Professionalism vs. Public Service Motivation: Can Public Administration Education Alleviate the Tension?

Abstract

Prior research has documented pernicious effects of professional education on prosocial and public service motivations. Considering the centrality of these values for public administration education—also increasingly professionalized—it is vital to understand the effect undergoing such training has on future public servants. Based on a historical review of the emergence of professionalism, with special emphasis on the Weberian conceptions of rationalization, we develop hypotheses regarding the likely effect of M.P.A. education on students’ public service motivation and leadership styles, and test them using data from surveys completed by students before beginning and after graduating from a Master of Public Administration program. The effects on leadership styles are consistent with the aspirations of M.P.A. programs; however, the effects on public service motivation are mixed, and largely congruent with the literature on the effects of professional education on prosocial and service motivations, and not fully congruent with the aspirations of M.P.A programs.