The Case to End Degree Discrimination

This week in The Washington Post, I made the case against degree discrimination.

Three seemingly innocuous words - “bachelor’s degree required” - are causing serious damage to our workers and our economy.?As applications per job listing surged with the rise of online job-searching, employers looked for automated ways to screen applicants.

It wasn’t always this way. Employers have been sleepwalking into a system that screens out the majority of workers, including millions of people who possess sought-after skills.?

Requiring a medical degree to treat patients, or a civil engineering degree to plan a bridge, is common sense. By contrast, requiring a generic college degree to be considered for jobs like office managers, sales representatives, digital marketers, or data center technicians may be common, but it makes no sense.?

Some say a bachelor’s degree signals capacity to learn, cognitive skills, and commitment. Fair enough, but college is not the only way to learn, nor the only source for skills.?

Our workforce includes over 70 million workers who do lack bachelor's degrees, but do not lack skills - they are “skilled through alternative routes.” STARs gained in-demand skills through paths like military service, certificate programs, or community college. Mostly, they learn by doing, on-the-job.?

We all saw the commitment and ingenuity of essential workers, of whom two-thirds are STARs. Employers spend money to recruit college-educated workers who might have skills for these jobs, while they waste money to screen out STARs who could do those very same jobs.?

College can be a terrific bridge to opportunity, but should not be a drawbridge that shuts out anyone who doesn’t manage to cross it. Employers played a leading role building this system, but they can also lead in dismantling and replacing it.?

If you can do the job, you should get the job. End degree discrimination.

Join the conversation with us on LinkedIn,?

Byron

Photo source: Gillian Jones/The Berkshire Eagle via AP, as featured in the Washington Post