This paper explores whether educational management provides an answer to current issues in adult education and what competencies educational managers need to professionally address these challenges. Initially, it outlines how the current status quo in adult education has been historically determined, highlighting why the functional profile of educational management has emerged. The author, Ulrike Pigisch, provides an overview of different perspectives and approaches to the current trends of economization in adult education. It expresses the conditions under which educational management could represent an opportunity for adult education. A particular aim of this work is to contribute to the debate on professionalization in adult education, which is why references to theoretical and practical elements of professionalism are repeatedly made.