The practice of placing excessive emphasis on educational degrees, certificates, or credentials as proof of competence, often at the expense of actual ability.
From 'credential' with the suffix '-ism' (a system or practice). Emerged in mid-20th century English as a critical term for overvaluing formal qualifications.
Credentialism describes the modern trap where a high school graduate might be better at a job than a college graduate, but the credentials gate them out—it's a real phenomenon that schools and employers are now trying to address!
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