The expansion and specialisation of "non-academic" higher education roles, in response to increased regulation, monitoring and measurement of the sector, can be attributed to a rise in neoliberal manageralism and globalisation. Such changes have challenged the professional status of the academy, potentially "de-professionalising" academic staff. This paper explores the extent to which a concurrent professionalisation of administrative and managerial staff has occurred, and examines the case for higher education administration as a profession. Building on a conceptual framework linking the literatures of 'professionalism' and "identity", and referencing qualitative analysis undertaken as part of a doctoral thesis, the findings reveal that higher education administrators/managers possess the necessary tools to construct an identity as a professional, but that they lack the collective self-confidence to claim university administration as a profession. The paper recommends that through the facilitated acquisition of "academic empathy", increased sectoral and societal visibility, promotion of higher education administration as a career path, and the development of a strong and consistent public voice, it is possible to instil the collective self-confidence necessary to proudly assert that university administration is a profession.