Abstract
Conference interpreters have traditionally been regarded as the elite among translation and interpreting professionals, with considerably higher levels of occupational status and prestige than, for example, (written) translators and community interpreters. However, recent research suggests that conference interpreters’ status is not as high as could be expected and that the profession currently faces major challenges with implications for the status of its members. Based on a discussion of the sociological concepts of (occupational) status, prestige, profession and professionalization, this chapter analyses the professionalization of conference interpreting and developments in conference interpreters’ status over the years. Challenges to professional and occupational status brought to the fore by the analyses include the loss of regulatory power of AIIC, the profession’s main standard-setting and gatekeeping body, market fragmentation, the spread of English as a lingua franca (ELF) and increased technologization, notably the advent of remote interpreting.
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