The Credential Cartel: How degrees replaced competence — and scarcity replaced skill Degrees, licences, and the hidden economics of gatekeeping, where modern work rewards credentials more than competence, and legitimacy costs years, debt, and permission

👇
curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-creden...

#Credentialism
#DegreeInflation
#LabourMarket
#PublicPolicy
#HigherEducation
#Gatekeeping
#OccupationalLicensing
#FutureOfWork
#Skills
#Competence
#LabourMobility
#Workforce
#Productivity
#EducationPolicy
#Meritocracy

The Credential Cartel: How degrees replaced competence — and scarcity replaced skill Degrees, licences, and the hidden economics of gatekeeping, where modern work rewards credentials more than competence, and legitimacy costs years, debt, and permission

Degrees once measured competence. Now they often measure access.
Paper first. Skill second.
When credentials become toll booths
The labour market’s paperwork arms race
👇Essay:
curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-creden...

#Credentialism
#DegreeInflation
#LabourMarket
#PublicPolicy
#Gatekeeping

The Credential Cartel is a long-form essay about how credentials have expanded from narrow tools of competence verification into broad mechanisms of access control. Degrees, certifications, licences, and institutional affiliations increasingly determine who gets entry to work, status, income, and legitimacy — often regardless of whether they actually measure the ability to do the job well. The essay examines degree inflation, occupational licensing, labour mobility barriers, productivity costs, and the political economy of gatekeeping. It argues that many modern credential systems no longer simply protect standards; they also restrict supply, preserve incumbency, and transform opportunity into an escalating competition for paper. At its core, the piece asks a simple question: when a credential requirement is defended as necessary, does it genuinely reduce harm — or does it mostly protect the people already inside the gate? #Credentialism #DegreeInflation #LabourMarket #PublicPolicy #HigherEducation #Gatekeeping #OccupationalLicensing #FutureOfWork #Skills #Competence #LabourMobility #Workforce #Productivity #EducationPolicy #Meritocracy

A sharp essay on degree inflation, licensing barriers, and how credentials increasingly matter more than competence in Canada’s labour market.
👇Essay:
curmudgeonlycanadian.substack.com/p/the-creden...

#Credentialism #DegreeInflation #PublicPolicy
#Gatekeeping #Competence #Productivity
#Meritocracy

My experience differed from your's significantly. I adjuncted for 25 years because despite excellent teaching evaluations and committee work community college faculty positions were filled by Vietnam era men. By the time they retired my MA didn't compete with baby PhDs. #degreeinflation #sexism