It's frustrating that corporations continually reinforce this notion that a piece of paper is more important than work product....which in turn creates more hamsters running inside the wheel instead of finding ways to break out of the cage.

This so much. I have found the door of the cage years ago yet I jumped in the wheel after a while (started CS) because that is the only thing which will give you a reward at the end of day. Employers should really, really reconsider the value of what you have actually done instead of basing your qualifications on an artificially valued piece of paper.