The work of academic development – occupational identity, standards of practice, and the virtues of association

The paper addresses the questions of identity, ethics and organization for academic developers ('AD’ is used as an umbrella for academic staff development plus a number of other academic‐related professional university roles). It inquires into the degree of role differentiation between this occupational cluster and others that resemble it, outside as well as inside the universities. It argues, following Clark and Boyer, that ‘AD’ is both a scholarly and an academic pursuit, and adds that it is characterized uniquely by its focus on change and development, and that the nature of its ‘discipline’ is somewhat problematic. The paper examines the occupational freedoms of AD people and their special knowledge‐base, and argues for a ‘temptations‐based’ rather than a ‘virtues‐based’ approach to creating an ethical schema. It concludes with observations about how to achieve a firm professional identity for AD and recommends new organizational machinery to both politicize and defend the distinctive AD role in academia.