Third-Party Credential Accreditation Inefficacy

Picture this

Imagine a traveler carrying a gold seal stamped by an independent notary on their driver's license, but traffic police ignore the notary seal entirely because they only accept licenses issued directly by the local state motor vehicle department. Employers similarly disregard official third-party degree validations if the candidate lacks host-country work experience.

What the evidence says

Attaching formal third-party accreditation to foreign educational credentials produced virtually zero effect on callback rates (point estimates ranging from -0.014 to +0.007, statistically insignificant), failing to reduce the callback gap between foreign-educated and native-educated applicants.

Who was studied

Sub-sample of mock resumes with foreign education (Types 2, 3, and 4) submitted to job postings in Toronto and Montreal.

How

Randomized audit field experiment assigning fictitious "Canada International Skills Certification Board" accreditation badges to resumes with foreign credentials to test the effect on employer callback rates.

What to do

Policy makers should reallocate public funding from formal foreign credential evaluation agencies toward direct local workplace bridge programs that provide newcomers with verifiable host-country experience.

From the source

"The addition of Canadian references for resumes with all or some foreign experience... listing permanent residency status... or attaching accreditation to a foreign degree has no significant impact on raising callback rates among Types 2, 3, or 4 resumes with foreign education and/or experience."

Why Do Skilled Immigrants Struggle in the Labor Market? A Field Experiment with Thirteen Thousand Resumes

Tags

• accreditation
• credentials
• signaling
• policy intervention