The Emergence of an Occupation

Abstract

In 1958, Hughes developed a theory of the elements accompanying occupational emergence. This article focuses on defining and measuring the emergence and existence of an occupation. Practitioners in our study sample purvey employee assistance programs to the workplace. The jobs of “occupational program consultants” (OPCs) were created largely with public funds during the 1970s. Now largely independent of public funding, the collectivity of OPCs offers an opportunity to examine Hughes's theory. We empirically test the occupation's existence by comparing job roles of persons who received distinctively different educational training, those with formal education in social work versus those trained in business administration. A high degree of similarity in job performance, professionalism, and job-related attitudes is revealed across the two groups, suggesting a new occupation has emerged.