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The Changing Concepts of Expertise and Expertise Development

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Expertise at Work

Abstract

This chapter introduces the evolving concepts and developmental mechanisms of expertise. It begins by presenting definitions of expert and expertise, and moves to a review of the traditional concepts of expertise from the psychological perspective with its focus on individual excellence and the sociological perspective with its emphasis on expertise development. The next section focuses on expertise at work. Common skill acquisition models are addressed and practitioners are asked to consider the limitations of such models for identifying and building expertise in their organizations. This is followed by a presentation of the role of adaptive expertise and flexible expertise for dealing with unpredictable contextual demands and transferring expertise to other contexts. Finally, the chapter concludes with emerging ideas of expertise development in the workplace. These may be useful for finding general mechanisms of expertise development that explain and guide expansion and transformation of expertise for adaptation to dynamic contexts of the workplace.

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  1. Sangji University, Wonju, South Korea

    Yujin Kim

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  1. Yujin Kim
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  1. Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, USA

    Marie-Line Germain

  2. University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Robin S. Grenier

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Kim, Y. (2021). The Changing Concepts of Expertise and Expertise Development. In: Germain, ML., Grenier, R.S. (eds) Expertise at Work. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64371-3_2

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