Continuing on the discussion of "life experience" degrees, it's good to read part 1 and get some context on the subject before continuing on with this post.
We want to discuss what could make a real "life experience" degree work and gain respect from the wider industrial or academic community.
First of all, the academic world has a lot of built in prejudice about those that does not have a degree in the first place and is even prejudice about where you get the degree from even when from a real university. In other words, if you advance the idea of getting a degree without academic work that is the worst sin you can commit in their eyes. Some people even have issues as to whether you get a degree from a standard university versus some Vocational College or along that line. Somehow, you should not be seen on the same level.
We kind of agree with them on the point that an academic degree should be given based on real academic work. However, a lot of persons do posses the level of competence that is comparable to a degree at the relevant level without taking all the relevant academic classes. At least we could say this could be applicable for the purpose of industrial work. The question is; how do you properly evaluate and certify such competence to gain some respect at least within the working world? Here are some pointers to consider.
1. Its better not to use the term degree as the primary award. However, such document should state that this award was granted at the relevant degree level. Names such as Graduate Diploma or Bachelor of Professional Practice could be considered. This will be one point of contention in this whole process but not calling it a degree directly may give some legitimacy. On the other hand, most job recruiters want to see the word degree on a resume and in fact this is why the "life experience" degree industry has some standing today. People just want to get past the initial filter to be considered. Of course, they should be really qualified in doing so.
2. The actual evaluation should be done to determine competence, not necessarily about specific contents. For example an engineer needs to know calculus to carry out relevant task. This means the person would either have previous respectable training with calculus or need to perform some exercise during the evaluation to show such knowledge. Exams may very well be a part of this process to make it simple.
3. The concept of a thesis should be well integrated into the whole idea of issuing a degree level award for previous knowledge. Unless the person can provide the artifact for a previous project with the relevant details on how they played a leading role in the outcome, they would need to submit a fresh thesis on a core professional topic.
4. The evaluators need to be very much qualified both from the academic and industrial arena. The French VAE system does require a mix of both academic and industry professionals in their evaluation process. This approach is very good as it would enable balance and acceptance on both sides.
5. Supporting subjects and skills may need to be covered through exams or additional classes. Because this is based on experience does not mean you should not take any class. It's good for people to have the required theoretical grounding regardless of whether the award is professional or academic. Examples of supporting subjects are language, mathematics, project management, social skills and several others.
6. Accreditation could be acquired from professional societies in the relevant fields to gain acceptance as well as to ensure that standards are enforce. In fact, the UK City & Guilds delegated authority scheme already allows this approach to happen today.
7. What are the end requirement for the award? Would it be used for further academic studies or purely work related? If its done with good balance in terms of core theoretical coverage, there is no reason why someone could not pursue further degrees. For example, they could consider doing GRE or GMAT to demonstrate academic knowledge where required. Generally, this award should meet industry skill requirements without any doubt.
Conclusion:
This approach of evaluating previous knowledge can be done if the providers have the sincerity to ensure quality in the evaluation process. Money can be made with this as well, since you can charge more for issuing a respected and well documented award. A combination of portfolios, Interviews, exams, training and a thesis would ensure that nothing is taken for granted in this process.
Read more on the closest to the system discussed in this post on the French VAE system.
We want to discuss what could make a real "life experience" degree work and gain respect from the wider industrial or academic community.
First of all, the academic world has a lot of built in prejudice about those that does not have a degree in the first place and is even prejudice about where you get the degree from even when from a real university. In other words, if you advance the idea of getting a degree without academic work that is the worst sin you can commit in their eyes. Some people even have issues as to whether you get a degree from a standard university versus some Vocational College or along that line. Somehow, you should not be seen on the same level.
We kind of agree with them on the point that an academic degree should be given based on real academic work. However, a lot of persons do posses the level of competence that is comparable to a degree at the relevant level without taking all the relevant academic classes. At least we could say this could be applicable for the purpose of industrial work. The question is; how do you properly evaluate and certify such competence to gain some respect at least within the working world? Here are some pointers to consider.
1. Its better not to use the term degree as the primary award. However, such document should state that this award was granted at the relevant degree level. Names such as Graduate Diploma or Bachelor of Professional Practice could be considered. This will be one point of contention in this whole process but not calling it a degree directly may give some legitimacy. On the other hand, most job recruiters want to see the word degree on a resume and in fact this is why the "life experience" degree industry has some standing today. People just want to get past the initial filter to be considered. Of course, they should be really qualified in doing so.
2. The actual evaluation should be done to determine competence, not necessarily about specific contents. For example an engineer needs to know calculus to carry out relevant task. This means the person would either have previous respectable training with calculus or need to perform some exercise during the evaluation to show such knowledge. Exams may very well be a part of this process to make it simple.
3. The concept of a thesis should be well integrated into the whole idea of issuing a degree level award for previous knowledge. Unless the person can provide the artifact for a previous project with the relevant details on how they played a leading role in the outcome, they would need to submit a fresh thesis on a core professional topic.
4. The evaluators need to be very much qualified both from the academic and industrial arena. The French VAE system does require a mix of both academic and industry professionals in their evaluation process. This approach is very good as it would enable balance and acceptance on both sides.
5. Supporting subjects and skills may need to be covered through exams or additional classes. Because this is based on experience does not mean you should not take any class. It's good for people to have the required theoretical grounding regardless of whether the award is professional or academic. Examples of supporting subjects are language, mathematics, project management, social skills and several others.
6. Accreditation could be acquired from professional societies in the relevant fields to gain acceptance as well as to ensure that standards are enforce. In fact, the UK City & Guilds delegated authority scheme already allows this approach to happen today.
7. What are the end requirement for the award? Would it be used for further academic studies or purely work related? If its done with good balance in terms of core theoretical coverage, there is no reason why someone could not pursue further degrees. For example, they could consider doing GRE or GMAT to demonstrate academic knowledge where required. Generally, this award should meet industry skill requirements without any doubt.
Conclusion:
This approach of evaluating previous knowledge can be done if the providers have the sincerity to ensure quality in the evaluation process. Money can be made with this as well, since you can charge more for issuing a respected and well documented award. A combination of portfolios, Interviews, exams, training and a thesis would ensure that nothing is taken for granted in this process.
Read more on the closest to the system discussed in this post on the French VAE system.