WSJ’s: The Curse of the Class of 2009
Economic research shows that the consequences of graduating in a downturn are long-lasting. They include lower earnings, a slower climb up the occupational ladder and a widening gap between the least- and most-successful grads.
In short, luck matters. The damage can linger up to 15 years, says Lisa Kahn, a Yale School of Management economist. She used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a government data base, to track wages of white men who graduated before, during and after the deep 1980s recession.
Ouch. As Class of 2010, this news stings as well. I imagine that this year’s on campus recruiting class will go ape-shit to land the dwindling number of sexy consulting and finance jobs and internships.
That being said, I’m worried about how this would affect the academic decisions of those in the younger years of college. Does this mean fewer Classics concentrators and more Economics concentrators? Does this mean that the pre-business clubs and organizations will see an influx of weary-eyed freshmen already plotting their post-graduation job courses?
I hope that freshmen will remain freshmen, but that might be too much to hope for. Any thoughts?
Comment below!
It is indeed an upsetting news. Freshmen shall become freshmen, and Harvard a place of liberal arts education above everything else. Unfortunately, in difficult times (that are played up even more by media these days) prisoner’s dilemma kind of situations are unavoidable. It is going to be a price war, and while Class of 2009 or 2010 is just unlucky entering the job market, Class of 2013 or 2012 is in a sense much more unlucky - the situation will definitely change the dimensions of college experience, so graduates of those classes will potentially have a lesser college experience, more focused on resume padding, and as much of a difficulty landing that dream consulting/finance job upon graduation.