A study from Burning Glass finds that many employers are now requiring bachelor’s degrees for an increasingly wide range of jobs, some that have experienced an increase in skills needed to do the work and others that have not. However, fields such as health care, which has a strong system of non-school credentials such as licenses and industry certifications that are incorporated into well-developed education and training programs, are bucking this trend.
Key findings:
- The “upcredentialing” trend is most prominent for middle-skill jobs, particularly for business and administrative roles such as executive assistants.
- Employers may prefer a certain level of educational attainment even when it makes the job harder to fill, as with construction supervisors.
- Entry-level IT positions are experiencing upcredentialing, while the skills for the job have not changed; this is despite the fact that the specific skills needed for these jobs are more likely to be taught in subbaccalaureate than baccalaureate programs.
- Some occupations do require more skills than in the past; for instance, drafters are now tantamount to “junior engineers,” according to the report.
In conclusion, Burning Glass recommends improved alignment between K-12, postsecondary education and industry to develop sub-baccalaureate education programs and credentials that will be valuable to employees and students.
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