School is out for the summer, but the debate over whether or not a college degree is still necessary for a good job in the U.S.and whether it will be in the futureis only gaining more traction. Recent research finds that a college degree is still worth the investment. But more and more companies, including Google and Apple, are eliminating degree requirements when hiring some candidates. And everyone from the CEOs of Delta and Nielsen to state governors have recently touted the merits of skills-based hiring, arguing that it can help diversify candidate pools and even act as a salve to the ongoing labor shortage.
Now, the pro-skills contingent has a new proponent in the storied halls of one of the nations most selective institutions: Former national security advisor and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who told Fortune on Wednesday that shes very much in favor of skills-based hiring.
That means something coming from Rice, a lifelong academic who boasts a mile-long CV of accolades. She graduated college Phi Beta Kappa (Americas oldest academic honor society), went on to earn a masters degree in political science, and at age 25, earned her Ph.D. in the same subject. Rice currently directs the Hoover Institution, the public policy research initiative at Stanford University, where shes been on faculty since 1981. She holds at least 14 honorary doctorates. Plus, she knows a thing or two about non-academic skills. Rice is an accomplished pianist who performed Mozarts Piano Concerto in D minor with the Denver Symphony Orchestra at age 15, and knows enough about the NFL to have been reportedly considered for a head coaching role.
Despite her numerous degrees, she doesnt think those without one should be overlooked on the job market. The U.S. needs to make a lot more use of programs that enable people without four-year degrees to attain quality, high-paying jobs, Rice told Fortune.
She said many people are better off, for a wide range of reasons, earning a two-year associates degree followed by on-the-job training at a company that will ensure a role after completion. That could prevent many people from joining the $1.78 trillion in student loan debt pile American borrowers owe. Its also a mutually beneficial arrangement. Migrating away from compulsory degree requirements would help companies expand their potential applicant pools, which helps untraditional candidates and would be sorely needed to combat a talent shortage.
Alongside options for non-degree holders to advance in their careers, Rice added, workers should also have the ability to decide, after some time on a job, that theyd benefit from returning to school and earning their degreeon a full- or part-time basis.
With the possibilities for remote learning, I think thats a big opportunity as well, Rice said. We just need to rethink the whole scope of possibilities.
Why skills will keep winning
Rices support of skills-based hiring, particularly given her appointments at Stanford and deep ties with the government, adds legitimacy to what has been a long-burgeoning trend among some of the nations most powerful executives.
Non-degree-holding hires performed just as well at IBM as did those with Ph.D.s., former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty previously told Fortune. And General Motors removed degree requirements from many of its listings because, as Telva McGruder, its chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, told Fortune, degrees arent necessarily the be-all, end-all indicator of someones potential.
Adopting a skills-first mentality is bosses only hope of surviving a shaky economy, Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn, has said: If we had just taken a view on what are the skills necessary; who has those skills; how can we help them acquire a couple of skills to help them become employed; we would have found ourselves in a much more efficient labor market.
It hasnt taken long for support of new collar jobs (as IBM coined them in 2016) to make its way out of the private sector. Earlier this year, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro joined the trend with his first executive order, in which he nixed degree requirements from 92%, or 65,000, Commonwealth jobs.
There are many different pathways to success, whether its through on the job training, an apprenticeship, vocational education, or college, Shapiro said in his inaugural address.
But thats not to say having a bachelors degree is no longer an unreplicable asset. A recent analysis from Georgetown Universitys Center on Education and the Workforce that looked at government data found that a bachelors degree is still the most impactful way to snag a good job.
It could also be an indicator, though, that while skills-based hiring is gaining traction, its still a long way off from being the norm. And perhaps thats why Rice still advocates for finishing up a degree while still making an income.
She encourages new workforce entrantsparticularly young workersto seek out opportunities for networking and improving networking skills, and pounce on them.
Being proactive is key. It isnt a matter of sitting back and waiting for [opportunities] to come to you; you have to go and get them, Rice said. There are fewer barriers today than there have ever been, but there are still barriers. You have to find a way to get over them, around them, or through them, and dont let them stop you.
