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- Title
The Credential Elite and the Credential Route to Success.
- Authors
Kingston, Paul W.
- Abstract
The article focuses on the credential elite and the credential route to success. As the credential route assumes greater importance, career paths to the top also become ever more structured. The eventual winners are determined early in the race. The right degree is not an absolute guarantee of success, but it is the sine qua non for access to many high-potential slots, and the subsequent steps up the corporate and professional ladders are quite clearly demarcated. Of course the corollary implication is that the losers are tagged as such early in the race. Those who start in lower-level positions because they lack the right degrees know that they have little opportunity to advance by proving themselves. Not surprisingly, recognition of this development seems widespread. As the route to the top becomes more structured, it inevitably becomes more visible. And one notable consequence is a sharpening of conflict over the division of top positions in the society. Now there is a clearly defined prize to fight over the necessary academic certification. Hopes of making it on one's own seem ever less compelling.
- Subjects
ACADEMIC degrees; CAREER development; ACADEMIC achievement; EMPLOYEE promotions; CERTIFICATION; ELIGIBILITY (Social aspects)
- Publication
Teachers College Record, 1981, Vol 82, Issue 4, p589
- ISSN
0161-4681
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/016146818108200406