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October 10, 2007, 10:57 AM ET
Credentials in The Nonprofit World
Is the nonprofit world too obsessed with credentials?
Cynthia Gibson, a nonprofit consultant, raises this question on her blog, CitizenPost, as she laments that charities and foundations tend to hire job candidates or give grants to people with Ivy League degrees, good social connections, or wealthy parents who could support them while they worked lucrative, but often unpaid, internships.
“So what’s wrong with this? Nothing, if one believes that educational pedigree, credentials, and social capital are inherently superior to experience, hard work, skills, tenacity, and one’s own ‘gumption,’” she writes.
To fix the problem, Ms. Gibson writes that “We can hire people on the basis of their experiences and skills, rather than on who their parents are or where they went to school. In the midst of all the accolades being bestowed on our leaders, we can ask, ‘what have they actually done to deserve these?’
What do you think? Is the nonprofit world too quick to hire those who attended Princeton or Columbia University or have other “good” credentials? Click on the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.
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