I am an attorney at a large law firm and I don’t have any of my diplomas up on my wall. In fact, I would not want to put them up on the wall here. I have thought a lot about why, but haven’t reached any firm conclusion.
Partly I think this has to do with the atmosphere here. I feel as if people are subtley, and sometimes not so subtley overly competitive at this firm, and I feel as if putting my diplomas up on my wall would be playing into that somehow.
When I was admitted to the bar in California, I got a nice looking certificate from the Supreme Court. For some reason that still is not entirely clear to me, I did get that framed and I have that up on my wall of my office (actually I recently moved offices, and I haven’t had time to hang it, but it was up on the wall in my former office).
What’s the difference between that and a diploma? Well, EVERY attorney in this office has been admitted to the bar. So when I put that certificate up on my wall, I’m not competing with the person down the hall from me, I’m just putting up a personal reminder of the long journey that I went through to get that piece of paper.
Mine, too. That, and I keep forgetting to bring them to a frame shop.
I used to work in a law firm and it was common practice for the attorneys to hang up all their diplomas. Some firms will actually pay for their associates to do this. It’s all about the credentials, of course. Some were easy to see, others were hidden in the corner, depending on the person.
I’ve noticed the same thing in doctors’ offices - they want to show patients that they’re properly educated and all.
Back when I was selling cars, I had my MBA diploma framed and hung it on the wall of my office. Quite a few customers commented about why someone with an MBA from the Univ of Illinois would be selling cars.
I believe my BA and MBA diplomas are now in a box in the basement storage locker. At my present job I’m a staff person and few of the managers in our company have even a BA, so posting my diplomas at work could be seen as provocative.
Expensive is relative. How much was the education? See? Framing isn’t so expensive.
I frame tons of diplomas; they run anywhere from $75 for a small one in a metal with a mat to huge ones done up with linen mats, fillets, non-glare glass and a really nice frame for around $350. On average they tend to run in the $125-$150 range. You worked hard for it… frame it!
My med school diploma is framed (spent about $175 on it) and up in my den at home until I have an office of my own in a few years. Hey, I worked hard for that bitch–I wasn’t about to cheap out on the frame.
My undergrad and high school diplomas are at my parents’ house somewhere.
Mine (one degree, one diploma, one TAFE certificate - in descending order of prestige- Australia seems to have different awards to the US) are in store bought cheap frames and hung in my study. One day when I am earning a fortune I will have them framed properly. I worked hard to get them as a mature age student so I like to display them, even if only me and my family get to see them
I fit the “works with the public” rule; I am a psychologist and my diplomas are framed and hanging in my office.
I love the framing, btw: I got them matted in deep blue with a small gold border (called a filet, IIRC) and the frame is black with a tiny gold inset line. Really lovely.
Mine are in the little leatherette folders, either in a cabinet somewhere or many on my bookshelf, posing as actual books.
Seems pretentious to me to hang it in my office (It’s only a B.S. in Journalism). I like to keep it at home in case I run out of toilet paper… because that’s about what a journalism degree is worth. (Possible explanation for CalMeacham’s friend?)
Only monthly? Congratulations…you know the only modest graduate in the history of Harvard.
I only need to see a diploma if I’m at the doctor’s or the dentist’s, to make sure the guy knows what the hell he’s doing, or at least has been forced to sit through classes on it. Anyone else who puts it up on the wall is a despicable poseur.
I’ve got my BS and MBA degrees framed and hanging on my wall over my dresser (thanks, mom!) If mom didn’t have them framed, I probably would just have them in a folder somewhere. My high school diploma is in its leatherette case, recently rediscovered in my parent’s house. Perhaps I’ll set it on a shelf next to the other two, just for completeness sake.
IT types rarely seem to hang their degrees. In my case that’s understandable, since mine have little to do with information technology or mathematics. Yet most of my colleagues seem to have math or CS degrees, and they don’t hang theirs either. At one earlier job I recall that the CFO had his CPA license and a degree on the wall, but that’s about the only time I’ve ever seen it done in corporate office life.
In my old apartment I used to hang my bachelor’s degree in a relatively unobtrusive place in the hallway, but my present apartment, though much bigger, doesn’t have any suitable place. I don’t want my degrees to be the first thing a visitor sees. I do treasure them, however. They bring back memories of the work that went into them, and even more, what I learned on my own outside the classroom during those years.
I never did get around to getting my master’s plaqued.
All three of mine (BA, MA, PhD) are framed and hanging in my office, thanks to my almost ex-wife. I kind of like seeing them up there, when I rarely think about it, because, as others have said, it’s a nice reminder of a lot of hard work. And I agree with the suggestion that this practice is most common among professionals in the service industry (if that makes any sense). People like to have visual confirmation that the doctor, lawyer, psychologist, priest whom they’ve just met has some credentials. Much less common (but completely ok, IMHO) would be to see a local businessperson’s diploma on the wall.
For the record, I work for a high profile law firm in New York City. It is poor form for associates to frame and hang their diplomas, and from what I understand, most partners eschew it as well. Interestingly enough, most of the partners who do hang their diplomas graduated from perhaps unexpected schools, and certainly not Ivy League.
The only certificate I have framed and posted at work is my Professional Engineer license. I am required by law to post it in my workplace. My college diploma is on the wall in the spare bedroom/computer room in my home.
Hmm, I was just thinking about this. I recently got my PhD diploma, but I can’t decide whether to frame and hang it, or not. I do sort of the like the point about helping it emphasize to your kids how much you value education. Otherwise, I dunno. Seems like I have more interesting stuff to hang up, like artwork. And anybody who needs to know I’m a PhD already knows. I don’t care if the neighbors know, or people I have over for Junior League meetings.
I stopped wearing my Phi Beta Kappa key (I used to wear it some days as a pendant on a necklace) because a girlfriend said it was “pretentious.” I don’t know about that–people subtly show off their income and success all the time. Why not show off an academic achievement? The PBK magazine then ran an article about this very issue, with people all over the country writing in and relating whether they wore their key or not, and why. It was interesting.
Maeglin, why is it considered poor form at your law firm? I would have guessed that people at a well-known NY law firm would want extra reminders about what it took to get there.
