Governor Larry Hogan is increasing both opportunity and equity by eliminating higher education requirements for many state jobs.
American society needs a radical move away from credentialism. So it’s a very promising sign that Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has announced that thousands of Maryland state government jobs no longer will require a four-year college degree.
This change will boost opportunity and equity. Maybe it will even start a broader movement, including in the private sector.
Not surprisingly, the STARs categorization is likely to give its greatest opportunity boost to Black people, Latinos, immigrants and veterans. This will make for a fairer country, but without dragging down those who have achieved their stations through merit. Keep in mind that about two-thirds of Americans do not have a four-year college degree, so this reform also could make government more representative and less prone to mistrust and resentment.
A lot of the newly reclassified jobs are in administration, customer service and information technology. Those are all areas where people can excel without the four-year college experience. Service in the military, for instance, might very often be a better background. The new policy will also benefit anyone who is very smart but just did not enjoy the college experience, or has a disability that made college difficult or unpleasant to attend.
It was not so long ago that very few American jobs, including positions of leadership, required a college degree. My father ran one of America’s larger chambers of commerce in the 1970s, and he never started college, much less finished it. He was too rebellious and didn’t have the right kind of patience, yet he had the people skills that made him a good leader and fundraiser.
Today, a comparable applicant for the job probably would not receive consideration. Most of all, this hurts talented young men who may not have unblemished backgrounds — a group in need of more attention.
Very often it is assumed there is something wrong with a job applicant who doesn’t have a college degree. Many competent people therefore rush to get a degree, making this to some extent a self-fulfilling prophecy but nonetheless a highly wasteful practice. America needs to step back from this credential “arms race.” It doesn’t make sense to end up with an economy where so many bartenders and taxi drivers have graduate degrees.
Unfortunately, credentialist requirements tend to creep upward. At first a four-year degree is required, then a graduate degree is mandated or at least preferred, perhaps an MBA. As someone who has spent his life in the academy, I can assure you that PhDs are entirely capable of preaching nonsense — and academics are by no means effective administrators or cooperators. Sadly, when it comes to credentialism and insisting on advanced degrees, I find that the non-profit sector, with its lack of relatively objective profit-and-loss measures, to be the worst.
The degree that you are paying student loans on just got a little more worthless
For SOME jobs I’d fully agree, others not so much. Nothing like the continuation of DUMBING DOWN – like too many aren’t already dumb enough. Guess next will be no requirement to read or write to get out of high school…oh wait – they already have that!
I have been in my profession 30+ and know more than a boss that just graduated college and only got the job because they had a degree.
I do not bother to apply for jobs that demand a degree even though I know that I am more than qualified, because I will be paid less and looked down upon.
I stopped applying for state jobs because they wanted to pay me half of what I was making since I did not have a degree but had 30+ years experience,. I was told that those qualifications were not important enough to warrant making more than the starting pay, but a degree with no experience was.
I laugh at the county jobs open, their starting salary, and requiring a degree.
Most trades, such as electricians, plumbers, hvac, welders – have on the job training and value those with experience.
Oh? Have they dropped the death jab mandate in order to be hired?
I’ve been working for fifty years now and based on my experience most of the brightest and hardest working people did not have a college degree, while many of the dumbest had a degree.
The grade school to college business model is still in play with ONLY colleges benefiting from a financial standpoint. Grade school does not prepare socially the social aspect of college. College dont care beccause the money continues to flow from admissions, failures then those replacements, sports and lastly alcohol purchases. Most who attented college never receive a degree yet the college acumen continues to be pushed ONLY to benefit the few.
Just yell moooooo just like cattle being herd to slaughter.
Yet we as a nation care more about alphabet identity, bad books in grade schools and whether Biden or Trump won the election.
Wake up!
This is just an extension of Affirmative Action!