THE SOCIALIZATION OF THE NEW PROFESSIONAL

For most recognized professions, an orderly career begins with training in professional schools or universities. The authoritative and authoritatian framework of relations between teachers and students is a fundamental element of institutionalized professional socialization. The hierarchy of excellence and prestige by means of which a profession legitimizes its internal stratification is produced in the university; professional recruits internalize it, first, in that context. The student's inevitable subordination and acceptance of his teachers' supervision are immediately and tacitly justified in terms of the teachers' greater expertise. The interrelations between the context of training and the contexts of practice are personalized; the teaching elites of a profession are often elite practitioners in the field. In any case, their personal sponsorship guarantees the proper socialization of the students to the professional world outside the school. As Friedson and Rhea remark: "Successful completion of a professional education in an objective measure of . . . technical and normative socialization, but its inadequacy seems to be implied by the characteristic tendency of professionals to rely on personal testimonials and recommendations."

These personalized warrants do more than simply insure the adequate socialization of the new professional, guaranteeing that his "compliance and consent" will not be too difficult to obtain; they reinforce the control by an elite and the latter's legitimacy. Prestige filters down, from the "great men" in a field to those who study or work under them, through ideological mechanisms; the formation of cults and the vicarious enjoyment of the great man's prestige by his underlings are characteristic of the training situation, but they also extend to the world of work.