Why is University never considered in the hiring process

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
Sign up Log in
16 replies · 2K views
VoloD
Messages
96
Reaction score
16
Why do people base a new employees skill set based solely on degree and not the program they attended. For example, engineering is considered to be a marketable field. However, not all engineering programs are created equal. I understand that elite institutions will be preferred over the average state institution.

There are some institutions are less renowned and quite simply academically inferior to even state institutions. However, a person going to an less-renowned school and getting an engineering degree will generally have an easier time finding employment that someone who went to a more prestigious university who may have a more academic degree.

Is there a reason companies are so biased against degree types and not towards the institutions themselves
 

Discussion

Physics news on Phys.org
I am referring to the fact that by going to a more rigorous university, it is supposed to prepare you for the working world better. However, there are universities where the course work is much easier and the students still have good opportunities to get a job just as if they went to the more rigorous university.

This is mainly based on my own investigation. I went to a rigorous public university for my undergrad , yet I am having better opportunities with my second degree which was from a less-renowned university.
 
Krylov said:
Ok. Could it be because employers can get away with paying smaller salaries to their employees with degrees from lesser known universities? Or is this not a factor?

Is this legal in the United States? I guess that would make a lot of sense. I always assumed employers had to pay equally for the same positions.
 
This I cannot answer for the US, I am sorry. Someone else, perhaps? However, I would imagine that it can play a role during salary negotiations. I know that in the Netherlands (where the legal position of employees is likely a lot stronger than in the US), in practice the same positions are not always equally payed for, even when the employees have very similar profiles.
 
VoloD said:
Is this legal in the United States? I guess that would make a lot of sense. I always assumed employers had to pay equally for the same positions.

Yes, it's legal. They can pay you what they want. There aren't any laws preventing them from discriminating against your educational background. Even if they don't like your personality, they can choose not to hire you or can pay you less. There aren't any laws that force employers to offer the same pay rates, where did you get that idea from? Have you ever had a job? A person working 10 years for a company is going to have a much higher salary than a new employee with the same position...
 
Vanadium 50 said:
A BSEE from Ohio State is going to be more marketable than a BA in Art History from Harvard.

I am referring to getting the same degree from a different university. I am also referring to the fact that not all in-state universities teach equally.
 
VoloD said:
I am referring to the fact that by going to a more rigorous university, it is supposed to prepare you for the working world better. However, there are universities where the course work is much easier and the students still have good opportunities to get a job just as if they went to the more rigorous university.

This is mainly based on my own investigation. I went to a rigorous public university for my undergrad , yet I am having better opportunities with my second degree which was from a less-renowned university.

But you have two degrees then, not one! That's also a big difference.
 
VoloD said:
I am referring to getting the same degree from a different university. I am also referring to the fact that not all in-state universities teach equally.

Are you confused? That isn't what you stated at first. You wrote that a person from a prestigious university will have a harder time than another person from less known university getting hired by the same company. Now, you change it to the same degree. That doesn't make sense. A person from a more prestigious university, with the same degree, will have an advantage. I don't see your line of reasoning.
 
Okay. I can't edit the question so I will start a new thread. I apologize, I thought my thoughts were coherent enough when I started.

This thread can be deleted
 
VoloD said:
Is this legal in the United States? I guess that would make a lot of sense. I always assumed employers had to pay equally for the same positions.
The employers can hire whomever they want and negotiate pay based on what they believe a candidate to be worth.
 
VoloD said:
I am referring to getting the same degree from a different university. I am also referring to the fact that not all in-state universities teach equally.
Students are not all equal. Graduates of a particular field are not all equal.