University as a Social Networking Opportunity

University as a Social Networking Opportunity

The Chronicle of Higher Education discusses "Business Educators Struggle to Put Students to Put Students to Work". 

"Business education has come to be defined in the minds of students as a place for developing elite social networks and getting access to corporate recruiters," says Rakesh Khurana, a professor at Harvard Business School who is a prominent critic of the field. It's an attitude that he first saw in M.B.A. programs but has migrated, he says, to the undergraduate level."

So, is there any advantage to a pursuing a Liberal Arts Major? 

"A forthcoming report from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching praises 10 American colleges of business as models for integrating the liberal arts and practical training.

"One of the objects of praise is business-oriented Babson College. Its president, Leonard A. Schlesinger, says that concrete business skills tend to expire in five years or so, as technology and organizations change. History and philosophy, on the other hand, provide the kind of contextual knowledge and reasoning skills that are indispensable for business students."

The Bottom Line:

Success is about effort. Coasting, and networking is not a dependable strategy. 

Great (local) Reference: 
Dr. Katharine Brooks' "You Majored in What?". She is currently the Director of Liberal Arts Career Services for The University of Texas at Austin.

~Xolo