The Establishment of the Training Profession
The Establishment of the Training Profession With the outbreak of World War II, the industrial sector was once again asked to retool its factories to support the war effort. As with World War I, this initiative led to the establishment of new training programs within larger organizations and unions. The federal government established the Training Within Industry (TWI) Service to coordinate training programs across defense-related industries. The TWI also trained company instructors to teach their programs at each plant. By the end of the war, the TWI had trained over 23,000 instructors, awarding over 2 million certificates to supervisors from 16,000 plants, unions, and services.18
Many defense-related companies established their own training departments with instructors trained by TWI. These departments designed, organized, and coordinated training across the organization. In 1942, the American Society for Training Directors (ASTD) was formed to establish some standards within this emerging profession.19 At the time, the requirements for full membership in ASTD included a college or university degree plus two years of experience in training or a related field, or five years of experience in training. A person work- ing in a training function or attending college qualified for associate membership.
