Project management - a growing profession. The Romanian case

The paper analyses the status of professionalization of project management in Romania and worldwide. The relevance of the topic is grasped in the context in which project management has been confronted with various shifts: from a technical/ engineering function to a macro-economic organizational concern, from a tools-and-techniques view to an innovation-driven approach, from widespread adoption by the industrialized world to an accelerated growth in developing nations, too. The explosion of practice has raised the issue of theoretical foundations and professionalization. The current status of professionalization of project management is discussed against a series of standards found in the sociology of professions literature, with a special focus on the issue of education in project management - education models, trends, global reach. The paper also assesses the Romanian educational offer in the field of project management in relation to the larger issue of professionalization, with a view to signalling possible areas of growth and improvement: ensuring accuracy of term usage, refining the educational curricula, initiating large-scale research programs on Romanian realities, publishing research results, building awareness around the benefits of the profession, increasing strength and visibility of professional associations, lobbying to require certification for key project management positions.