I agree with you in concept, but in practice, what you've described as "credentialization" is what the rest of the world describes as "professionalization". I'm not saying people shouldn't be specialized and be experts, but we should not treat professionals as more important workers than non professionals.
in practice, what you’ve described as “credentialization” is what the rest of the world describes as “professionalization”
I think there's a real difference here that is widely recognized. I used to work as an analyst at a large corporation. Nothing in that job really required the knowledge that my undergrad degree gave me, but I wouldn't have gotten the job without a degree because, well, everyone has a degree now so they might as well hire someone who has one. That's credentialization -- you need a degree not because that degree's training is necessary to do the work, but because the field of potential employees is oversaturated with degrees.
But I went back to school and got a grad degree, and the job I do now would be difficult if not impossible without what I learned there. And if I fuck up, someone's life can be ruined. A century or more ago people used to do my job with little to no formal training or experience, but because the job is so complex and mistakes are so consequential we figured out there's real value in having some real hurdles if you want to do this type of work. That's professionalization -- you need a degree because that degree's training is actually extremely valuable for the type of work you're doing, and if you can't do the work competently there's a major risk of people getting hurt.
we should not treat professionals as more important workers than non professionals
I don't think there's a problem with saying that doctors (for instance) are more important workers than some analyst at a large corporation (for instance). The problem is more with folks who say certain workers aren't important at all, or that only people who work certain jobs deserve to live decently, or that people who work other certain jobs deserve to accumulate immense wealth.
I agree with you in concept, but in practice, what you've described as "credentialization" is what the rest of the world describes as "professionalization". I'm not saying people shouldn't be specialized and be experts, but we should not treat professionals as more important workers than non professionals.
I think there's a real difference here that is widely recognized. I used to work as an analyst at a large corporation. Nothing in that job really required the knowledge that my undergrad degree gave me, but I wouldn't have gotten the job without a degree because, well, everyone has a degree now so they might as well hire someone who has one. That's credentialization -- you need a degree not because that degree's training is necessary to do the work, but because the field of potential employees is oversaturated with degrees.
But I went back to school and got a grad degree, and the job I do now would be difficult if not impossible without what I learned there. And if I fuck up, someone's life can be ruined. A century or more ago people used to do my job with little to no formal training or experience, but because the job is so complex and mistakes are so consequential we figured out there's real value in having some real hurdles if you want to do this type of work. That's professionalization -- you need a degree because that degree's training is actually extremely valuable for the type of work you're doing, and if you can't do the work competently there's a major risk of people getting hurt.
I don't think there's a problem with saying that doctors (for instance) are more important workers than some analyst at a large corporation (for instance). The problem is more with folks who say certain workers aren't important at all, or that only people who work certain jobs deserve to live decently, or that people who work other certain jobs deserve to accumulate immense wealth.