With the advancement of higher education and the need to specialize, the age of "professionalism" began in the late 1800s. Physicians, architects, engineers, lawyers, just to name a few professions, were required to take licensing examinations. This was also a time when those who were involved in academic studies also became more specialized in such fields as geography, sociology, psychology, chemistry, and mathematics, just to name a few of the affected disciplines. The advantage of this was the increased proficiency of each professional.