On Friday, Sept. 15, I attended the ’68 Center for Career Exploration’s Williams Recruiting for Equity and Inclusion Meetup. Unsure of what I was going to see or whom I was going to meet, I went hoping to learn more about career opportunities in fields that interest me, such as urban planning or education. I didn’t get the chance to go to the main job fair because of classes. There were 15 employers tabling, and eight of them (not counting the Williams College Investment Office) were directly related to finance, consulting, or general banking.
I’m not an economics major, but in the quick conversation I had with one consulting firm, I learned that my choice of major did not drastically affect my chances of working at their global consulting firm. They wanted “hard-working, quick-learning people.” While it is comforting to know there are high-paying jobs regardless of my major, I am uneasy about the quasi-institutionally endorsed career focus on finance for students at the College. Without getting into complex conversations about “selling out” or “securing the bag,” I would like to note that I understand the need many students have to pursue high-paying careers, whether it is for family-related reasons, general financial security, or the ability to go to Spring Street Market whenever you want.
That being said, it is worth asking if our decisions to chase affluence over other interests reflect the College’s stated aims. When a college president tells students to go out and change the world, what do they truly mean? Are we being pushed towards careers that will have the most social impact? In what direction is this private, nonprofit institution pushing us? What’s its stake in the matter?
Of course, you can make the case that any job can make a positive impact — perhaps those mergers and acquisitions really might benefit society — but many career paths with real influence are often overlooked in favor of those that carry prestige. There’s plenty of work to be done in alleviating the inequality and injustice all around us. Those who are deemed “essential workers” are, per usual, often paid the least. We know that teachers aren’t paid well and that working in public service doesn’t have the same prestige as a job at McKinsey, which also tabled at the meetup, but is prestige and wealth what we want? When we “reach for the stars,” I have a feeling that some of us may be playing it safe. We want to be in secure positions as we enter a world, an economy, and a housing market that are, at present, unstable.
Here at the College, we are pursuing perfection, reaching towards the next acceptance, accomplishment, or award in our lives. This isn’t our fault, and it doesn’t fall completely on this institution either. Rather, it is the system of private higher education that influences us, a system in which we are complicit. Our spot in the system grants us a microphone and a pedestal, and we readily accept it (we also get competition, social conformity, and a good dose of imposter syndrome, but that’s for another discussion). We end up ready to be employed by these companies, prepared to recite our experiences and attach our CV to an email. We join a hierarchy and climb up the ladder slowly — dissatisfied or not — in search of social capital and financial stability. But when we have doubts — when we are unsure whether we ought to be complicit in systems of inequality — we often don’t talk about it.
Obtaining an elite education in the U.S. often means putting trust in private institutions to give us something in return. But what is that return? By default, we get a lot of homework, phenomenal conversations, and amazing friendships. Once we’ve walked across the stage in robes, doors fly open, almost blown off their hinges by the clout our College’s name carries. High-skill job sectors patiently wait for us to walk out into the world and give us the next desk they have. They know we’ve participated in a four-year boot camp of sorts, trained to think critically about anything that moves, read crazy amounts, and, most importantly, develop an intimate (possibly unhealthy, as I would put it) relationship to work and productivity. With these businesses already keen on hiring graduates like us, do we really need the College to prioritize their stands at the career fair?
Some of us (myself included as you can see) feel overwhelmed and confused, while others know the exact direction they are headed. Ignore me if you think you are going to positively change the world or simply want to secure your financial future (completely valid), but I ask that we ponder our place in the elite education system for a moment. The jobs on display, a tangible representation of the elite education system, are tied to inequality in the U.S. Competition, like the thousands of students rejected from the College, is the name of the game. Should we take what’s being given to us and let the educational and economic systems stay this way? Should private education stay the norm for generations to come? The 2022 median household income in the U.S. was $74,580. The 2023-24 comprehensive fee of Williams is $82,660. Do we want to stay an elite school forever?
To be honest, I don’t know what I am asking for. Maybe recognition for those of us who are taking risks by not going into those stable, high-paying sectors (pour one out for those of us without safety nets). Maybe I want us to remember to make the most of this opportunity, to remember we are agents of real change. We’ve been told via society that we deserve to be here at Williams, that we deserve these fantastic opportunities, and, dare I say it, that we deserve them more than others. Here, my point is less directed at students and more at the institution we pay: As the College has grown and changed (if marginally) to more accurately reflect the economic and racial diversity of the country, it must be ready for more of these conversations, doubts, and questions.
As a friend of mine recently told me, “Your past prior to Williams influences how you see and understand the institution.” We are all approaching our college experience in different ways, and whether we like it or not, we are all being shaped by this institution. In providing a wonderful array of financially secure paths forward, the College is also limiting definitions of “success” and “leadership.” There is an undeniable link between the finance companies at the meetup and the College. The two systems of wealth and selectivity uphold each other. I only ask that the College provide support for those of us who aim to break away from these systems of elitism and circles of wealth. Yes, we decided to apply to and attend this elite institution, but we are trying to use the tools of a liberal arts education to change these systems of injustice and uplift our communities.
Gus Demerath ’25 is a sociology major from Shreveport, La.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Williams is a private, for-profit institution. Williams is a private, nonprofit institution.