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Want to Become a CEO? Start at a State University!
By JLP | September 19, 2006
There was a very interesting article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal by Carol Hymowitz titled ‘Any College Will do’(FREE, thanks to commenter DM for the link). The article stated that instead of focusing on which college you attend, focus on what you do in college. Some interesting quotes from the article:
Most CEOs of the biggest corporations didn’t attend Ivy League or other highly selective colleges. They went to state universities, big and small, or to less-known private colleges.
Wal-Mart Stores CEO H. Lee Scott, for example, went to Pittsburg State University in Kansas, Intel CEO Paul Otellini to University of San Francisco and Costco Wholesale CEO James Sinegal to San Diego City College.
This information should help allay the anxieties of many parents and their college-bound children who believe admission to a top-ranked school with a powerful alumni network is a prerequisite to success in the upper echelons of business management. Today’s crop of chief executives are, of course, at least a generation older than current college students, but they are in the position to hire and say they don’t favor job candidates with certain degrees.
I found this interesting:
What counts most, CEOs say, is a person’s capacity to seize opportunities. As students, they recall immersing themselves in their interests, becoming campus leaders and forging strong relationships with teachers. And at state and lesser-known schools, where many were the first in their families to attend college, they sought challenges and mixed with students from diverse backgrounds — an experience that helped them later in their corporate climbs.
According to a survey by executive recruiter Spencer Stuart, only 10% of the CEOs leading the top 500 companies received undergraduate degrees from Ivy League schools.
One reason more Ivy League alumni aren’t CEOs may be that many have traditionally chosen careers in investment banks and at big law firms, where they could earn big sums quickly and wouldn’t have to start in entry-level management jobs.
So parents, don’t fret if your kid doesn’t get into Harvard or Yale. Let them go where they are comfortable and send a copy of Jeffrey Meshel’s One Phone Call Away – Secrets of a Master Networker and Harvey Mackay’s Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty along with them. Clearly, being a proactive leader and networker pays dividends.
Topics: Kids and Money, Personal Growth | 7 Comments »
September 19th, 2006 at 3:52 pm
Here is a public (no $$$ needed) link for the ‘Any College Will do’ article:
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB115853818747665842-QwZ5phDGK0glnjD6J3v_4GLLhwY_20070918.html
September 19th, 2006 at 5:47 pm
While the headline is catchy, I don’t think they really made their case very well. Think about it for a second. There are only a dozen or so Ivy schools, yet alums respresent 10% of the top corporate CEO’s. And when you add grad school, the percentage goes way up. That’s only 8 schools compared to how many thousands of other universities large and small. That’s less than 1% of schools. So, what am I missing here?
If you ask me, it makes a pretty good case for the value of an Ivy degree. That, plus the fact that many high-paying careers are heavily skewed to Ivy grads – I know because I could throw a rock out my office door and have about a one in two chance of hitting a 20-something, six-figure Ivy grad.
September 20th, 2006 at 7:37 am
Bitacle Blog Search Archive – AllFinancialMatters » Blog Archive » Want to Become a CEO? Start at a State University!
[...] CEO’s don’t go to Ivy league colleges
September 20th, 2006 at 8:25 am
For me the thought of an Ivy league degree would be for the contacts and network that can be built and expanded there. That doesn’t mean that you can’t do that elsewhere but at an Ivy league school you’re likely to do this with the more affluent of society. I wouldn’t recommend getting an undergrad at one of these places; any decent school will do for that but the Grad degree, especially an MBA – go Ivy league if you can. (just my 2 cents worth)
September 20th, 2006 at 1:34 pm
This article is interesting. I believe that the institution you attend does not necessarily matter when it comes down to the employers who are looking for certain individuals. There are some Harvard alums who work for Taco Bell. There are some less mentioned colleges whose alums are CEOs.
I agree with this article totally. Once you have your degree, no matter the institution, it’s up to you how or what you decide to do with it. Knowledge is not power if you fail to utilize it.
September 20th, 2006 at 8:48 pm
Want To Be a CEO? Go To A State University
This is very interesting. Most CEOs of the biggest corporations didn't attend Ivy League or other highly selective colleges. They went to state universities, big and small, or to less-known private colleges…. …Some 10% of CEOs currently heading…
September 21st, 2006 at 2:13 pm
Good news for me! I went to Miami U. of Ohio, which few know is actually a public school!