Recently
2 professionals have been in the news for being called out for doing jobs that
some feel they are unqualified for. We will look at both of them in this case
study to see how we look at education (both formal and informal) and how
experience is in itself a form of education. I have had to do my own share of
hiring employees and it is not easy even when you have their resumes in front
of you.
Jared Kushner
recently got slammed when he spoke of reading 25 books on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One article went so far as calling the books he
read Zionist propaganda without knowing what books he had read (Fernandez,
2020). Without knowing which books we can’t establish anything about them, but
we do know that 25 books is probably more than what most of our politicians
have read on the subject (even if they are one sided). He said that he had also
spoked to leaders and others involved in the region. This is highly possible
since he is Trump’s son-in-law, which gives he access to a lot of people that
are normal hard to get to. He has also said that he has been studying the topic
for three years. From his LinkedIn profile we know that he has 2 degrees: BA in
Political Science and Government from Harvard and a JD from New York
University. His working background is in real estate and newspaper publishing.
Let’s
break Kushner down and see what some of this really means. What is 25 books?
Right now I am doing a master program and my current course requires that you
read 4 books for the class. My master program is 30 credits or 10 classes. This
means that if each of my courses requires 4 books then I would have read 40
books for my degree. This is actually on the higher end of the books
required for a course. For my under grad degrees there was anywhere from 0-5
books. In courses that required more books, less of each book would be covered.
It actually drove me crazy when I would spend over $100 on a book and then the
professor would only use it for 3 or 4 chapters if I was lucky. This practice is
normal and some books are even used for 2 different courses where course one
will cover the first part of the book and course 2 will cover the back part of
the book. This recently happened to me for psychology 101 and 102 and if you
didn’t take both courses you bought a whole book to only use half of it. My
program is actually a little short with most master programs actually being 36
credits or 12 courses. This would then mean that 48 books would be required for
a master level degree. Another thing to take into account here is that each
professor for the most part, gets to choose their course material and how they
will address the topic of the course. This means that education in itself can
be biased. This means that it does not matter the perspective of the books he
read as long as they are on point with the subject matter. He has also said
that he had been studying the subject for three years. What does studying mean?
Is it just reading these books or does it include looking at news from the
region or other types of information. Master degrees are normally billed as 2
year degrees if done full time. My program is actually going to take me just
over 3 years because I also work full time. This means that it could be
possible that he could meet additional things that could equal a master level
program. If he is writing on the subject this could count as assignments for
courses. Emails going back and forth on related subjects could be the same as
discussion questions and briefs and longer writings could be equal to full
papers. Then after looking at the government degree requirements on the Harvard
website there were requirements for comparative government and international relations
which is normal for degrees in political science and government. Lastly, there
is his work experience. Hopefully someone that works in newspapers is at least
aware of international news. When you put all of this together there is
actually a good case to support that he has the skills and knowledge needed to
work on this issue.
Our next
case is Hunter Biden. Right now there is a lot going on that focuses on what
qualifications he has to work for Burisma Holdings. At present he holds a BA in
history from Georgetown University and graduated from the Yale Law School (“Hunter Biden”). Most of his career has been
spent in the banking or commerce industry.
When you
break Hunter Biden down you can run into similar issues. First, his dealings
with Burisma go back to his consulting firm helping them with ‘corporate
governance best practices’ (“Hunter Biden”).
This means a detailed look as business practices which relate to the law. His
educational background in law and history make him a good fit for this
position. I was not able to find what type of law he specialized in which could
make a difference, but I will assume that to pass the BAR exam that he had to
have at least a base understand of law in general. Yale’s website lists at
least 12 different areas of focus that people can follow in their studies.
Georgetown’s history program is very loosely structured allowing people to take
course in areas that interest them. Without having his transcripts it is
unknown what specific courses he has taken, but each degree gave the flexibility
to include some international study. If the advice he was giving to Burisma was
on either the financial or legal side it would not matter what type of company
it was (natural gas or a toy shop) as long as he focused on what his education
or work experience was. This is supported by interviews of former prosecutors
and executives in Ukraine (Ivanova, 2019).
What do
these 2 case studies mean? First, that formal education can be somewhat flexible
and people cannot just judge someone on their degree without either looking at
the actual program requirements at the college’s website or having the official
transcript. We even have horrible jokes in education that cover a student’s
academic achievement. One is Cs get degrees. Another is what do you call a
doctor that got Cs and Ds? Doctor. This means that even if a person does
receive a degree, in a specific topic they may not have done very well. At the
same time I cannot dismiss self-education. This includes things like reading
books, work experience, and professional development. These are key parts of
education that do not get the respect that they deserve. Things on this side
are improving with schools and the push for multiple measures on admissions and
PLA credit. People are made up of all different little pieces and these need to
be taken into account when making judgements on their qualifications.
Works Cited:
“Hunter Biden.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, February 1,
2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Biden.
Fernandez, Belen. “On Jared Kushner's 25 Books of Undiluted
Zionist Propaganda.” Middle East Eye. Accessed February 3, 2020.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/jared-kushners-25-books-undiluted-zionist-propaganda.
Ivanova, Polina, Maria Tsvetkova, Ilya Zhegulev, and Luke
Baker. “What Hunter Biden Did on the Board of Ukrainian Energy Company
Burisma.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, October 19, 2019.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hunter-biden-ukraine/what-hunter-biden-did-on-the-board-of-ukrainian-energy-company-burisma-idUSKBN1WX1P7.
Kushner,
Jared. Accessed February 3, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-kushner-412257146/
Additional websites used for research of this
topic:
If you want to read more on these subjects:
A list of books you can read on the Israeli-Palestinian
Issue.
Includes some other possible books
on the Israeli-Palestinian Issue.
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