In the local language, there is a peculiar expression: "academic citizen." Apparently achieved by earning a bachelor's degree, which is perhaps why the trade in illicit degrees for folks with only a high school education who had risen in the world flourished, both here, and in the eastern (Western) countries of the peninsula. Also on both sides (I think, though I don't specifically know the institution here), there is the veneration of the academician, which I've also seen in a lot of Russian films from the 70s and 80s.
Perhaps if these structures of society were a bit stronger stateside, the mechanisms that operated to sustain them might be a mite less corrupt. Frankly, very few people care about who an assistant professor at a local university is, much less what they do. But the social inertia, as it were, might have a useful effect on the integrity of the mechanism. Actors in their bios here, and not just the ones first starting out, mention one or two of their professors, presumably indicating both the lineage and the network of influence. People generally pay more attention to card games where the chips stand for real money.