On Aug. 19, I received an email invitation to attend McKinsey & Company's information session, linking videos entitled “The Benefits of Becoming a Business Analyst” and “What Do Business Analysts go on to Achieve?” Several days later I received the same memo, this time forwarded to me by a fellow fourth-year. On Aug. 25, I received an invitation to attend one of five recruiting events hosted by Bain & Company, another top-tier management consulting firm. On Aug. 27, I received yet another invitation enclosing the same memo, this time forwarded by my very own editor-in-chief.
Perhaps at some point I was individually labeled as a suitable candidate for such a career (though I consider that debatable). A more probable explanation for why Bain and McKinsey have suddenly become such a ubiquitous presence in my life is the sheer influence that such companies have on college campuses. It’s not that I’ve earned the privilege of being placed on their recruitment radars, but that they’ve somehow acquired the privilege of being placed on mine — regardless of whether I want them there.
Nearly every fourth-year experiences the undue pressure of having to justify four years of costly education by securing some notable next step: law, medicine, high finance. The problem is the latter of the three has flooded the job market with millions of opportunities to make money by helping others make more money. Management consultancy, advertising, public relations, lobbying — these are all examples of financial services that have come to displace alternative career choices by culturally attributing greatest value to careers centered on finance. Our culture here at the University reflects this reality: to be successful after college is to secure a respectable spot within the same industry. Big consulting firms welcome us because we welcome them.
Several writers, including anthropologist Karen Ho and political activist George Monbiot have argued a corporate cult of elitism and high-achievement siphons off the brightest students every year by tempting them with glimpses into the high life. They entice college seniors with parties, sports events and personal invitations, planting the idea that top University graduates become analysts, analysts become associates and associates become vice presidents. The message they instill is that eventually you too can join the highest echelon of society — that of the corporate elite.
I never asked for them, and yet here they are — in my inbox, flooding conversation and catching the imaginations of my fellow peers. Already, a half dozen of my good friends will be accepting two-year analyst positions at similar firms, and for seemingly different reasons, too. One friend who studies math and philosophy is drawn to the challenges in logic and problem-solving analyst cases entail. Another humanities student, who happened to walk up to me as I was writing this piece (on his way to a Boston Consulting Firm info session), similarly enjoys the intellectual stimulation of working through business problems. Oddly these same individuals admitted, somewhat half-jokingly, that they had sold their souls.
My peers express ambivalence toward these positions because, despite being offered a continuous stream of novel challenges, business analysts, for the most part, serve businesses, which in turn, exist to profit. And to readily abandon the myriad noble ideals to which one is exposed during college for a comparably shallow pursuit in life should indeed be at least a little unsettling.
That said, management consulting firms and other financial service companies are not inherently evil; they do not intend to subvert the open-mindedness that college aims to instill. They are simply a symptom of an overly competitive, individualistic culture that posits independent financial security as the hallmark of a successful career. Greater income equals greater security, which combined affords one high status within a society that equate status with wealth. So long as our University fosters the sorts of attitudes and values associated with this culture, the liberal arts will have little bearing on students’ decisions moving forward.
Surely there are alternative post-undergraduate options that enable one to learn and grow without sacrificing even the slightest degree of dignity. Millions within our generation are already showing a greater tendency to choose part-time jobs over traditional long-term careers so they can make just enough money to live and pursue passions on the side. And as Swarthmore Psychology Professor Barry Schwartz argues in his compelling piece, “Rethinking Work,” most people do not work simply to make money anyway, but to improve the lives of others. Studies have even shown such motivation applies evenly across the spectrum of socioeconomic standing.
Why must we repeatedly resort to an industry that, while perhaps encompassing its own noble outlets, remains deeply entrenched within the same culture that keeps us from doing what we truly love? I have confidence we can start rethinking our self-serving competitive culture here on Grounds, so the values we collect through college can guide us into our next, nobler steps in life — regardless of how uncertain those steps may be.
Will Evans is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at w.evans@cavalierdaily.com.
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