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From: tonyw@ubvax.UUCP (Tony Wuersch)
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory
Subject: Re: A grumble about credentialism.
Message-ID: <299@ubvax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 16-Aug-85 15:07:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: ubvax.299
Posted: Fri Aug 16 15:07:39 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 20-Aug-85 06:31:20 EDT
References: <955@umcp-cs.UUCP> <1110@umcp-cs.UUCP> <290@ubvax.UUCP> <1596@watdcsu.UUCP>
Reply-To: tonyw@ubvax.UUCP (Tony Wuersch)
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Organization: Ungermann-Bass, Inc., Santa Clara, Ca.
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In article <1596@watdcsu.UUCP> dmcanzi@watdcsu.UUCP (David Canzi) writes:
>In article <290@ubvax.UUCP> tonyw@ubvax.UUCP (Tony Wuersch) writes:
>>A popular modern theory of education is that education sorts people
>>by educational credentials, keeps accounting of these credentials,
>>and helps to ensure that the supply of credentials more-or-less
>>matches the demand for credentials by adjusting educational standards
>>appropriately.  Personally, I like this theory.  I think it sums
>>up all that education can be observed to do.
>
>I have a theory about education that's quite different from yours.  The
>personnel departments can raise the educational requirements for jobs
>arbitrarily high to limit the number of people who will apply.  So, if
>the universities crank out a lot of bachelor's degrees, the personnel
>departments will ask for master's degrees.
>
>The result is that it takes more education to get hired than to do the
>work.  So people have to waste several years of their lives getting
>extra education, that they only use once, when they show their would-be
>employers their transcripts.

That's not a different theory at all.  I said "helps to ensure", not
"ensures".  Big difference.  There's definitely some inflation of
credentials whenever a glut in supply for a particular job arises.
Equilibrium is as usual the micro pipe dream.

On the other hand, personnel departments are becoming aware that screening
by credentials can lead to hiring overqualified people -- who may by
virtue of being overqualified applying for a lesser job be indicating
undercompetence in past jobs (*maybe*, note).  So the strategy of upping
credential requirements is usually not what happens; more often upping
experience requirements is what happens, I think.

Tony Wuersch
{amd,amdcad}!cae780!ubvax!tonyw

"And if you don't believe all the things I say,
 I'm certified prime by the USDA!"