The Negative Impacts of Credential Inflation Essay Example for Free

The nix Impacts of certification Inflation EssayThe Negative Impacts of Credential Inflation A market that is flooded with corroboration laden workers vying for a small compute of projects could tip the economy into a recession (Collins, 2002). This idea put forth by Collins seems apocalyptic when the current state of the economy is taken into account, and brings to light an underlying additional cause of the slow convalescence being witnessed in the personal line of credit market, credential pretension.This is the edge by which schoolingal or academic corroboration lose value over time, partnered with lowered expectations of holding a stop in the job market. Credential inflation is increasing rapidly, causing larger debt among the workforce due to over-schooling, leaving college educated item-by-items with fewer jobs upon grade, and resulting in employers requiring degrees for jobs where they were once non needed.This weakening of the belief in credentials has b een a persistent trend in the last century in higher(prenominal) genteelness, and has come to the forefront in recent decades due to expert job refinement, making its mark upon the job market as well. As students take on higher amounts of student give debt because of the perceived advantages a degree warrants, the economic burden upon younger generations increases. Even with degrees in hand, students after graduation be continuing to reclaim less well paying jobs that require a unmarried mans degree.More and much single(a)s are faced with the choice to gain additional grooming and incur to a greater extent debt, or settle for a lower paying job and remain in student loan debt longer. Employers that at iodine time required high school diplomas now only hire individuals with bachelors or nonetheless graduate degrees. If this is the direction Americas economic and commandal socialisation is heading without pause and reflections of outcome, than a resulting catastrophe is not just chance, but a real prob expertness.The suppuration in credential inflation over the last twenty years, has accelerated, and when a moment is reached where higher education is commonplace, it befits a vicious contest to produce the most amount of credentialing possible If a degree is seen as influential, and is depended upon to get the same(p) jobs as previous non-degree holders, it follows that more education and a degree would benefit the individual in the forthcoming. Many studies draw this of all time increasing trend of the acquisition of higher education. In an psychoanalysis by The National Center for Educational Statistics (Fast Facts, 2011) on enrollment numbers in secondary winding education, he dowery increase in the number of students age 25 and over has been larger than the percentage increase in the number of younger students, and this formula is expected to continue. The students in the 25 and over free radical among 2000 and 2009 saw an increase of 43 percent and in the next nine years derriere expect another 23 percent increase in college enrollment. This everyday situation is compounded by the fact the more of the total population are seeking degrees, and that job creation has stagnated (NECS, Fast Facts, 2011).With an ever increasing number of degree holders entering the workforce with higher credentials, the number of actual jobs obtainable to a credentialed workers declines. The prevailing thought is that an increase in education coupled with higher job entry requirements is necessary, because of heightened job complexity. Contrary to this is that, there is no evidence that the more educated the worker is, the more competent they will be (Collins, 1979). Browns argument is that students may simply be getting degrees to increase their chances of come a job, rather than gaining the expertise, through a degree program, to do the job (2004).The evidence for this rears its ugly head, when degrees are fabricated by indi viduals to simply gain entrance into a job a job they would not get without the proper credentials. Experts agree that credential inflation will continue, and the trend that started in the early mid-eighties and has increased ever since, is now the prevailing norm. Collins, states in his Credentials Inflation and the Future of Universities, that it could continue to increase, and in the future we will be in possession of a socialized system supporting education(2002).The expanding upon of credential inflation as an enduring trend cannot be denied, and the impacts upon the pack and institutions influenced are threefold. The debt incurred by students upon graduation, is greater now therefore ever before. With increasing costs of higher education, compiled with the necessity of a degree to enter the workforce, recent students upon graduation are heavily laden with student load debt that vastly outweighs the debts incurred by the generations that preceded them.This debt, for the st udent, can be disqualifying mortalally, but is also a burden for the country. Collins (2002) writes that economic hardship because of the system, and its negative feedback loop, have become very expensive, both for the individual and for the nation. With student loan debt estimated at over a trillion dollars in the get together States, it has surpassed even credit card debt. The average student leaving college after graduation possesses $25,000 in debt, and their parents an average of $34,000, with parental loaning up 75 percent since 2006 ( Fast Facts, 2011).Also reported is an 81 percent jump in people looking for student loan debt relief, for which there is little help. Devoting likewise much money and time to further education, seems to be digging a hole that people cannot educe themselves out of financially, and the resulting credentials one gains, are no longer the sure fire way to a successful career. A degree is not the guarantee of economic security it once was, and th e amount in salaries among those with a higher level of education is less proportionate than those without, now more than in the past.This prevailing notion that an individuals success in their careers over the coarse of their lives hinge upon the certificates of school achievement, is part of what drives the whole process of credential inflation. A statistic on the rate of return of a degree holder over their deportment is of little consequence to those graduates who cant sense a job now. Put simply, if education is expenditure less, people are less likely to invest in it (Van de Werfhorst, Andersen, 2005), but the counter is also true. When education is seen as being worth more, people are more likely to invest in it.Whether or not this being worth more is true, the perception that one will indeed garner a higher wage as an outcome, is the prevailing notion at the present, and continues to drive up enrollment in secondary education. If achievement in finding a job and ultimate financial success revolves just about education, and the cost increase becomes unbearable for the non-affluent, only the rich will have the availability to outpace credential inflation. As students in secondary education graduate from college at a faster and aster rate, they continue to find an ever decreasing amount of jobs available to them after graduation. The high school diploma, which once carried with it the credentials to make a decent paying job, now has become a stepping stone to getting into college, and itself not employ as a credential for jobs at all. Indeed, only 10 percent of the population in the United States does not carry a high school diploma. A market saturated with a indisputable credential sees that credential as a necessary step, but ultimately worthless.Is this the road a college degree is headed down, a worthless piece of paper that has strapped the holder with a debt they cannot pay back? As more people earn more degrees or educational levels increase , the inherent properties of that degree are proportionally lower. non everyone who holds a similar certification will receive the same level of job. Take for example, if jobs for a coke teachers holding bachelors degrees were needed, it stands to reason only a hundred people will receive jobs. Lets say one hundred and fifty individuals receive teaching degrees, only one hundred of those will get hired.Competition among applicants will surely follow, and only people who can show they are above the fray will win out. To be successful in getting hired, umpteen will invest in further education, and go on to earn a victors in Education. With this newly awarded credential in hand, they will then be able to apply with a considerable asset, which puts them ahead of those applicants with only the minimal job requirements. Incrementally, the get acrosss graduates will obtain more of the jobs, while the displaced fifty will try to gain a foothold by earning their own Masters degrees.The end result of this sequence of events is that every job, over time, will require a Masters degree, as there will be no reason to hire a person who has a bachelors, if an over abundance of Masters degree holding individuals are available. As credential inflation marches on, even MBAs will find it harder to find jobs because of increasing job market saturation by like minded degree holders. Connolly states that the recent downturn of the economy has unexpended fewer jobs upon graduation, and the salary premium for M. B. A. s has also taken a hit (2003).There are two opposing schools of thought that have tried to explain the recent upturn in educational expansion among the work force seen in recent years. Human capital theorists state that the growing complexity in the workplace has caused the growth of those seeking higher education. Theorists of social exclusion counter that the expanding intensive competitiveness between rivaling job market participants has caused credential inflat ion (McLean, Rollwagen, 2010). Either way, credential inflation is moving forward and fewer jobs are becoming available to those with less education.As more individuals become educated, employers are pushed to expand initial job requirements, even in jobs where such requirements were never needed before. Taking a deeper look into this trend, Vaisey (2006, p. 835) states that, victimisation the 1972-2002 General Social Survey, I find that the incidence of over-qualification has increased substantially He also hypothesizes that workers who have more educational attainments than needed for their jobs will be less satisfied with their jobs.Kariya (2011), sees a similar pattern and adds that as countries aim for higher levels of education for their populations, there is a persistent trend in the globose markets to find cheaper labor. Phillip Brown, a lecturer in Sociology at the University of Kent at Canterbury, agrees, showing that the acquisition of higher education and the thought that it leads to greater individual and national prosperity keeps it at the forefront of developed countries agendas in their pastime for global relevance (1995).Countries are pushing citizens to further education, and like the United States, through financial embolden programs, making the costs deferred to the future, while trying to secure credentials in the present. As costs for education go up along with an increasing education of the populace, a financial burden is attached to the individual to find a job to pay for such schooling. Unfortunately for these individuals, employers are looking for ways to find cheaper and cheaper labor, and not the reverse.Payroll being the number one controllable expense in a company, makes the ability to hire individuals with higher credentials at lower wages, because of credential inflation, optimal. If an overabundance of degree holders are available at lower wages, why would a company seek to hire less educated workers for the same cost? To save time and resources, companies will simply thin out the applicants by making a certain credentials necessary to even apply, no matter the job. The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides evidence that as a country the United States has produced too many degree holding graduates.The promise made to people about the success of those with a bachelors degree falls upon deaf ears when graduates find themselves busy where they could have gone without attending college at all. Not many graduates attended college with dreams of becoming a mixologist or a bellhop, though statistics show both of these professions employ individuals with degrees in 16 percent and 17. 4 percent of their positions, respectively. As Brown, Lauder, and Ashton write in their book,. The global auction The broken promises of education, jobs, and incomes, even education completely will not be enough to escape unemployment, and individuals should weigh the costs and benefits of higher education cautiously (2010). Wi th credential inflation continuing on, we will see a time in the future where even the lowliest of jobs will be filled with college graduates. The future of credentialism paints a bleak picture for potential degree holders and future employees As credential inflation continues to grow, its effects upon the debt of graduates and the amount of jobs available to them, has become more apparent.