Maryland announced it was reducing the four-year degree requirement Tuesday for thousands of state jobs.
But not everyone is a fan of the idea.
There has been pushback online, including from a union president who said the state was “de-skilling” those jobs.
The criticisms are frustrating to organizations like , which works to help people who are skilled through alternative routes (aka “STARs”) work and earn to their potential.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 de-skill the job, because you haven鈥檛 changed the skills,鈥� said Bridgette Gray, the chief customer officer for Opportunity@Work.
鈥淭he skills for the roles are not changing. The salaries are not changing. What鈥檚 changing is thinking about how you source talent. All you鈥檙e doing is opening up to talent that鈥檚 ready to go to work today but haven鈥檛 been able to access those jobs because they don鈥檛 have a four-year degree.鈥�
At the end of the day, Gray said, this is an equity issue.
鈥淲ho is it actually impacting? It鈥檚 impacting people of color. Fifty-eight percent of Black workers in Maryland are STARs. Forty-six percent of Hispanic workers in Maryland are STARs. Rural communities as well,鈥� Gray said.
She also cited many veterans are STARs as they have in-the-field experience for jobs but no degree once they leave the service.
鈥淭here should be no one out here who doesn鈥檛 want an equitable opportunity for everyone. There should be no one that doesn鈥檛 want a platform opened up,鈥� said Gray, 鈥淚f you鈥檙e clerical or administrative and that role is asking for a four-year degree, but you have all the skills to do it, then you should be able to get that job without a four-year degree.”
She sees the state taking the step to change its hiring practices to drop the degree requirement for many jobs as an innovative move that is going to benefit many Maryland residents.
Over time, she hopes that as skilled, non-degreed candidates excel in positions made available to them, critics will learn a degree is not needed for success in every job.
