therefore a sure and cost effective way of doing so.
Encouraging and assisting its employees to achieve the
professional status of membership of a professional
institution will therefore give a company a competitive
advantage, strengthen its future and develop its internal
knowledge base, and should be seen as an investment
rather than a cost. Those benefits will be best achieved
by industry working in partnership with professional
institutions.
THE PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTION AND THE
INDIVIDUAL
A professional institution today must recognise that
modern engineering is invariably complex, and is
usually a team activity to which each individual brings
the particular contribution for which their education,
training and experience has fitted them. They may be
primarily concerned with innovation, creativity and
change, or with the management of existing
technologies at peak efficiency, or with the efficient
application of proven engineering techniques.
A professional institution should therefore define the
minimum standards of professional competence to be
achieved by all members of this team. Such differences
in how its members employ their academic achievement,
professional development and experience may be
reflected in the institution’s classes of membership.
However, such division of membership should not be
seen as a hierarchy, but rather as an acknowledgement
that they are different but equal members of the
engineering team.
But how should membership of a modern professional
institution benefit the individual? What added value
should membership of a modern professional institution
bring to the individual?
Demonstrating individual value
Becoming a member of a professional institution and
achieving its minimum standard of professional
competence and commitment should be a benchmark of
professional status that is recognised and respected by
other individuals, industry and society, thus
demonstrating the individual’s value.
Increasing individual value
Being a member of a professional institution should
provide an individual with the opportunity to keep up to
date with developments in their industry through the
institution's activities such as publications, conferences
and meetings. The knowledge and the contacts which
they gain from their membership go straight back into
the company where they work, so an individual’s value
to their company or future company will increase.
Valuing the profession
Membership of a modern professional institution should
provide the individual with the opportunity to
demonstrate support for their chosen profession and to
help shape its future. The use of that opportunity is of
course a matter for the individual. However, it may be
considered the exercise of that responsibility to support
and help shape the profession is in fact a prerequisite for
being a member of a profession, and is therefore the
duty of all members of the profession.
Self value
It is a natural desire for individuals to want their skills
and achievement acknowledged by their peers, by their
employer and by society. But perhaps just as important
is the sense of pride which comes from doing something
to the best of the individual’s ability. Gaining
professional recognition through membership of a
professional institution should not come easily, but
should provide a sense of great personal achievement.
Membership of a professional institution should make a
real difference to an individual’s personal and
professional development. The requirements for
membership of a professional institution should be the
acknowledged benchmarks of professional excellence.
When the individual achieves these standards of
excellence it should mean that they have been
recognised by their profession as a competent
professional who is committed to maintaining those
standards.
THE PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTION AND
SOCIETY
Societies and governments which represents them will
place their trust in the professional competence,
judgement and integrity of engineers, and will expect
them to put the interests of the community above those
of personal or sectional interests.
Increasingly in a modern society such competence,
judgement and integrity are no longer being taken for
granted but are being questioned and challenged, as
evidenced by society’s willingness to go to litigation, or
their representative’s demand for change when such
competence, judgement and integrity fail or appears to
fail to meet society’s increased expectation. Today for
example, the individual engineer in the maritime
industry must respond to the increasing demands by
society and their representatives for greater safety and
protection of the environment, as well as the more
efficient and sustainable use of resources. This is an
ironic demand on an industry which is repeatedly shown
to be the safest, cleanest and most efficient form of mass
transport!
Individual members of a profession will enjoy the
esteem and respect which society has of the profession
as a whole, or suffer from the lack of it. Conversely,
society’s view of a profession will invariably be
determined by the actions of its individual members.
It is implicit that as members of a profession, individuals
will observe standards of ethical and professional
conduct, set and enforced by its governing body, both
with regard to the individual member of society and to
society as a whole. It is therefore necessary that as such
a governing body, a professional institution should
regulate the activities of its members by, for example, a
Code of Professional Conduct. Such a Code should
require that all members of the professional institution
will always exercise their professional skill and
judgement to the best of their ability and discharge their
professional responsibility with integrity.
What therefore can and should society expect of a
modern professional institution?
Professional competence
Such is the breadth of activities which its members may
be engaged upon, membership of a professional
institution cannot in itself provide a guarantee that a
member is competent to carry out every activity which a
member of that profession might be engaged upon. The
principle of caveat emptor (“let the buyer beware”) must
apply to professional activity.
However, membership of a professional institution
should provide society with the assurance that a member
will only undertake work which they have sufficient
competence, time and authority to perform, and
implicitly will take all reasonable steps to maintain and
develop their professional competence.
Professional integrity
Society has the right to expect that a professional
institution will require its members to act at all times
with honesty, impartiality and integrity in respect of
their professional activities.
Health and safety
Society also has a right to expect that a professional
institution will require its members to always act in a
manner so as to safeguard the public interest in matters
of safety and health, of both the individual and the
environment. The modern professional institution
should therefore require of its members that in the
course of their professional work, they will consider and
minimise the risk to the health and safety of both the
public and the environment.
Corporate standards
In addition to setting and enforcing standards of
individual professional competence and integrity, I
believe that professional institutions also have a
responsibility to promote and encourage corresponding
corporate standards by those companies and
organisations which employ engineers. This may be
achieved through its links with industry, and by advisory
or active participation in national and international
organisations which are responsible for setting corporate
standards.
I believe that the modern professional institution has a
duty and responsibility to make its collective expertise
available to such bodies, both proactively and reactively,
as for example the contribution which the Royal
Institution of Naval Architects makes to the formation of
international legislation concerning safety through its
membership as a Non Government Organisation with
the International Maritime Organisation.
Regulation and Enforcement
The effectiveness and credibility of the regulation and
the enforcement of minimum standards of professional
competence will inevitably be measured in terms of the
sanctions to be applied in the event of non compliance.
The ultimate sanction is of course to prevent the
individual professional from lawfully practicing their
profession, which implies a statutory requirement to be
licensed or registered to practice. In some professions,
the protection of society cannot be adequately achieved
without such a requirement. However, a statutory
requirement to be licensed or registered to practice must
be based on a clear definition of the profession and its
practice. Such definition is difficult in such a wide
ranging activity or profession as engineering, many
aspects of which do not directly relate to the protection
of society, except perhaps to their pockets. Equally,
many aspects of engineering clearly do have such an
impact on the protection of society and the environment.
With feasibility must also be considered the acceptance
of statutory regulation of the engineering profession.
The need for such regulation and its implicit cost and
restriction on employment must be agreed by the
individual, by industry and by society. Regrettably,
such accord does not presently exist, although the
perception that voluntary regulation is failing may
hasten society’s demand for its adoption, if not across
the whole of the profession, them in respect of specific
activities.

It is of course the ultimate responsibility of governments
to ensure the protection of the public interest and the
collective good of society. However, regardless of any
governmental requirement for registration or licence, the
modern professional institution must recognize that it
too has a responsibility to society to enforce the
standards of professional and ethical conduct required
by their Codes of Professional Conduct.
A professional institution should have a clearly defined
disciplinary procedure to be followed in response to any
allegation of improper professional conduct by its
members.
The confidence of society in a profession requires the
willingness of professional institutions to enforce their
professional standards, and to take action where those
standards have not been met. Such action may of course
be limited, but this does not remove the obligation.
ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY

In a modern society which is increasingly demanding
greater individual and corporate accountability, to whom
then is the professional institution accountable?
Clearly a professional institution is accountable to its
individual members, who may be considered as its
shareholders, implicitly owning the institution and
collectively forming the profession. However, in setting
and enforcing professional standards, it is essential that
the professional institution acts independently and
without favour to the individual member.
Whilst mindful that its members are employed in
industry, professional institutions should not seek to
promote or endorse the commercial interests of industry.
Professional institutions cannot act as trade
associations, representing and promoting the
commercial interests of its members, nor indeed of
national interests. A professional institution’s credibility
and professional integrity demands its independence of
both industry and governments.
The professional institution should require of its
member’s that their obligations under, for example, the
institution’s Code of Professional Conduct should take
precedent over those to their employer, where conflict
exists. Such factors as loyalty or alternatively fear of
consequent action by the employer may determine the
actual compliance with such obligation, but do not
remove it.
Similarly, the professional institution must recognise
that its obligations to society should also take
precedence over those to its individual members.
Payment of membership fees should not imply
acceptance or support by a professional institution of all
its members’ actions, right or wrong.
Finally, the professional institution is also accountable
to the profession which it represents and serves.
It has a responsibility to contribute towards furthering
knowledge and understanding in the profession. It will
achieve this through the historic function of professional
institutions as a learned societies, by promoting and
facilitating the exchange of technical and scientific
information, views and discussion. This function
remains fundamental to the role of the modern
professional institution, but today it must use the many
means of communication available to carry out that
function. In doing so, it must recognise and be
responsive to the changing needs of individuals, industry
and society.
The professional institution has a responsibility to the
profession to promote the highest standards of practice
by those who are members of the profession.
The professional institution also has a responsibility to
promote and represent the profession, whether that be in
the understanding and perception which society and its
representatives have the profession, or in encouraging
and supporting those who may be considering becoming
members of the profession or have newly joined the
profession, through its activities related to schools and
universities.
CONCLUSIONS
In summary, the role of a modern professional
institution is complex and wide-ranging.
It should promote and facilitate the advancement of
knowledge and understanding in the profession it
represents.
It should set the standards of professional competence
and integrity to be achieved and exercised by its
members, acknowledging the wide range of activities
upon which its members might be engaged upon. It
should recognise the ultimate needs of industry in
setting those standards, and its responsibility to society
in enforcing them.
It should both guide and assist its members in achieving
those standards. It should also encourage and contribute
to the corporate achievement of those standards.
It should promote and represent the profession, seeking
to further the understanding and awareness which
society and its representatives have of the profession.
Throughout, it must recognise and respond to the
changing needs of the profession, and implicitly the
needs of its members, which it serves.
The role of a modern professional institution is not an
easy one, but it is, I believe, a vital one.