Beruf

Beruf Definition

Beruf is the idea of a “calling” or vocation attached to professional work. It captures the claim, central to how many professionals see themselves, that they pursue their occupation out of an inner sense of duty or service rather than for the material rewards it brings.

The Professional Ideology

The notion of a calling forms part of the wider ideology of professionalism. By presenting their work as a vocation, professionals frame what they do as a form of service — something undertaken because they feel called to it, not because it pays well. This self-image helps to legitimate the special status and trust that the professions claim for themselves.

Criticism

Critics take a more sceptical view, arguing that the language of vocation functions as a smoke screen. On this reading, the rhetoric of service conveniently obscures — and helps to justify — the high salaries and privileges that professionals in fact enjoy.