Professionalism among employees in Lebanon: the Lebanese University

Abstract

Purpose The present paper tries to assess empirically the level of professionalism. In addition, this paper tries to analyze the factors affecting professionalism. For this reason, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to provide an empirical assessment of professionalism in a bureaucracy, and second, to assess the relationship of age and education, on the one hand, and bureaucratic professionalism, on the other hand. Because whims make a poor basis for change, an objective empirical assessment of the level of professionalism is provided and that is where the strength of this paper lies. Design/methodology/approach The data for this study are obtained from a survey administered to employees. Findings The findings of this paper are as follows: low professionalism among civil servants in Lebanon, no relationship between professionalism and age of employees and the direct relationship between professionalism and education of employees. Practical implications It is true that the woes of the administration lie in the confessional political system of the country; however, concentrating on contextual and behavioral variables that can be controlled could alleviate the problem. Social implications Recruiting educated employees based on their competency levels may alleviate the behavioral problem and may lead to improved professionalism. Originality/value No previous work was done in this regard.