Czechs explained: Why is the nation so obsessed with academic titles?

Last week, a minor scandal erupted over newly appointed Justice Minister Eva Decroix’s French master’s degree after it was discovered the degree had never been formally recognized in Czechia.

The story caused a national stir. On X, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala rushed to Decroix’s defense, arguing that her French education didn’t diminish her qualifications. On the contrary, he said, it should be seen as an advantage.

Decroix, who also holds a Czech Ph.D. in law (JUDr.) from Charles University, later confirmed she would stop listing her internationally earned degree on official documents.

While the controversy may feel conflated to foreigners in Czechia, it reveals much about how titles aren’t just academic bragging rights. They’re deeply ingrained in a society where you might hear a colleague addressed as Mr. Engineer (pan inženýr) or a fellow parent called Mrs. Doctor (paní doktorko) at your kid’s school.

The Czech title system can seem notoriously complex to the uninitiated, especially compared to countries like Italy or the U.S., where titles are used sparingly. So, where does the obsession come from?

Czechia inherited its title-heavy culture from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where education and hierarchy were serious business. Bureaucratic formality seeped into daily life and stuck around long after the empire collapsed.

After decades of restrictions and political interference in education, the 1990s brought a revival. Education had been highly controlled and valued under the communist regime, and as academic freedom returned, so did respect for titles, becoming a powerful symbol of personal success and social mobility.

Vladimíra Dvořáková, former president of the Accreditation Commission, told Radio Prague in 2018 that titles were once tied to national identity and revivalism; today they're given a different kind of status.

“They’re used in everyday life: with colleagues, friends, even doctors or neighbors. Titles here are treated almost like a permanent part of someone’s name. The habit is fading, but it’s still there,” Dvořáková said, adding that titles function as a kind of shorthand for authority in Czech institutions, universities, hospitals, and government offices.

When Dvořáková gave her interview to Radio Prague, she commented on the wave of private schools that had begun to offer easy diplomas—so-called “diploma mills.”

In a 2010 interview with iDnes, psychologist Michaela Peterková confirmed that with such a proliferation of people earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees, many titles are losing their cachet as status markers and ego boosters, tied to outdated notions of intelligence and success.

Fast forward to the AI age and one has to wonder if titles will lose their relevance entirely: Prague’s University of Economics (VŠE), for instance, has announced it’s ditching the classic bachelor’s thesis (AI can generate them with ease) and replacing it with practical projects to ensure students actually engage with their studies.

The Czech system includes dozens of designations, ranging from Bc. to Ph.D. to MBA, covering academic, scientific, and even noble or diplomatic backgrounds. And if you earn more than one degree, it goes on your name. While Prof. Ing. Mgr. JUDr. PhDr. Jan Novák, MBA, LL.M., CSc. is rare, JUDr. PhDr. Marie Černá, LL.M. is not.

If you’re a foreigner living in Czechia, a degree from abroad can absolutely boost your career, but only if it’s officially recognized. For regulated professions like law or medicine, you’ll need to go through a process called nostrification (degree recognition). 

The good news? It’s getting easier. A new Labor Office program co-financed by the EU now offers financial assistance for recognition, including help with translation, interpreter services, and admin fees.

Just don’t pull a “Dr. Decroix” and list a title before it’s formally approved.