Prospects for Professionalism in Project Management

There has been in recent years a marked upsurge in interest in professionalism in project management. The professionalization of project management is apparently demanded by employers, clients, and sponsors alike, seeking guarantees of competence in the delivery of projects. Equally, there appears to be significant demand on the part of project management (PM) practitioners seeking more secure and transferable credentials to act as guarantees of competence and to build a more reliable, informed, and effective knowledge base in what is often an “accidental” or secondary profession. Nonetheless, skepticism persists regarding the depth and breadth of project management's institutionalized knowledge base, and the potential for the field to attain the levels of internal organization, legitimacy, and influence achieved by other, more established professions. Key to this debate are the activities of the various professional associations which represent project management.