The Credential Society

An Historical Sociology of Education and Stratification

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Education & Teaching, Higher Education, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Sociology
Cover of the book The Credential Society by Randall Collins, Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Randall Collins ISBN: 9780231549783
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: May 28, 2019
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Randall Collins
ISBN: 9780231549783
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: May 28, 2019
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

The Credential Society is a classic on the role of higher education in American society and an essential text for understanding the reproduction of inequality. Controversial at the time, Randall Collins’s claim that the expansion of American education has not increased social mobility, but rather created a cycle of credential inflation, has proven remarkably prescient.

Collins shows how credential inflation stymies mass education’s promises of upward mobility. An unacknowledged spiral of the rising production of credentials and job requirements was brought about by the expansion of high school and then undergraduate education, with consequences including grade inflation, rising educational costs, and misleading job promises dangled by for-profit schools. Collins examines medicine, law, and engineering to show the ways in which credentialing closed these high-status professions to new arrivals. In an era marked by the devaluation of high school diplomas, outcry about the value of expensive undergraduate degrees, and the proliferation of new professional degrees like the MBA, The Credential Society has more than stood the test of time. In a new preface, Collins discusses recent developments, debunks claims that credentialization is driven by technological change, and points to alternative pathways for the future of education.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The Credential Society is a classic on the role of higher education in American society and an essential text for understanding the reproduction of inequality. Controversial at the time, Randall Collins’s claim that the expansion of American education has not increased social mobility, but rather created a cycle of credential inflation, has proven remarkably prescient.

Collins shows how credential inflation stymies mass education’s promises of upward mobility. An unacknowledged spiral of the rising production of credentials and job requirements was brought about by the expansion of high school and then undergraduate education, with consequences including grade inflation, rising educational costs, and misleading job promises dangled by for-profit schools. Collins examines medicine, law, and engineering to show the ways in which credentialing closed these high-status professions to new arrivals. In an era marked by the devaluation of high school diplomas, outcry about the value of expensive undergraduate degrees, and the proliferation of new professional degrees like the MBA, The Credential Society has more than stood the test of time. In a new preface, Collins discusses recent developments, debunks claims that credentialization is driven by technological change, and points to alternative pathways for the future of education.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book Passions of Our Time by Randall Collins
Cover of the book Vaccines and Your Child by Randall Collins
Cover of the book When the Invasion of Land Failed by Randall Collins
Cover of the book Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture by Randall Collins
Cover of the book Blood by Randall Collins
Cover of the book Theory for the Working Sociologist by Randall Collins
Cover of the book Understanding Environmental Policy by Randall Collins
Cover of the book Capital and the Common Good by Randall Collins
Cover of the book William James and a Science of Religions by Randall Collins
Cover of the book Immigrant and Refugee Children and Families by Randall Collins
Cover of the book AIDS as an International Political Issue by Randall Collins
Cover of the book Cold War, Cool Medium by Randall Collins
Cover of the book A Confiscated Memory by Randall Collins
Cover of the book The Psycho Records by Randall Collins
Cover of the book Gorbachev by Randall Collins
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy