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How to Attain Professional

A T T I T U D E S

By D. A . H. ROETHEL and B. R. STANERSON, AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

I T DOESN'T take a ps\ cliologist or psychiatrist to observe that those per­sons who have a healths attitude .award their occupations tend to he happiest and most successhil.

For the most part, attitudes a re gained through a complex of experi­ences. In certain individuals it is ex­tremely difficult to change attitudes which have been formed—perhaps this is why some chemists and chemical en­gineers are so eminently successful. Their attitudes fit those required for success and happiness in these profes­sions. Cou\ ersi ly, of course, this s;ime argument could he used to explain the plight of those persons who are less successful

Every chemist and chemical engi­neer needs certain professional atti­tudes to he a success. To many, to most perhaps, this comes easily and naturally—as easily and naturalh as growing up. As a matter of fact, pro­fessional growth is similar in many re­spects to human growth; each has its "stages."

The American Chemical Society is a scientific and professional society. This means that its members are expected to he not only scientists hut professional people as well. ACS members seem generally less aware of their shortcom­ings as professionals than they arc of their deficiencies in scientific accom­plishments. Perhaps this is because so many intangibles are involved in pro­fessional matters, and it is less easv to

define what is actually needed. The C "ouncil Committee on Profes­

sional Relations and Status has given considerable thought to this matter. Its members feel that professional attitudes are formed, grow, and are modified throughout ones entire pro­fessional career. Like am educational process, however, the college age is specially important in forming attitudes which may have a lasting and signifi­cant effect. For that reason, the Com­mittee asked ACS headciuarters stafl to study what was being done in college and university chemistry departments to help guide students toward those attitudes believed to he desirable.

While it was realized that best re­sults in such a study could l>e obtained by visiting schools, observing programs, and asking questions directly, this method was impractical; a question­naire was used instead. Certain ques­tions could be answered by "yes" or "no"" while others involved written comments. As it turned out. the re­sults are more suitable to a discussion of opinions expressed by respondents than to statistical treatment. Depart­ment heads and faculty sponsors who received the questionnaire commented freely, even on questions that were supposed to have received a simple positive or negative answer.

The questionnaire sought to deter­mine whether or not there was an attempt to inculcate professional atti­tudes in students ( 1) through specific

lectures to undergraduates oi gradiuttes^ ( 2) through occasional discussion or lectures in other courses or on an indi­vidual basis, or (3) whether there was little or no discussion along this line.

The Pros and the Cons

Scientists often a re described as rugged individualists, highly opinion­ated, or just plain nonconformists. Th i s questionnaire confirmed these charac­teristics to a considerable extent. Statements on the value of lectures on professional attitudes varied all the \vayT

from, "We consider them absolutely essential —they are a specific require­ment for the B.S. and B.A. degrees;" and "We believe in it thoroughly aftcr nearly 20 years of experience;" to the other extreme, "Like other sermons, their effect is minimal;" "We have had very poor reaction to lectures;'' and "Formal lectures seem to me to b>e a waste of time."

Not all respondents expressed these extremes. In numbers, they were abou t equal to one another and represented approximately 15 fi of the total re­sponse. The other 8 5 r ; took a m o r e moderate outlook, the following being; typical: "A few lectures on the sub­ject are worth while but not a scries of lectures;" "These (discussions) are handled principally through the stu­dent affiliate chapter;" "The best atti­tudes will he absorbed from men who are themselves good examples of pro-

7 2 C & E N NOV. 17. 19 5 8

Here are some pros a n d cons about discussing pro­fessional topics wi th college chemistry students

i ess iona l m m ; **Wc l>elie\e i n o i e can h e a c c o m p l i s h e d on an ind i \ idual d i s cus s ion hasis than in l e c t u r e s ; "1 w o u l d cons ide r o n e o r t w o l ec tu res a yea r a d e q u a t e ; " a n d "I t seems to us that t h e d e s i r a b l e feelings abou t one ' s p ro­fession a r e not \ er\ well mcu lc . i i ed from l ec tu re s ; ra ther thev must grow from w i t h i n , ar is ing out ol pa r t i c i pa ­t ion in a g r o u p . "

T h e s e r e m a r k s indica te that the re is a r e a s o n a b l e a m o u n t ot ellort and inter­est in s h a p i n g t h e a t t i t udes oi s t u d e n t s t o w a r d t h e profess ion the> a r e a b o u t t o e n t e r . T h e r e are great va r i a t i ons . h o w e v e r , in a p p r o a c h to the m a t t e r . S o m e be l i eve it s hou ld be- l o r m a l i / c d : o t h e r s feel t ha t it should be e \ t r e m e l \ i n fo rma l or casua l ; and a majoritv r e c o m m e n d s o m e t h i n g i n t e r m e d i a t e .

The Statistics of the Study

T h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e w a s ma i l ed to t h e h e a d s of d e p a r t m e n t s of c h e m i s t r y a p ­p r o v e d by t h e C o m m i t t e e on Profes­s iona l T r a i n i n g a n d to faculty sponsors of s t u d e n t affiliate c h a p t e r s at schools not o n th is list, a total of 4 0 3 . R e t u r n s w e r e r ece ived from 257 schools , a 6 3 . 8 r

( r e sponse . T h e la rges t n u m b e r ot r e s p o n d e n t s ,

158 . i n d i c a t e d t h a t va r ious a s p e c t s of p ro fess iona l a t t i t u d e s w e r e d i scussed in a g e n e r a l m a n n e r , e i ther in c h e m i s t r y c o u r s e s or on an ind iv idua l basis . M a n y cal led p a r t i c u l a r a t t en t ion to t h e " i n d i v i d u a l b a s i s " pa r t of t h e ques t i on .

The next la rges t g r o u p . V) r e spond­e n t s , i n d i c a t e d tha t at the i r schools t h e r e w a s li t t le or no d i scuss ion in lec­t u r e s or wi th ind iv idua l s o n t h e sub jec t of p ro fes s iona l a t t i t u d e s . T h i s lack of ac t iv i ty does not necessari lv i n d i c a t e a n e g a t i v e a t t i t u d e t o w a r d t h e idea S o m e p ro fessed tha t t h e \ wou ld like to s ta r t such a project if thev c o u l d find t h e right pe r son to do the job. o t h e r s i n d i c a t e d that t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e h a d p r o v i d e d a basis for def in i t ive t h i n k i n g a long t h e s e l ines . Onlv a b o u t one t h i r d ot this g r o u p de f in i t eh indi­c a t e d d o u b t s as to its v a l u e

Fortv schools r e p o r t e d tha t o n e or m o r e specif ic l ec tu res on profess ional ­ism w e r e p r e s e n t e d anniiallv to t h e n s t u d e n t s , mainlv to u n d e r g r a d u a t e s .

What Topics Are Discussed?

(Questions w e r e a sked abou t w h a t profess ional topics w e r e d i s c u s s e d . s i \ t o p i c s w e r e more p o p u l a r t h a n all the o t h e r s , e a c h b e i n g d i scussed bv 17 1 or m o r e schools. ( b e c k e d most fre­q u e n t l y ( 193 t imes ) was the m a t t e r ot d i s c u s s i n g emplov inent o p p o r t u n i t i e s in var ious fields. Almost e q u a l l y i m p o r tau t , a c c o r d i n g to the r e s p o n d e n t s , was the clesirahility of b e l o n g i n g to a p ro ­fessional society and s u p p o r t i n g its p ro­g rams . Discussions of t h e usefu lness ot g r a d u a t e t r a i n i n g in c a r e e r p l a n n i n g , the profess ional va lue of a t t e n d i n g t e c h n i c a l m e e t i n g s , a n d u s i n g t echn ica l pub l i ca t ions to t h e best a d v a n t a g e for job success were* n e a r l y vis p o p u l a r . M e n t i o n e d onlv sl ightly less l r c q u e n t K was the* n e e d for c o n t i n u e d stuclv a l t e r a c c e p t i n g emplov inent .

I n t e r v i e w t e c h n i q u e s a n d e th ics w e r e c o n s i d e r e d vv orthv of d i scuss ion b y 130 r e s p o n d e n t s , and pe r sona l respons ib i l i ty tor m e r i t i n g p rofess iona l r ecogn i t ion t h r o u g h a t t i t u d e s , k n o w l e d g e , a n d b e ­havior was m e n t i o n e d bv 119 ot those w h o a n s w e r e d . O p p o r t u n i t i e s for a d ­v a n c e m e n t in var ious t y p e s of pos i t ions was c h e c k e d 104 incs.

F o u r o the r top ics w e r e m e n t i o n e d from 7 2 to S 6 t imes e a c h . T h e s e w e r e the t e a m a p p r o a c h to r e sea rch , p r o b ­l ems of job ad ju s tmen t , e m p l o y e r - e m -plov ee re la t ionships , a n d the respons i ­bili ty of each profess iona l person to his c o m m u n i t y . Almost as m a i n r e s p o n d ­en ts i n d i c a t e d tha t t h e s e topics we»*c not d i scussed , from w h i c h it m a y b e i n f e r r ed tha t e i the r o p i n i o n was a b o u t e q u a l l y d iv ided as t( t he i r n e e d o r tha t t h e v w e r e b e i n g ove r looked .

L e a s t f r equen t ly m e n t i o n e d topics ot d iscuss ion , e a c h b e i n g m e n t i o n e d 2 S

t imes o r less w e i e e i t ip lox meu t eon-tracts , pa t en t l i gh t s , a n d t h e e t h i c s of c h a n g i n g jobs. Fo r t h e s e , from HH to 9 4 clieek\ w e r e e n t e r e d for " n o t dis­cussed/* A p p a r e n t ] ) t h e s e top ic s are rece iv ing relativelv l i t t le a t t e n t i o n , and v et t h e r e arc de f in i t e i n d i c a t i o n s of the i r n e e d based tm ca se h is tor ies of diffi­culties a r i s ing from lack of in fo rmat ion .

On t h e has is of re tu rns from 2">T de­p a r t m e n t s of chomist iv i n t l i e l ' . S . . the fol lowing o b s e r v a t i o n s o n efforts to gu ide profess iona l a t t i t u d e s of s t u d e n t s appear 'ustified

Summary

• "I he r e a i e s t rong o p in ions b o t h for and against the d i scuss ion of profes­sional topics wi th col lege s t u d e n t s

• \ majoritv b e l i e v e t h a t s o m e dis­cussion ol profess ion. i l top ics is des i r ­ab le hut it s h o u l d be :

lnforin.il .ind on an i nd iv idua l bas is insofar as pos s ib l e .

Limited t o a tew lec tures il such seem i iee« issar\ .

( a n i e d o u t in s emina r s , s t uden t affil­iate chap te r m e e t i n g s , a n d like ses­sions o u t s i d e t he academic- c u r r i c u l u m .

Strong!) s u p p l e m e n t e d bv s o u n d professh>nal e x a m p l e .

• Some l ibe ra l arts col leges a r e not as c o n c e r n e d a b o u t i n c u l c a t i n g p ro fes ­sional a t t i t udes as o t h e r schools be ­cause thev feel their s t u d e n t s will re­ceive t h i s t r a i n i n g in g r a d u a t e schools . Others , however , feel this is neeessarv since not al l s t u d e n t s c o n t i n u e wi th g r a d u a t e w ork.

• T h e m o r e fo rmal l ec tu res on p ro ­fessional a t t i t u d e s , w h e n thev arc p r e ­sented, are usual lv given in i n s t i t u t i ons with large n u m b e r s of s t u d e n t s ma jo r ­ing in chemis t ry . Smal l schools verv seldom organi/ ie courses or l e c tu r e s . All appear t o b e equa l ly i n t e r e s t e d in the subject.

The Cinmmit tcc on Profess iona l Re la ­tions a n d S t a t u s , af ter r e v i e w i n g all of the1 results, be l ieves tha t th i s survey7

shows a se r ious interest b \ A m e r i c a n colleges and univers i t ies in i n c u l c a t i n g des i rable profess ional a t t i t u d e s in y o u n g people a h o u t to en te r the c h e m i c a l pro­fession. T h e C o m m i t t e e is stuclv ing various ways ot ass is t ing in this p ro ­gram. Cur ren t efforts i n c l u d e c o o p e r ­ating with c e r t a i n local s ec t i ons wish­ing to sponsor d i scuss ions and l ec tu r e s on professional top ics at col leges a n d universities in t h e i r a reas , and the p r e p ­aration of p a m p h l e t s on var ious p ro ­fessional topics in w h i c h a t t i t u d e s arc* an impor tan t p a r t . •

N O V . 17, 1958 C & E N 7 3