A recent column by two colleagues at National Cheng Kung University, published in our local English press, centered on the word “credentialism” and some of the damage it causes in the lives of our student population. I would like to respond to that column today and address at the same time some of the ramifications of “credentialism” that I believe I see around us.

My software is spinning a curvy red line beneath the term “credentialism.” I interpret this to mean the word does not exist, is rarely used, never used, or simply too odd for print. Oh, rules, anyway! Who needs them?

My Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English does not offer a definition for “credentialism.” This suggests my computer's wavy red line is accurate.

My dictionary does define the related word “credentials” as “someone's education, achievements, experience etc. that prove they have the ability to do something” (396). I happen to know the Latin word for “believe” is “credo,” and the Italian word is “credere.” English terms such as “credulity,” “credible,” and “credit risk” all originate in that Latin root.

The unconventional “credentialism” is undeniably linked to the notion of belief.

My colleagues Hsu Yue-dian and Chen Be-yu, who raised our awareness of the term in the beginning, say “credentialism” is “undue emphasis on degrees and other credentials.” I'll not quibble with their choice of “emphasis.” Perhaps they'll not object to my rendering of “credentialism” as “an exaggerated and unwise faith in the reputation of a school or particular academic program.” I want to expand the range of our special word here.

Hsu and Chen were responding to a news event two weeks ago that involved a “school” (quote marks mine, not theirs) in Tainan that called itself The International Mind Research Institute. This is the place, you may remember, that ran afoul recently of authorities when several of its pupils wound up hospitalized for burns, muscle injuries and psychiatric problems. Well, that can happen when your curriculum promotes the development of human potential by teaching children arts like swallowing flames of fire, walking barefoot on broken glass, and smashing boards to smithereens bare-handed.

My colleagues asked what might prompt parents to push their children into something like The International Mind blah, blah, blah. “Credentialism,” they say, is the culprit.

Do some parents put so much emphasis or faith on the names of specific schools that they actually harm their young or young adult children? I am convinced the answer is yes. Surely this happens everywhere in the world, and not only in Taiwan. Parents set their sights on schools for their children with names like Harvard, Yale, Cambridge, The International Mind blah, blah, blah, or, National Taiwan University (I can almost hear some readers gasp). These parents, with good intentions and love in their hearts, hound their children to excel in their school tests with great grades so that, regardless of the personal damage that may result, their children can get into and, presumably, one day graduate from such highly respected institutions.

It is foolish (forgive me, please) to insist that every child in every family in a country receive a college education. Not every child is cut out for the rigors of serious study, and serious study is precisely what a real college demands. It is even more foolish to make young people feel shame and humiliation because they didn't manage to get into “a good university.” In Taiwan, that is a code phrase for “a large and famous public university.”

Different universities and departments within them offer different but valuable educations to students of many kinds. Schools and programs at schools with modest reputations and smaller names can still fulfill the dreams and needs of thousands of our young people.

“Credentialism” is an attitude and form of behavior that puts unreasonable, unfair and often dehumanizing pressure on too many of our youth.

Father Daniel J. Bauer SVD is a priest and associate professor in the English Department at Fu Jen Catholic University.