Furthermore, alternate methods of measuring individual differences proposed in the educational system appear in many cases to be inappropriate to provide sound measurement. This, of course, flies in the face of what we know about continuous distributions, linear regression, and validity coefficients based thereon. It is, of course, only in the most unusual situations in which job performance can be considered a dichotomy. Also, the capitalization on individual differences in the workplace is essential in the present globally competitive environment. When hiring, one cannot rely on many of the credentials that employers, mostly smaller ones, have traditionally used.
Educational credentials are a particular problem.
Grade inflation and educational experimentation related to reducing the appearance of individual and associated group differences have greatly diminished the value of educational credentials as employment tools. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that laymen and even students in psychology do not recognize the importance of individual differences and the need to measure them. The lack of textbooks in these areas is a particular problem. Some dedicated professors have suggested that it may be only through exposure to areas like behavioral genetics that I-O students come to recognize that there are individual differences and that understanding and measuring them is important. However, within the area of I-O psychology, there can be important research contributions to better define some of the differences most important to the field.