Many students hold a stigma against the business school and its students. The W. P. Carey School of Business is often perceived as a place where the only concern of its students is how many 0’s will be tacked onto the ends of their future paychecks and where traditional education is waived for cost-efficient career skills. While this attitude may not be entirely unfounded, it is certainly blown out of proportion.
Business school Dean Amy Hillman said she is aware of the stigma, but that it's inaccurate.
“I think some people have the misconception that business students are more out for themselves and material gain, when the students I know value ethics, social responsibility and deeply care for others,” she said.
The complaints levied against the business school may be well-founded, and some students might just care about money — but grouping all W. P. Carey students into that category detracts from the hard work and the dedication of students who care about their education.
Botheconomicsandaccountancymajors are required to take more than a handful of non-business upper-division credits — including English, history, philosophy and many more. After all, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, as well as countless other tycoons, all graduated with degrees in fieldsother than business.
A degree from W. P. Carey signifies much more than financial competency, just as an English degree signifies much more than the ability to read a story.
“WPC requires more general education course credits than the ASU requirement," Hillman said. "We also have the most innovative business degrees in the U.S. with our Bachelor of Arts in Business degree. These concentrations embrace the business core with upper-division deep dives in subjects often outside the business school."
Regardless of what major is written across the top of the diploma, there is an expectation that a graduate is well-rounded and has an expertise in a broad array of subject matters. After all, a graduate with a degree in English literature is surely more desirable to employers if he or she has an understanding of psychology, so why would a finance major not be more desirable with an understanding of say, the roles of animals in postcolonial literature?
People often forget that what students major in only has some impact on the classes they take and the careers they pursue. All students, from business majors to art students, have unique interests and skills that transcend the imaginary lines of majors. After all, classroom discussion is enriched by diversity and heterogeneous viewpoints.
There always have been and there will always be stereotypes about different majors, and despite what anybody claims, some people will fit those stereotypes perfectly. At the end of the day, college is a time to learn and a time to diversify one’s interests, not a time to cast judgment and categorize people based on their majors.
Reach the columnist at jpbohann@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @JordanBohannon
