Friday, September 21, 2012

Important Information About Life Experience Degrees

By Marissa Potter


When someone mentions that they have a degree in a certain field, the thought that comes to mind is that they went to university and studied to earn that degree. Very few people will think about life experience degrees . A degree holder may have the degree courtesy of the number of years he or she has worked in the specific field.

It is a concept that raises more questions than answers. There are individuals who strongly oppose this concept and those who support it fully. Both camps have their reasons for supporting or opposing.

In order to be a bachelors degree holder through this means, one needs to have worked for four years or the number of years that it takes to complete studies in their line of work. The number of years would be six and eight for a masters degree and a doctorate respectively. The question as to whether such a degree holder is equal in terms of qualification to another who went through the required years of schooling raises more questions than answers.

Those who oppose the concept make it clear that they are not trying to undermine the importance of experience in the job market. They agree that it is an important element. Their point of disagreement comes when know-how in a particular field id treated like an academic qualification. This is where the problem lies.

Most workers in modern day offices have the same duties and responsibilities day in, day out. This means that by the time they are being awarded a bachelors degree because of life experience, they will have done the same thing every day for four years. Critics of this concepts find it unfair to equate the qualification of such a person to that one of someone else who has been in class learning a lot of different things for the four years.

Again, they argue that there are some general education core courses that one has to learn when getting a degree the conventional way. It is nearly impossible for a single individual to be experienced in all the fields covered by these general courses. Some of these courses include communications, world history, algebra and many more.

Supporters of this concept are not quiet either. For them, people go to school for the four years so that they can learn the tricks of the trade for the job in question. Having four years experience therefore means that one has adequately learnt the tricks of the trade and this is why they were able to keep the job for four years.

Life experience degrees are here with us. They do not seem to be going anywhere anytime soon either. The increasing number of universities offering these degrees is an indication of this.




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