The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has identified professionalism as one of eight “career readiness” competencies that broadly prepares the college educated for success in the workplace and lifelong career management. In a recent study conducted by NACE, employers who hire college graduates were asked which professional competencies were essential to workplace success. Professionalism was at the top of the list with 97.5% of respondents classifying it as either “absolutely essential” or “essential” for an employee’s success.

But what exactly is professionalism?

NACE defines professionalism as “know work environments differ greatly, understand and demonstrate effective work habits, and act in the interest of the larger community and workplace.”

Know work environments differ greatly:

As an instructor who has taught a Temple University College of Liberal Arts (CLA) internship course for over six years, I’ve had the pleasure of teaching students who have interned at a diverse range of sites, including the Philadelphia Zoo and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. Although outward professionalism will look very different for each of these sites (interns work outside in t-shirts at the Philadelphia Zoo as they engage with wildlife and interns report to City Hall in business suits at the district attorney’s office), it doesn’t mean one is less “professional” than the other. Expectations and cultural norms just drastically differ at these two different sites. If a student intern walked into a district attorney’s office in a t-shirt and jeans, they would most likely be perceived as unprofessional and labeled as unserious about the type of work being done. On the flip side, if a student intern walked through the gates at the Philadelphia Zoo in a suit, they would be looked at as unprepared for the type of work needing to be done. A big part of professionalism is understanding what the expectations and cultural norms will be and then following the mold accordingly.

Understand and demonstrate effective work habits:

There are certain work habits that are universally valued and lead to workplace success. These are habits of integrity, dedication, punctuality, accountability, honoring confidentiality, showing respect, reliability, maturity, and demonstrating a calm attitude. Students get a chance to develop and practice these characteristics inside and outside of the classroom. In the Department of Psychology’s required 1-credit class, Careers in Psychology, students are taught about the importance of professionalism and required to practice it through conducting mock interviews, modeling professional communication, and preparing professional materials, like resumes and cover letters. Outside of the classroom, students work as interns, research assistants, and volunteers. Through experiences working on projects and communicating with others, students have a chance to solve problems, practice professional communication skills, collaborate effectively, and build professional relationships.

Act in the interest of the larger community:

Temple’s psychology majors typically share a common interest: they want to help others. They often do this in a variety of ways, one of which is through community-based engagement. Girls Inc., a non-profit mentorship program that leads research-based efforts to empower and educate young girls in the community has been recruiting Temple psychology majors as interns and program facilitators for many years. Student interns receive the chance to mentor school-aged girls in the Philadelphia region and work to support healthy intellectual and emotional development. The goal is for interns to make a community-impact by increasing the number of young girls going to college, advocating for their rights, and feeling empowered to take on male-dominated careers. The director of the Philadelphia and Southeastern New Jersey office, Natasha Andrews, M.S.E.d., has and continues to work closely with Temple University’s psychology majors every year. She has first-hand observed their positive influence on the lives of young girls in the community. She has been consistently impressed with these student interns’ professionalism and community impact. She proudly said “Temple’s psychology majors bring valuable skills, commitment, and a strong work ethic. They fully engage in the training and supervision from the Girls Inc. senior program staff and have proven to be strong facilitators and great collaborators. Several have gone on to join us as full and part-time staff members.”

Professionalism is indeed an important factor in job success, and our Temple psychology majors are hard at work practicing and refining this competency each day, inside and outside of the classroom.