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On the contrary, I think social stigma and pressure can definitely influence what careers people go into and the suggestion that most people make decisions as p
by MiroF 6y ago
On the contrary, I think social stigma and pressure can definitely influence what careers people go into and the suggestion that most people make decisions as purely rational money-making machines seems somewhat facile.
- ashtonkem 6y agoI agree that humans aren’t totally rational in these decisions, but the key point is that the professor is totally ignoring a large amount of what drives people to go into finance: money. It’s much easier to say how someone should use their skills, when you don’t have to live off of the salary those skills bring.
- MiroF 6y agoAh yes, the professor gets to live off of the luxurious salary provided to academics.
- ashtonkem 6y agoCome now, don’t make up my argument. That’s bad style. Professors aren’t rich, duh. But they’re also neither in the job market, not starting their career off. Their students need to build wealth, worry about long term earnings potential, and pay back the large student debt that they just incurred. Unless if the professor is actively planning on quoting soon, none of these are incentives that the professor are subject to personally, meaning their advice will probably underweight them.
- MiroF 6y agoI agree that this is a flaw with advice from elders and one that one should keep in mind. I disagree that this is a unique flaw of advice from professors and more just a flaw with advice? Those who have more experience are going to be more distanced from your exact circumstances, as a function of having more experience. Advice can be useful nonetheless.
- therealdrag0 6y agoHaven't there been commentary about finance struggling "more" to find talent more in the decade after '08/ Occupy Wall Street? Now a lot of that talent has gone towards ad-tech probably, which now is itself getting the negative press. So ya agree with you about the social pressure! Let's keep it up. But we also need to find ways to align our financial incentives with social incentives!