The future of university credentials: A book review

Abstract

APA Citation: Gallagher, S. R. (2016). The future of university credentials: New developments at the intersection of higher education and hiring. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. 254 Pages.

Contemporary universities must balance themselves on a tightrope of progress. On one side of the rope, the university is faced with providing the civic mission of higher education, and on the other side of the rope, lies the practical and more contemporary mission of higher education, which focuses on job skills and competency. This balancing act, at times, seems to create a tenuous relationship between higher education and society. Institutions operate within and as agents of society, but the relationship becomes tenuous because some higher education institutions, like other institutions, become complacent and experience difficulty in their effort to change (Burke, 2013; Nodine & Johnstone, 2015). Gallagher (2016) articulates the urgency with which higher education institutions need to reexamine their credentials and make changes to regain their position in society.

In the introduction of the book, the author discussed the “credentialing ecosystem” (p. 1). This term is used to indicate that university credentials must evolve and that universities must be willing and able to change, adapt, and update their credentials to satisfy the changing professional industries around them. The introduction is dedicated to discussing how university credentials influence employment. It is evident in the text that the term credential refers to students earning a degree or some other type of educational attainment. However, the definition of the term takes on a different meaning depending on the context being discussed. For example, the term is used in a more general form when employers refer to the institution's overall credentials.

Chapter 1 offers a discussion about how higher education became a prominent attribute in the United States. In the opening paragraph of the chapter, Gallagher (2016) implicitly focuses the reader on the purpose of higher education, “Rather than focusing on educating the elite, the higher education sector was starting to become more vocational in its focus, expanding to educate the masses” (p. 23). Later in Chapter 1, the author explains the intention of the 2-year associate degree, essentially universities wanted to focus on upper-level coursework and felt that undergraduate college curricula would align better with less advanced coursework.

Chapter 1 includes the book's thesis, aligning higher education credentials to industry skills and job market demand. In order for employers to value the education, universities offer and subsequently hire their graduates; the employer wants to be assured that applicants have the credentials associated with the skills necessary to close the skills gap between higher education institutions and professional industry (Hora, Benbow, & Oleson, 2016). The author labeled this topic and section of the chapter, “Job Market Demand for University Credentials” (p. 33). This section of the chapter offers the reader insight into the differences between the benefits of a 4-year education culminating with a bachelor's degree and a 2-year associate's degree including vocational training within the context of employability. Gallagher (2016) discusses how university credentials became employment qualifications in Chapter 2.

Contemporarily, job market demand for university credentials tends to include experience with competency-based education (CBE) and project-based learning in an effort to ensure that college graduates have foundational and authentic experience in the discipline they are studying (Stokes, 2015). Chapter 2 discusses the perpetual debate about the benefits of earning an education versus the benefits of gaining practical workplace experience. The author offers the reader this discussion through the context of the employee hiring process through the perspective of employers and their value of educational credentials. With regard to how employers value educational credentials, Gallagher (2016) indicated that “degrees appear to be most valuable in the early part of a professional's career, when candidates lack significant experience and quantifiable results” (p. 49).

In discussing the relationship between knowledge and skill, Gallagher (2016) mentioned “human capital theory” (p. 54). Though the premise of human capital theory was discussed, the theory was not defined for the purposes of the book. Others within higher education literature (Abel & Deitz, 2011; Almendarez, 2010; Tan, 2014) have defined human capital theory more clearly, and having an understanding of the theory could provide the reader with a better understanding of Gallagher's discussion in this section of the chapter.

As Chapter 2 continues, the author discussed the attributes of higher education credentials, such as hard and soft skills. Additionally, the author makes the assertion that “employers particularly value soft skills” (p. 59), which he defines as “critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and leadership” (p. 59). Later in the chapter, the author discusses reputation and prestige, which he links to the employer and societal perspectives of higher education institutions with the more general meaning of the term “credential.”

Chapters 3 and 4 discussed university credentials through the context of distance learning and online degrees. In Chapter 3, the author discussed the development of online education and the various certifications available. An essential aspect of this chapter is the discussion about the lessons learned from the distance education era. Throughout Chapter 3, the author articulates several public, for-profit, and collaborative online educational models, which failed because the design of these models did not embrace the value of “sound business models, due diligence, market research, and measured approaches” (p. 84). Universities learned an important lesson; in order to offer the consumer a valuable credential through a distance platform, the educational model must be innovative and measurable with the understanding “that the online degree/credential market is a consumer driven one, and what has value to the consumer is a portable credential” (p. 81). Indeed, portable credentials are a concept community colleges seem to capitalize on (Wyner, 2014), while universities “learned that the cooperate training market, while compelling, can be difficult to map and serve” (Gallagher, 2016, p. 85).

Chapter 4 offers a discussion about modern online education. In this chapter, the author articulated the notion that distance education appears to be gaining credibility, but the perception of this type of educational track seems to vary. Throughout Chapter 4, the author identifies several universities which offer students online learning opportunities. For example, the author profiles the University of Massachusetts and its online platform known as UMass Online, which according to Gallagher (2016), produced about $11 million in revenue for the institution and appears to be growing. Additionally, the author profiles Boston University, North Carolina State University, University of Nebraska, and many others.

Chapter 5 continues the Internet age discussion, but the chapter is focused on how universities validate the credentials of their online education platforms. From e-folios to software specifically designed to track various aspects of online assessment, it is clear that colleges and universities spend a lot of capital and time validating their distance programs. Later in Chapter 5, the reader is introduced to a significant and contemporary concept known as competency-based hiring. This discussion is a pretext to Chapter 6, which includes a discussion about competency-based education (CBE).

Competency-based hiring is an effort by employers to ensure that applicants hold the necessary hard and soft skills and competencies for the job for which they are applying. This type of hiring model is more in-depth than past hiring practices, and it requires job applicants to certify that they have gained competency through either education or experience. With this hiring trend in mind, the author makes the following statement in support of CBE programs: “as employers…enhance their screening and interviewing process and move toward competency-based hiring, this may, in fact, reveal greater value for competency-based education approaches and more detailed transcripts, digital and otherwise” (p. 134).

Chapter 6 offers the reader a look at various innovative education models, including CBE. The chapter begins with a discussion about university accreditation and a framework for quality assurance in the innovative age. Again, the author articulates several institutions that use specific tactics to offer this assurance. For example, Seton Hall and Michigan State Universities use digital badges to indicate student's completion of coursework or participation in a specific event. However, the author notes that according to his research, employers rarely recognize badges as indicators of accomplishment. As mentioned earlier, Chapter 3 indicated that the credentials offered via new educational models need to be measurable in order for an employer to view those credentials as valuable. Employers cannot measure the skills obtained through a badged credential and “there is also the question of when a given amount of learning or skill rises to the level of a badge, or when a badge or series of badges graduates to a certificate or something else” (Gallagher, 2016, p. 147). Therefore, employers are skeptical of badges because unlike the measurable skill or knowledge gained from earning a certificate or a degree, the objective measure of skills or knowledge required to earn a badge varies by institution. However, the author does mention that offering a badge as a supplemental marker of achievement coupled with a degree or certificate can be useful “particularly as part of a competency-based education framework” (p. 147).

Chapter 6 continues on to discuss boot camp style education, which Gallagher (2016) explains as being an abbreviated program of study, often 24 weeks, which offers experience-based credentials. In this section of the chapter, the author focuses on the job placement advantages of boot camp programs. Graduates of a boot camp program often earn a certificate of completion, which equates to a noncredit educational credential. This experience offers students the benefit of the university's network, the professional relationships they create with employers throughout the program, and authentic industry-focused experience. Again, the author profiles several universities which offer some boot camp experience, such as Northeastern University, which offers an 8-week boot camp program that trains students in data analytics. Other universities profiled in the chapter include Rutgers University and Southern New Hampshire University.

Later in Chapter 6, Gallagher (2016) discusses CBE, which he defines as “an educational approach that relies on the demonstration of skills rather than seat time, and has existed in one form or another for forty years” (p. 159). During this discussion, the author proclaims that CBE offers students in the workforce a more efficient way to earn higher education credentials and because of this efficiency: “CBE is seen as a key vehicle in educational attainment goals and the completion agenda” (p. 159). CBE appears to be one of the best ways of integrating experience with learning (Hora et al., 2016; Stokes, 2015), and the author again offers the reader numerous examples of universities which utilize CBE, such as Western Governors University, Colorado State University, University of Wisconsin, and Indiana University. At the end of this discussion, the author mentions how CBE is starting to infiltrate professional graduate degree programs, and he articulates Michigan State University's competency-based Master of Health Professions Education Program.

Gallagher (2016) ends the text with Chapter 7, which is titled Conclusions and Recommendations on the Future of University Credentials. In this chapter, the author articulates the importance of a college education but adds that innovative credentialing is essential to evolve the institution. The author notes that “given job market trends, higher education should prepare for a world of more advanced credential attainment and lifelong learning” (p. 168). This statement summarizes the content of Chapter 7 as many of the recommendations offered are developed from this idea.

In the conclusion of the text, Gallagher (2016) indicated that similar to culture change in other organizations and industries, higher education will also see those individuals and institutions which champion evolution and the resulting cultural change. However, there will be those who maintain that change is not necessary and will “ignore the signs of percolating change and innovation” (p. 185). The author reminds the reader of the central theme of the text, which is that “higher education cannot neglect the role that employers and their hiring process play in shaping the value of and demand for post-secondary education” (p. 186). Based on this premise, the author recites a similar idea noted throughout higher education literature, which is that employers cannot sit idle on the sideline when it comes to educating the workforce. Indeed, they must be active participants in the education process and guide the evolution process “in this age that recognizes university-level education as the dominant pathway to professional work” (p. 186).

Indeed, there is not a prescribed purpose for higher education, but colleges and universities must be cognizant of the reasons individuals enroll in their programs in an effort to provide them with the best education, which they can use to better their position in society. Higher education institutions which neglect to assess why individuals enroll in their programs risk offering students an education with learning outcomes that do not align with contemporary industry required skills or knowledge. In contemporary society, higher education institutions must provide students with a professional education, which “presents students with the knowledge, skills, and purpose of the field they seek to learn” (Sullivan, 2012). Universities can accomplish this by offering innovative teaching and learning methods such as competency-based and project-based education (Gauthier, 2017). Institutions that do not adapt to the changing requirements of professional industry will render the education they provide outdated and invalid for contemporary society.