From MW: occupation: the principal business of one's life profession: a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation
Speaking as a person in the vet tech field who is finish up at a technical school I think the empahasis on the word use of profession has to do with the way that other medical professionals treat them rather than downtrodding on white collar work. Even in the vet field I am constantly reminded that I am a professional and to not let vets treat me like a gopher or a living restraining unit with no other abilities. This I can understand. I went to school for 4 years to earn two degrees. I can do 5 or 6 jobs that require extreme specialization in human medicine. I am not here to make coffee for your lazy ass, I am here to work. I have loans to pay off, my knowledge comes at a price. I am not the same thing as a vet. assistant who only has a GED; they don't know as much as I do and are not legally authorized to do things I can.
I am also from a trade family (welders, electricians and pipe fitters here) and my family members who are working in their respective trades also went to school for a long time and worked apprenticships. They are also considered professionals at what they do. Their professions get shit on too though I'm quite sure that anyone who thinks thier jobs are easy or crass has never tried to wire a house, repair a broken pipe or weld a turbine in a power plant.
I think the classism comes into play not through the wording but through the education barrier. As mentioned before, education comes at a price. And of course available education intersects many other things like racism, classism and poverty.
No. And I when I work, I still rely on work such as janitorial services. However this is when I start hitting the wall on how this works with classism and professionalism. For example, at the ER where I work I have a guy friend that is employed as our "Kennel assistant" which means he does laundry, cleaning, etc. He also works as a receptionist for us. Scott is awesome at what he does. I love not having to worry about biosecurity or having enough blankets or if the freezer is full or talking to clients on the phone. We have a vet who assumes that because Scott and I are both college students and are both working for him and that since I occasionally lend a hand with cleaning that we must have the same job. This is strange because when he hired both of us he knew that I was in a program for Vet techs and that Scott is in college for chemistry (he wants to go to vet school, ironically I will probably end up working for him and getting paid less than he does). Therefore, Scott got roped into anesthetizing a patient while the vet walked him through it. He was terrified and we immediately intervened and took over from him. Our shift runner also met with the Vet and had to explain the difference between myself and Scott since it was apparently not clear. What was really bad about the whole situation was that myself and our shift runner were available to perform the procedure but the vet hadn't even bothered to ask us. Scott and I do not have the same educational background. This does not give me permission to treat him like a roomba. However, Scott is still unable to do the same tasks as me. So why are nurses and techs and any other woman-dominated fields treated like anyone can do what we do? Why does my boss assume that Scott is better at medicine than I am? What should I do? Just allow him to put an animal at risk because he doesn't understand the distinction?
I should also add that the techs who interned and trained me did not have as much schooling as I did but I have always looked to them as being my seniors. They know more, they have more experience, they taught me a ton of tricks I never learned in an academic setting. Two of them started out with Scott's job.
I am not the same thing as a vet. assistant who only has a GED; While you could just be using a real life experience, discussing the level of education of a coworker, rather than their job title is pretty damned offensive. In an ideal word each person does the work that is listed in their job description, according to their title - that I get. But this 'so and so only has x amount of education' definitely comes across as dismissive, and insulting and in the states, as classist (as access to education is hugely predicated on class)
> But this 'so and so only has x amount of education' definitely comes across as dismissive, and insulting and in the states, as classist (as access to education is hugely predicated on class)<
But in order to be CVT in my state you must have at least 4 years of "higher education that is specialized to the field". I'm not trying to be dismissive, that's honestly how it works. You aren't even allowed to sign up for the test until you are within 6 mos. of completing. This still doesn't stop people from trying to apply for a tech job without that certification or experience. It certainly doesn't stop an old school vet from running herself ragged trying to do everything in the hospital.
There is a classist aspect to this, I see that. What I don't understand is how to solve it since they aren't jobs that everyone can do. And we're also discussing two female dominated professions that have basically been shat upon for years in the medical community. I don't think I can communicate this well enough because I am honestly confused. I don't think there is a way to get these jobs the respect they deserve without making the distinction between profession and occupation.
The thing though, is, you already described that the person had another job. Look, I've applied for jobs w/o the necessary degree.. and found that sometimes they aren't necessary for the job - now nothing I do is regulated by my state.
Again, I don't doubt there aren't educational and certification requirements for a host of jobs - that is valid. But when discussing someone of a different job title as 'with only x training' - all you had to say is they weren't certified. Anything beyond that, to me, is suspect.
occupation: the principal business of one's life
profession: a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation
Speaking as a person in the vet tech field who is finish up at a technical school I think the empahasis on the word use of profession has to do with the way that other medical professionals treat them rather than downtrodding on white collar work. Even in the vet field I am constantly reminded that I am a professional and to not let vets treat me like a gopher or a living restraining unit with no other abilities. This I can understand. I went to school for 4 years to earn two degrees. I can do 5 or 6 jobs that require extreme specialization in human medicine. I am not here to make coffee for your lazy ass, I am here to work. I have loans to pay off, my knowledge comes at a price. I am not the same thing as a vet. assistant who only has a GED; they don't know as much as I do and are not legally authorized to do things I can.
I am also from a trade family (welders, electricians and pipe fitters here) and my family members who are working in their respective trades also went to school for a long time and worked apprenticships. They are also considered professionals at what they do. Their professions get shit on too though I'm quite sure that anyone who thinks thier jobs are easy or crass has never tried to wire a house, repair a broken pipe or weld a turbine in a power plant.
I think the classism comes into play not through the wording but through the education barrier. As mentioned before, education comes at a price. And of course available education intersects many other things like racism, classism and poverty.
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And I when I work, I still rely on work such as janitorial services. However this is when I start hitting the wall on how this works with classism and professionalism.
For example, at the ER where I work I have a guy friend that is employed as our "Kennel assistant" which means he does laundry, cleaning, etc. He also works as a receptionist for us. Scott is awesome at what he does. I love not having to worry about biosecurity or having enough blankets or if the freezer is full or talking to clients on the phone.
We have a vet who assumes that because Scott and I are both college students and are both working for him and that since I occasionally lend a hand with cleaning that we must have the same job. This is strange because when he hired both of us he knew that I was in a program for Vet techs and that Scott is in college for chemistry (he wants to go to vet school, ironically I will probably end up working for him and getting paid less than he does).
Therefore, Scott got roped into anesthetizing a patient while the vet walked him through it. He was terrified and we immediately intervened and took over from him. Our shift runner also met with the Vet and had to explain the difference between myself and Scott since it was apparently not clear. What was really bad about the whole situation was that myself and our shift runner were available to perform the procedure but the vet hadn't even bothered to ask us.
Scott and I do not have the same educational background. This does not give me permission to treat him like a roomba. However, Scott is still unable to do the same tasks as me. So why are nurses and techs and any other woman-dominated fields treated like anyone can do what we do? Why does my boss assume that Scott is better at medicine than I am? What should I do? Just allow him to put an animal at risk because he doesn't understand the distinction?
I should also add that the techs who interned and trained me did not have as much schooling as I did but I have always looked to them as being my seniors. They know more, they have more experience, they taught me a ton of tricks I never learned in an academic setting. Two of them started out with Scott's job.
Reply
While you could just be using a real life experience, discussing the level of education of a coworker, rather than their job title is pretty damned offensive. In an ideal word each person does the work that is listed in their job description, according to their title - that I get. But this 'so and so only has x amount of education' definitely comes across as dismissive, and insulting and in the states, as classist (as access to education is hugely predicated on class)
Reply
But in order to be CVT in my state you must have at least 4 years of "higher education that is specialized to the field". I'm not trying to be dismissive, that's honestly how it works. You aren't even allowed to sign up for the test until you are within 6 mos. of completing. This still doesn't stop people from trying to apply for a tech job without that certification or experience. It certainly doesn't stop an old school vet from running herself ragged trying to do everything in the hospital.
There is a classist aspect to this, I see that. What I don't understand is how to solve it since they aren't jobs that everyone can do. And we're also discussing two female dominated professions that have basically been shat upon for years in the medical community.
I don't think I can communicate this well enough because I am honestly confused. I don't think there is a way to get these jobs the respect they deserve without making the distinction between profession and occupation.
Reply
Again, I don't doubt there aren't educational and certification requirements for a host of jobs - that is valid. But when discussing someone of a different job title as 'with only x training' - all you had to say is they weren't certified. Anything beyond that, to me, is suspect.
Reply
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