DARIA: When I finished college, a bachelor’s degree opened exciting career doors. Now my firm won’t interview a would-be secretary without one. BRYAN: Credential inflation at work. When average education levels rise, employers jack up educational requirements. FREDERICK: Isn’t that because the economy is so much more high-tech? BRYAN: Jobs are a little higher-tech than they used to be, but workers are much more educated than they used to be. When researchers disentangle the “technological change” and “credential inflation” stories, the breakdown is roughly 20% tech, 80% credentialism.
