AN INTERPROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON ADVERTISING EDUCATION

This study examines the growth of collegiate advertising education within the overall context of professional education. An interprofessional framework is first developed by analyzing the development of university-based programs in law, journalism, and business administration against a set of parameters drawn from the literature on professional education. Based on this analysis, three generalizations are made which provide the dimensions of the framework: (1) The problem of finding objectives is dealt with most effectively when the desired qualities of graduates are defined as a basis for establishing standards of training which are then endorsed by the constituent occupation as the prerequisites for entry into the profession. (2) The problem of attaining uniqueness is dealt with most effectively when an ongoing commitment to research is established by increasing the quality and output of graduate research programs; by supporting sufficient number of scholarly journals unique to the field; and by increasing the rewards for scholarship, whether it be published or non-published. (3) The problem of achieving reform is most effectively dealt with when an outside organization is solicited to sponsor an extensive evaluation of education in the occupational area and the results of such an evaluation are used as the foundation for organized discussion and decision-making.; Within the limits of the interprofessional framework, advertising education is seen to be in the early stages of professional development.