Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 4, 2023

 

Research on Contemporary Chinese Professions under the New Development Pattern: From the Division of Labor to Professional Skills

(Abstract)

 

Liu Sida

 

In the new development pattern, the efforts made to promote high-quality development place new demands founded on the division of labor and the development of professional skills in contemporary Chinese professions. High-quality professional skills are not necessarily highly standardized or rationally developed, but are based on the professional autonomy of specialized talent, accumulated through long-term practical experience in the various ecosystems and food chains of professional systems, and gradually developed through social interaction between different professions. The basic theories of occupational sociology, such as Durkheim’s social division of labor, the neo-Weberian school of market control theory and the professional system theory of the Chicago school, all provide useful ideas for understanding the development of contemporary Chinese professions. This helps to explain the implications of the division of labor in the new development pattern and its impact on the development, interaction and internationalization of professions in China.