Analysis of views of ACM and IEEE members concerning professionalism in the computing field

As computers become more of an indispensable part of everyday life, there is a growing feeling that those who design, program, build, and manage these machines should be professionals, in the same sense that lawyers, doctors, accountants and architects are professional. One criterion (perhaps the most important) of a true profession is that it be represented by a strong professional society. One reason perhaps why the computer field has not developed to the status of a true profession is that it does not as yet have this prerequisite professional society. The ACM and IEEE are the two largest of the many associations in the computer field that purport to be professional societies. Information from the members of these two organizations concerning their views on professionalism in the computer field should be useful in determining why there is still not the strong professional computer society that is needed. This paper presents preliminary data drawn from an ongoing study of the opinions of ACM and IEEE members concerning aspects of professionalism in the computer field.