So I have to out myself as a credentialed urban planner (Canadian, not AICP - we hold hearings and discipline). More importantly my viewpoint is Canadian, so more of a cousin to what you are saying in America.
Yes and no, I think for your argument. In general, I think professions are losing their status (partly due to what you describe). You are describing something insidious, but I'm not sure if the issue is credentialism per say. I think it's more our North American society is in continual retreat from lived experience. We rely on theory, data, abstraction more than we should. This has seeped into all professions (credentialed or not).
You describe non-profit affiliation and poverty as a credential. That's certainly not the same thing as a professional engineer or MD, a credentialed professional. I think the broadest problem is there is a massive lack of trust, a lack of civic decency, combined with a weird detachment from real expertise as opposed to theory.
Yes - there are certainly credentialed planners (and other professions) who are bad at their jobs. There are some that are unethical (although in my experience planners tend to be idealistic and very ethical - self selection). How to fix the problem of incompetence is harder to say. Advice that people don't like is not necessarily incompetence. My ideal planner actual provides balanced advice - here are two strong options, taking different approaches - let's work together to choose one (or something different). It's very hard to do.
I think I validate all of that. Strong points, and I do think that hearings and discipline are a critical component of any functioning (and valued) credential.
No shade. Half my friends are PhDs. Not all with terminal degrees end up as a city's worst NIMBYs, but all of the worst NIMBYs tend to have terminal degrees. Credentialism explains a lot of it.
I teach my kids to identify people who have high credentials but no tacit knowledge, and ask themselves, "Does this person have ANY real-world experience PRACTICING the thing they are preaching about?"
If the answer is "no", then ignore them and move on.
So I have to out myself as a credentialed urban planner (Canadian, not AICP - we hold hearings and discipline). More importantly my viewpoint is Canadian, so more of a cousin to what you are saying in America.
Yes and no, I think for your argument. In general, I think professions are losing their status (partly due to what you describe). You are describing something insidious, but I'm not sure if the issue is credentialism per say. I think it's more our North American society is in continual retreat from lived experience. We rely on theory, data, abstraction more than we should. This has seeped into all professions (credentialed or not).
You describe non-profit affiliation and poverty as a credential. That's certainly not the same thing as a professional engineer or MD, a credentialed professional. I think the broadest problem is there is a massive lack of trust, a lack of civic decency, combined with a weird detachment from real expertise as opposed to theory.
Yes - there are certainly credentialed planners (and other professions) who are bad at their jobs. There are some that are unethical (although in my experience planners tend to be idealistic and very ethical - self selection). How to fix the problem of incompetence is harder to say. Advice that people don't like is not necessarily incompetence. My ideal planner actual provides balanced advice - here are two strong options, taking different approaches - let's work together to choose one (or something different). It's very hard to do.
I think I validate all of that. Strong points, and I do think that hearings and discipline are a critical component of any functioning (and valued) credential.
Hey some of us PhDs in unrelated fields are on the pro-housing side too! lol
No shade. Half my friends are PhDs. Not all with terminal degrees end up as a city's worst NIMBYs, but all of the worst NIMBYs tend to have terminal degrees. Credentialism explains a lot of it.
No worries! Ya, the credentialism drives me mad too. All too common…
I teach my kids to identify people who have high credentials but no tacit knowledge, and ask themselves, "Does this person have ANY real-world experience PRACTICING the thing they are preaching about?"
If the answer is "no", then ignore them and move on.