Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Overemphasis on diplomas or degrees in giving jobs or conferring social status.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun an overemphasis on the importance of academic, legal, or regulatory qualifications

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Turn it around so that he’s the little guy, and all of a sudden credentialism is the mark of an over-educated pencil-neck.

    Matthew Yglesias » Wonks and Teachers 2009

  • I don’t believe in credentialism anyway, but I have no compunction about using mine to ruthlessly squash any who go with that bit.

    Matthew Yglesias » Wonks and Teachers 2009

  • What is it about the “I don’t believe in credentialism” makes you think that I believe in credentialism? theAmericanist Says:

    Matthew Yglesias » Wonks and Teachers 2009

  • And no, I wouldn’t have trotted out my qualifications if you hadn’t tried that: I don’t believe in credentialism anyway, but I have no compunction about using mine to ruthlessly squash any who go with that bit.

    Matthew Yglesias » Wonks and Teachers 2009

  • So, "credentialism" today aka the BA imperative, does not work well for most people.

    Anya Kamenetz: Credentialism and Higher Ed 2010

  • I'd read Ivory Tower Blues, by James Côté and Anton Allahar, two professors at the University of Western Ontario who had chronicled what they dubbed the crisis of "credentialism" at Canadian and American schools.

    Failure to Fail 2008

  • I'd read Ivory Tower Blues, by James Côté and Anton Allahar, two professors at the University of Western Ontario who had chronicled what they dubbed the crisis of "credentialism" at Canadian and American schools.

    March 2008 2008

  • Cote said the dismal job market feeds credentialism, meaning employers can push up the credentials necessary for students to get a foothold in the job market.

    Brandon Sun Online - Top Stories 2009

  • Cote said the dismal job market feeds credentialism, meaning employers can push up the credentials necessary for students to get a foothold in the job market.

    CTV News RSS Feed 2009

  • Â Worse, the rampant credentialism which has fed the expansion of colleges and universities as substitutes for pre-employment aptitude tests would fall by the wayside, and that whole racket would start to collapse asÂwell.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » 1. Science, Faith, and Not Ruling Out Possibilities 2010

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