Is the Job Market Ready for Alternative Credentials?

In this piece, I use the words "credential, non-degree credential, and alternative credential" to refer to certificate programs, bootcamps, licenses, micro-credentials, industry certifications, and all other short-term programs that do not result in an associate or bachelor's degree.

For the last several years in the higher education policy space, leaders, policymakers, and other stakeholders have focused on the idea of high-value #credentials as an alternative to a two- or four-year degree. Significant research has been conducted around the importance of non-degree credentials of value and how they may be a building block of the future of higher education. There is no doubt that a degree is not the only gateway to a prosperous future. There should be reputable options other than attending traditional college for whom a bachelor's degree is not the right fit. Moreover, in today's world, where the postsecondary student body is trending older and employed, short-term credential programs that offer flexibility through #onlinelearning are necessary for professional advancement. As I've said before, many working adults do not have the time or money to put toward a four-year degree program.

More and more credential programs are popping up at traditional and non-traditional higher education institutions—in many ways, #highereducation is responding to skills gaps in the labor market. Seemingly, when someone attains a #credential that should translate to a job opportunity, they should have a seamless pathway to getting hired. For example, Coursera offers a #certification course for?Social Media Marketing in Practice Specialization . This rigorous #course teaches the exact skills needed to become an effective social media marketer. However, job sites like? Glassdoor ,? Indeed , and? Monster ?all note that a bachelor's degree is a preferred qualification for social media marketing positions. Why is this the case? Why do we teach to the job if the job prefers a degree that may not contain job-specific learning outcomes?

A non-degree credential study by Strada Education Foundation , shows that one in five working-age adults?has a non-degree credential as their highest level of education.

With the rise of #bootcamps , badges, industry certifications, and #microcredentials , employers must keep pace and recognize these credentials as valuable to jobs, especially because short-term programs are often more flexible, affordable, and accessible to working individuals. One issue is that nearly half of employers report using an automated prescreening process, and only one-third of these employers' systems recognize alternative credentials ( SHRM ). Therefore, those without traditionally recognized degrees are automatically removed from the hiring pipeline, even though they may have a credential specific to the job for which they are applying. The more significant issue is that so many credentials are available in today's marketplace that they are challenging to evaluate. HR professionals have difficulty determining which skills a candidate has attained based on their alternative credentials ( SHRM ).

It is true—there are seemingly infinite alternative credentials and just as many providers. However, the variation in skills attained in a #bachelorsdegree program is just as vast. And yet, a candidate with a bachelor's degree is consistently preferable to #hiringmanagers over a candidate with an alternative credential.

The Solution is Two-Fold.?

1. Improve Outcome Transparency:?Education providers must be more explicit and transparent about #learningoutcomes associated with credential programs. This means education providers must research #labormarket demands and, in turn, articulate outcomes that speak to in-demand skills.
2. Broaden Interview & Hiring Processes:?Employers must broaden their hiring qualifications and adjust their interview processes to better evaluate a candidate's #skillset rather than defaulting to a preference for a bachelor's degree. Removing "bachelor's degree" from the list of minimum qualifications immediately diversifies the applicant pool to include those with different, yet still valid, credentials of value. The current process inherently disregards candidates who have chosen a different postsecondary path and favors those privileged enough to attain a four-year degree.

There is undeniable value in a bachelor's degree. As a leader at the? University of Massachusetts , a board member of? UMass Global , and a degree holder myself, I know firsthand that attaining a degree is often synonymous with developing critical thinking skills, time management skills, and a well-rounded educational experience. From an #employer perspective, a candidate with a bachelor's degree has already undergone a rigorous screening process via college admissions and shows persistence in completing a four-year course of study. However, attaining a #bachelors degree should not be the only on-ramp to a successful career. In fact, maintaining the status quo in the #hiringprocess perpetuates inequity and denies well-qualified candidates with a non-degree credential—that they spent time and money to achieve—a chance to succeed.

Professions within the technology sphere are evolving to an admirable point where an alternative credential is a valued component of the hiring process. Several large #employers , like? Liberty Mutual Insurance , have even created their own coding bootcamps to fulfill their hiring needs for developers. Others have partnered with higher education institutions to develop short-term intensive bootcamps that result in certification and, in turn, a minimum qualification for a job with the partnered employer (CIO Dive ). Through both of these methods, employers have an automatic way to verify credentials and, presumably, have a baseline knowledge for comparing other credentials that are equivalent to their in-house or partnered programs. While tech companies have yet to perfect a more inclusive hiring process, they have certainly opened the door to candidates who do not have a #collegedegree but have valuable credentials that have prepared them to do their job well.

There are many ways to prepare for a career—candidates should not be ruled out simply because they do not possess a bachelor's degree. This requires better alignment between educators and employers around articulating learning outcomes and skills achieved through the credential program. As more working adults opt for #alternativecredentials , higher education will continue to play a critical role in broadening offerings and partnering with employers to ensure these credentials are validated and valued as qualifications for a job.?