Here is a fascinating story on Inside Higher Education. The dean of admissions at MIT has had to resign because it turns out that she never received a college degree herself. She has been with MIT since 1979 and is highly respected, but too bad. MIT requires a college degree for the position and she never received the degree she claimed.

This is another instance — and an especially revealing one — where an employer requires a degree for applicants who want to be considered for a position, but where it is quite possible for people who don’t have a degree to do the work capably. The “requirement” is a screening device having nothing to do with skills.