I ignored his advice and earned a master’s degree. He remained a chief officer and retired with full honors. It begs the question of who was right? Personnel today are facing the same question: Do I get a degree or not?
I am not sure what the answer is for you, but the idea of upper level education is alive and well in the fire service today. The degrees that are currently available provide a different level of competency and are regarded differently with respect to their impact on career planning. You can acquire four types of degrees: associate, bachelor, graduate, and doctorate.
The associate’s degree is a two-year program primary aimed at preparing the workforce or preparing students to earn a four-year degree. The associate of arts (AA) and associate of science (AS) degree programs are aimed at basic skill levels. They are often pursued by preemployment students hoping to improve their opportunities for appointment.
Some individuals participate in the two-year program with the intention to work toward a bachelor’s degree. This degree requires a four- or five-year commitment. Those working toward an AA/AS can often migrate to the bachelor’s program, acquire advanced status, and only put in two additional years of work. A bachelor’s degree can lead to upward mobility as it prepares a person for critical thinking skills rather than vocational technology.
A graduate degree consists of two years more effort after earning a bachelor’s degree and focuses considerably more on thinking skills and principles and practices of professional development. It represents a higher level of commitment to educational achievement, which is almost always linked to the expectation that a person with the degree will have sufficient skills to perform at the executive level.
The next step is the doctorate or PhD. Most PhD programs are very intense, with limited time to complete. Not uncommonly, PhD requires the completion of all the previous types of degrees mentioned earlier. The PhD level develops the candidate to be a thought leader and a technical expert at some field of endeavor.
So, does everybody need a college education? Also, does the fire service need every candidate to go through every level? The answer to these questions is extremely complex. Years ago, attendees at the Wingspread Conference suggested that fire officers need to have a college education. Millions of dollars have been spent on educational programs to promote education at the community college level. Both community colleges and universities have been attempting to respond to this need for several decades. Yet the answer to the question regarding who needs a degree remains ambiguous and in some cases a point of conflict.
The true answer to whether you need a college degree resides in the decision process that individuals follow in planning their careers. You may need one degree just to get a job, and you may need another degree to achieve your career goals and objectives. On the other hand, there are individuals who go through very successful careers without ever stepping on a college campus. This is the nature of the dilemma being faced by those anticipating the future of training and education in the fire service. Do we need leadership with degrees?
This dilemma requires some critical thinking on the part of the leaders of the fire service. Encouraging individuals to seek education requires a workforce that can change and mature based on new findings of fact. The fire service has a reputation of being bound by tradition that often resists the adoption of new ways of doing things.
If you think you need a college education, you should go get it. If you think the college education will improve your chances of rising to new levels of influence, then go to college. As the fire service matures, it is very likely that those who are highly educated will ultimately influence the future more than those without that education.
