Readin', Ritin', Rithmatic
There is a persistant mistruth spread in some circles that all higher education is of equal value and that receiving a degree from a school like, oh I don't know, the University of Utah or BYU just to pick two at random, is the same as a degree from any other accreditated school. This is a lie with harmful long-term implications. However, there isn't time to get into discrediting that falsehood right now.
For the last three years I've been asked to speak at the University of Utah Finance Conference. (This says far more about the pool of talent on which they have to draw then on my value as a presenter.) Generally I spend a day in Salt Lake making people cry because they are shocked to learn that in spite of being told that their education is just as good as anyone else's, employers --and you may want to be seated for this next bit -- prefer to hire people from better schools. The fact that almost no one understands that getting a job on Wall Street takes a couple years of learning, networking, interning, and interviewing (as opposed to most student's plan of waking up one day in the spring of their senior year and skimming through the help wanted section of the campus paper) further compounds their challenges.
While I was at the school last week, I came across the best evidence yet that the University of Utah isn't positioning itself to produce Rhodes Scholars in abundance. I believe this explains not only the job search challenges students face, but goes a long way toward putting into perspective where the foolish attitudes mentioned in the opening paragraph come from.
I took this picture Friday afternoon in one of the business school buildings: 
The third line of text on the sign reads, "It may open".
Leaving aside the fact that college and graduate school students probably shouldn't need to be told what doors are, I'm not sure why we need to warn them. Much like the fact that I'm one of a handful of people asked to speak at their conference each year, the implications of this sign do not bode well for the future prospects of Utah-based higher education.
For the last three years I've been asked to speak at the University of Utah Finance Conference. (This says far more about the pool of talent on which they have to draw then on my value as a presenter.) Generally I spend a day in Salt Lake making people cry because they are shocked to learn that in spite of being told that their education is just as good as anyone else's, employers --and you may want to be seated for this next bit -- prefer to hire people from better schools. The fact that almost no one understands that getting a job on Wall Street takes a couple years of learning, networking, interning, and interviewing (as opposed to most student's plan of waking up one day in the spring of their senior year and skimming through the help wanted section of the campus paper) further compounds their challenges.
While I was at the school last week, I came across the best evidence yet that the University of Utah isn't positioning itself to produce Rhodes Scholars in abundance. I believe this explains not only the job search challenges students face, but goes a long way toward putting into perspective where the foolish attitudes mentioned in the opening paragraph come from.
I took this picture Friday afternoon in one of the business school buildings:
The third line of text on the sign reads, "It may open".
Leaving aside the fact that college and graduate school students probably shouldn't need to be told what doors are, I'm not sure why we need to warn them. Much like the fact that I'm one of a handful of people asked to speak at their conference each year, the implications of this sign do not bode well for the future prospects of Utah-based higher education.
2 Comments:
You must be so proud.
Heeeeyyyy---
You still need to be nice to people who are seeking a "Utah-based" higher education... :)
Yours,
Holly
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