Fake Indian Degree taking American Jobs

Hello,

I just got hired by big blue computer company as a sales consultant. I love my job and one thing I like to do when I have time on my hands is get to know the new people I work with. I do this by looking at their linkedin pages. While looking at some of the software engineers I've met I googled some of their schools cause they had funny names. I soon noticed that several of them had schools listed in wikipedias "list of unaccredited colleges". Undergrad and Masters from schools like Mahila Gram Vidyapith University and Al Qasim University.

But whats strange is that they got into big state school PHD programs with these schools. Im talking Top 25!! I dont want to list them here though. Then I looked into the transcript evaluation companies, they are a joke because they cant tell if the transcript is actually coming from the school as long as its sent from India!!

Most of them have been there 5+ years and I guess are good at what they do and are easily making well over 200k a year. Easy! Its just sad to know that fake degree still really do work. I think about the American guys who are somewhere sitting at home or teaching at some craphole university because a guy from India took their job. Should I report them?

 

Yes, absolutely!

 

Two xenophobic newbies.

 

Not at all. I'm from Africa and completed my bachelors degree in Africa before coming to the US. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here. But alot of foreigners are taking advantage of desperate american employers who need ANYONE with a shred of a science background.

 

Ego would make me say, "Yes, I'd report them." However, what you really have to ask yourself is what you'd gain by doing so. In this job market, a good job is difficult to find, and you don't want to alienate yourself if your employer learns the true but still chooses to look the other way because they are proficient personnel.

It really pains me to say that, because in years past I would be the first to say to stand your ground and take the moral high ground by speaking up. But really what do you really stand to gain vs what you stand to loose.

 

Employers desperate for anyone with a shred of a science background? What industries are you talking about? Seems like the opposite is true in the US. It's the job seekers who are desperate and most employers can pick and choose.

 

The IT industry can care less if those people hold degrees from unaccredited schools as long as they can handle the work and they are productive. I worked for the IT industry for a while and many people with high school were making more than people with PhDs, it is not about the level of education but about showing results.

The only people that would care about this is the INS. If the visas were issued with fake credentials then this is considered fraud and visas can be cancelled.

 

The very concept of somebody "sneaking" into this country using an "unaccredited" degree, and then taking up an American's job at a "big blue" corporate - appears hard to believe to me.

I once worked briefly at the "big blue", and I know their hiring standards. The very fact (as stated by OP) that these "Indians with fake degrees taking up Americans jobs" getting into the the "Top 25" PHD schools shows that they are capable and committed to their work and education. Moreover, no "foolish Indian (or any other foreigner)" would try to play with USCIS(formerly INS). The employment-based green card is a long and painful process, and no one with right mind would do something that would jeopardize this.

What I suspect is - some people stack degrees/certificates as resume fillers, and this might be the case here. They might not have used those "fake" degrees to climb-up the ladders.

 

Well, I know at your school does not teach reading. If it did you would know I live overseas. And to get my job I have to follow the rules. Why shouldn't employees and employers have to follow the rules too!

 

These statements I don't understand. First, let's not get accreditation confused with authorization. Even Wiki states:

"Some unaccredited institutions have formal legal authorization to enroll students or issue degrees, but in some jurisdictions (notably including the United States) legal authorization to operate is not the same as educational accreditation."​

So even though they may not be accredited within there respectable countries they may be authorized to grant degrees. I don't really know anything about either school and can't find any on a quick google search.

Second, if a top 25 school is accepting them into a Ph.D program AND they are completing it...chances are you're missing some information. That just doesn't make sense to me on several different levels.

Third, I have to disagree with you about the transcript evaluation companies. Which ones are you referring to? When we enquired about my wife's transcripts being evaluated (from New Zealand) it was clear that the school she attended would be listed.

 

You do realize that you just insulted a moderator, do you not?

 

Guess your school does not teach grammar.

Isn't English a requirement to get a working visa to the US? I should report you too.:biggrin:

 

Your previous posts on this thread do not indicate that you live overseas.

 

Does the moderator know he insulted me?

 

I am kind of surprised by some of the responses in this thread. If people are using false credentials, or degrees from diploma mills in order to benefit themselves professionally... this seems very wrong to me. Whether they know their job well or not, it is not fair to their colleagues who spent large amounts of time, money, and effort on training from accredited institutions. It is also illegal in most places.

If reporting means risking your career, then do it anonymously. To me, it's not worth risking your job to ignore red flags. If it turns out that the individual has actually earned their degrees, whoever inspects those issues will figure that out and everyone will be fine.

 

Since when does it matter where you are from when being called xenophobic?

 

The OP never mentioned fake credentials but unaccredited degrees. If I have a degree from an unaccredited school and list it in my resume and you decide to pay me a $200,000 dlls salary, I don't see nothing unethical about this as I disclosed fully my credentials and it is up to the employer to decide to accept it or not. Accepting an unaccredited degree for employment is not against the law as far as I know.

If the OP is jealous because he or she has an accredited degree and his or her coworkers are making more money in spite of the unaccredited degree, then it is up to the OP to talk to his or her manager and ask for a pay raise because he or she has better credentials but my gut feeling is that this is not going to work because there is a lot more than just an accredited degree to justify a salary.

It is like saying that because I have a PhD, I should make more than someone with only a BS and use this as my argument for a better salary. My manager might say, yes you have a PhD but I dont really need a PhD and the salary you are getting is what the position pays, if you dont like it then there is the door.

 

Are you saying that those of us that teach at a University do it because we cannot find a better job?

Now I am insulted

 

Surf sad to say I agree with him. I have had a terrible time finding candidates for jobs and now that my company won't let me sponsor visas its even worse. We get so few qualified candidates and the ones that look qualified fail the interview miserably. It really is an employee's market in the tech industry for computer programmers.

 

I dont blame Americans for avoiding a programming career. I know quite a few people in the US that were laid off in computer programming and were never hired again because they were not qualified as their skills became obsolete.

The issue is that computer programming changes quite fast so it is a lot cheaper to bring people from India than training local candidates. The people that you call unqualified could be trained but companies are not willing to put the money on this.

There is no shortage of programmers but shortage of money to train the existing programmers with no work in my opinion.

I know the case of a lady with a MS in Computer Engineering that was never able to find work after she was laid off and she ended working as a tech support person for minimum wage. She is now doing a PhD in business as she knows that IT can be a bad deal.