05/18/19 NICE GUYS FINISH WITH MBAs

NICE GUYS FINISH WITH MBAs

WILLING TO BET THAT THIS year's crop of MBA graduates are just a bunch of money-grubbers looking for the fattest pay package? You'd lose. While undergraduates show signs of being more materialistic (page 28), nearly half of this year's top B-school graduates turned down their highest-paying job offer, preferring to work for companies that offered room for personal growth or had a more appealing corporate culture.
That's one conclusion of The Fuqua Report, a periodic survey of 1,400 graduating students at 10 top-tier business schools conducted by Fuqua, the B-school at Duke University. The poll also unmasked a more traditional side of these students. Overall, they rated marriage, health, and ethics above career, prestige, and wealth. But the MBA grads still admire business success. While 11% of the graduates said that the person they admired most was their father, Bill Gates took second, with 5%, beating out their mothers, with 4%, and their spouses, with 2%. All of the above beat out Jesus Christ, who won 1% of the vote.
By Jennifer Reingold
EDITED BY ROBERT McNATT