Not just about the money

By Carmen Wahlgren

During my honors senior business capstone class last quarter, our professor asked my class something along the lines of: "How many of you feel that you are treated as second-class citizens when it comes to several key components of the university's mission?" Everyone's hands shot up in agreement, including my own.

Undergraduate students in the business school probably understand what I'm talking about. First, at Santa Clara, business students are broadly regarded as less ethical. Second, we are not considered to have a "passion" or "vocation" for our work in the same way that a student pursuing, for instance, a career in social service work would. Third, there is the stereotype that business students rarely engage in the "social justice" mission of the university. Let me explain these points further.

Greedy, money-hungry, selfish, uptight, suit-wearing slaves of "The Man." These are the dismissive words that, over the course of my four years at Santa Clara, I've heard people use to describe myself and other business students.

Why are some people so intent on putting down business students?

Maybe it has to do with the recent accounting scandals, when a few rotten apples at large companies such as Enron and WorldCom gave a bad name to corporate management. Or maybe it's just a bad experience with one of the few business students who really do fit those obnoxious stereotypes. It seems that business students at Santa Clara are seen as ethical failures.

As a Hackworth Fellow this year in the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, I've seen so many examples to prove this particular stereotype wrong.

Last quarter in particular I hosted a panel with the Latino Business Student Association, called "Ethics and Business: What Does It Matter To ME?" The first three business professionals I invited to the event all readily volunteered with great enthusiasm. I wasn't surprised to see a great turnout from business students. This event proved that business professionals and students alike are keenly interested in the ethical implications of our actions in regards to the greater community.

Unfortunately, the typical business student is perceived as only following his or her passion for money or for profit. Although garnering profits is a primary goal of the major, most people in business are also concerned with creating jobs and wealth for the community at large. How better to get the poor out of poverty if not by finding jobs for them in work created by businesses?

We are also labeled as being too greedy to donate any of our time and/or our money to charitable causes, but countless companies give substantial donations to charity and lead successful volunteer programs.

Most of the top donors to our own university are successful business professionals. Believe it or not, even in the business school we are instilled with values that prompt us to give in our communities and an inclination to help the poor. Third, we are all labeled as sharing identical political and economic beliefs, when in reality this couldn't be further from the truth.

We are also encouraged to discover our true passions, not just prompted to find a job that will make us the most money. I can't even begin to count the number of times that people outside the business school have asked me: "Is accounting really what you want to do? Are you truly passionate about it, or are you just doing it for job security?"

The reason these questions bother me so much is because I've never heard them asked of anyone outside the business school. As with any other major, business has vigorous programs that require its students to be truly passionate about the subject matter.

Does accounting sound exciting to most people? Probably not. But to me, it's enthralling. Maybe it doesn't sound like a "passion," but to students like myself, it really is!

Still, business students are treated as second-class citizens in regards to Santa Clara's mission, but there is no reason why misconceptions should persist.

Here is my suggestion: If you are a business student, think about how you may be unintentionally leading people into misjudging you. Have you taken any classes outside the business school to better understand other viewpoints? Have you done an Arrupe placement, gone on an immersion trip or attended a theater production?

If you are a student of another school, think about how you perceive business students. Do you automatically assume they are just money hungry or do you respect their career choices as much as your own? Can you understand how it is possible to be ethical and in business?

Let's not let our respective schools divide us, but bring us together in this dynamic community.

* Carmen Wahlgren is a senior accounting and economics major and is a Hackworth Fellow for the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.