- You say potato, I say… mass-murdering psychopaths
- Jesus politely asks Tim Tebow to take it down a notch
- I like Jon Huntsman, but there are reasons he will not become President
- In 2010, a third of Harvard’s graduating undergraduates took jobs in… financial services. Sigh. (h/t MR)
- How to write about African elections (h/t half the blogs I read)
Presentation to the Joint Chiefs Operations Directorate
November 11, 2022
2 Responses
Becca’s basic point is correct, but she could have made an even stronger case. The correct version of the survey is not that a third (actually 31%) of Harvard’s 2010 graduating undergrads took jobs in finance, but rather that 31% of those who reported having accepted job by graduation had a job in finance (financial services). Since a third of undergrads don’t take a job right away, and many who are getting a job haven’t reported what job they have accepted or will (they hope!) accept, in fact only about 11% of all graduating undergrads (172 out of 1539 in the survey, though there were about 1673 graduates total, as one can learn from Harvard Magazine’s July 2010 issue) reported taking jobs in finance.
All this information was there in the comments section to Tyler Cowen’s post at MR, by the way.
I agree with Becca and Chris Blattman that in any case too many Harvard grads are going to Wall Street.
Hi Professor Blattman,
Very much enjoy your blog. I am currently applying to masters degree programs in development and your academic advice section is especially appreciated.
Having graduated from Harvard College, I was interested to see your link. However, clicking on the Class of 2011 stats I noticed that the numbers from the original 2010 report are in fact inaccurate. That report was based on a sample size of n=556. The 2011 data, which also gives a comparison chart, shows that financial services were only 20% of the pie in 2010 (based on a new sample size of n=959). This is probably because the original results were reported before the end of the year, and most people who recruit for finance jobs get their offers much earlier than people going into other sectors. Overall, from 2008 to 2011, finance went down from 28% of the class to only 17%, and consulting from 19% down to 12%. Non-profit work went up to 7% in both 2010 and 2011.
I still agree with your (implied) sentiments. Even 20% is a lot and the overall perception on campus is still “mass exodus onto Wall Street.” It the employment path of least resistance undoubtedly, maybe because those recruiters have ample funds to hold fancy meet-and-greets and woo students. There’s a good analysis of the phenomenon here: http://baselinescenario.com/2010/05/04/why-do-harvard-kids-head-to-wall-street/. From anecdotal evidence though, a lot of graduates go into it for prestige, become disillusioned after a couple of years and then switch sectors. I’d be interested to see employment survey data 3-5 years out.