A different kind of diversity

For many upperclassmen, the fall is a time of realization that the "real world" looms after graduation. There are resumes to write, open houses to attend and applications to submit before the deadline.

When Career Services slips a notice in each senior's mailbox about a "General Interest" career fair in Dillon Gym, it is therefore not surprising that both interest and attendance will be high. But of the "General Interest" representatives, almost two-thirds were related to consulting or finance. A mere 14 representatives of the 90 organizations that were present represented opportunities for public service, and four of these were either run or funded by the University.

While Career Services does offer smaller, evening sessions for students interested in the "nonprofit sector" and "applying to graduate school in the humanities and social sciences," these events are not nearly as visible as recruiting sessions from consulting and financial services firms. If the University is going to market itself as a school "in the nation's service" that values civic engagement, then this commitment ought to be reflected as at least one of the "General Interests" of its soon-to-be graduates.

Perhaps even more importantly, Career Services takes an astonishingly narrow view of business. Too often it seems that the University is only interested in those sectors which have traditionally provided flush revenues for the Office of Development to later tap. In similar fashion, the University's "Major Choices" pamphlet often sends the message that students can still become investment bankers even if they major in Slavic Languages and Literatures.

But there are many Fortune 500 companies whose core businesses are not consulting or finance. These include, among many others, entertainment, publishing, hospitality, apparel and technology.

According to Career Services, the firms invited to the career fair are those for which Princeton students have worked in the past. This is a self-perpetuating problem. The only way to solve it is for Career Services to make a stronger effort to diversify the "interests" represented, both nonand for-profit.