The findings reported here are part of a larger study of the role of middle managers in the UK further education colleges. The study proposes and discusses a typology for the middle manager role, analyses factors which facilitate and impede managers in role, and models the interaction of the college environment with the role. This process gives insight into the emerging concepts of professionalism, which are discussed here in relation to the literature of managerialism and "new" professionalism. The paper discusses what manifestations of new professionalism can be observed in the colleges, how perceptions of professionalism differ from role to role and from college to college, and how professionalism can be modelled and further understood. (Contains 1 figure.)