Come to think of it, there is one thing that hasn’t changed over the past hundreds of years. We’ve put people on the moon, invented electronic television and split open atoms but still, year after year, economic recession or not, fresh flocks of ambitious collegiates head consistently for the Big Three. Doctor, lawyer, Wall Street honcho.
However, many major newspapers and pundits around the country are arguing that American students have abandoned the aforementioned careers because of the economy. This is being measured by counting the number of applications to formerly less popular graduate schools and career paths. Their argument is that students are waking up to the ruins of these “stable” jobs and running, in disproportionate numbers, into the arms of other fields. I disagree.
The current state of the economy is posing challenges to the grand triumvirate of doctor-lawyer-Wall Street, but the strong image and prestige of these careers is still drawing hundreds of students toward them. According to current statistics, college students are finally looking around to see what else they might be able to do with their educations. They imply that students formerly headed toward traditional career glory are waking up and embracing choices like creative writing, public policy or teaching.
While this may be true of some certain cases, I would beg to differ. Students are going to non-traditional graduate schools and careers, but it is because they have to, not because they want to. It is common knowledge as well as common sense that applications to all graduate programs increase during times of economic recession. No one wants to be in an unwelcoming job market so they decide to take on more of academia. Therefore, the competition for highly sought-out programs becomes rougher and many students have been driven to less competitive schools or programs.
Applications to law schools around the country have increased enormously with schools such as Boalt Law at UC Berkeley and the University of Virginia reporting increases of 46 percent and 20 percent, respectively. Medical schools are still going strong with their recruitment and have not reported decreases due to the economy.
I suppose the biggest question here is the one about business students. After all, certain glitzy career paths in their field have disappeared. The New York Times recently featured an article claiming that many MBA students were turning away from Wall Street to pursue everything from non-profit organizations such as Teach for America to career fields like computer engineering.
However, many students featured in the same article admitted to choosing alternative career paths because they felt cornered into them. The attraction of the Big Three is still strong. Even here at UCLA, hundreds of undergraduate business students flocked to information sessions and career fairs that included top accounting firms and consulting firms.
I sat in on a management class last quarter and it was impossible to miss the Wall Street vibe in there. The situation is similar when you gauge attitudes toward law school among undergraduates. Even though newspapers are buzzing about legal layoffs by the hundreds, I know plenty of students who are still enrolling in LSAT prep classes and asking for recommendation letters to law school.
It’s as though rationally, we know that these careers are riskier than before, but we cannot and will not let go of the construct that surrounds them. Lawyers, doctors and entrepreneurs may as well be the poster children for the American dream. These archetypes dominate our silver screens, run amuck in plots across all dramatic genres on cable and network television and most importantly, have a kind of hero status in the modern world. There is no letting go of that, not easily.
In a way, we almost can’t help it. The status, prestige and pecuniary compensation tied to these jobs are so attractive that other careers pale by comparison.
I am not saying that being a doctor, lawyer or investment banker is in any way better than other careers. I am arguing that those particular fields have an aura around them. They scream success at you with the force of generations behind them and the recession has not been able to stop that.
We also cannot forget that we are the mother of all consumer cultures. As rumor has it, lawyers drive Benzes and drape themselves in Armani; doctors have beach houses in Capri and munch on caviar. As for investment bankers, they own entire islands and are escorted around in lush private planes.
They key word here is “rumor.” Looking around today, it’s not hard to see that I-bankers can embezzle and end up in jail, lawyers can be grouchy and unemployed and doctors can be buried in paperwork and sued to within an inch of their lives.
But that doesn’t matter to those that are trying to get there because the careers have such strong societal constructs around them. There’s the whole wealth, glory, saving lives thing that’s really hard to ignore. Even in times like these.
If you signed up for a GMAT test this year, then e-mail Joshi at rjoshi@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.