Fordham Finance Majors Should Use Their Degrees to Make a Difference

By Alex Nguyen and Matthew Ly

Several weeks ago, the Gabelli School of Business held a fair at which students were able to select their majors. Finance was a logical and popular choice for many, as the market for professions that utilize it is expanding and the tools and skills acquired from the classes offered by Fordham will only help students realize their uncertain goals and aspirations.

The general goal we can sense from Gabelli students is simply to become wealthy, stereotypical Wall Street bankers. Many Gabelli students aspire to work in the investment banking industry or some other Wall-Street-related profession. While we are not suggesting that these are a poor aspirations, we are concerned by the overwhelming number of individuals who aspire to this. Making money is not a bad thing, nor is to secure one’s future or to live a more luxurious life, but is that what society really needs right now?

There seems to be too many hardworking business professionals working towards their own futures and not for the good of others. Aside from the progress made in a few clubs and organizations on campus such as our Fair Trade Club, the effort students put towards improving our communities through business is lacking at best. There are many finance careers aimed at more socially-minded investing. Fair trade, micro-finance and impact investing have seen significant growth in recent times, with greater development predicted for the future.

Over the past few years, the number of socially conscious firms has risen in order to combat the growing wealth gap, as many families and communities continue to suffer from poverty and poor management of resources. This is where our greatest and most gifted business students should focus their attention. The need for individuals with business and finance backgrounds for socially-minded companies is growing. The results of just a fraction of our many students partaking in this industry at some point in their career can yield incredible returns. The problem is that this type of work does not generate the level of income many of us desire.

Many of the skills and traits Wall Street bankers are required to have are to achieve success in the business world. These men and women have the characteristics that make them the best at what they do; they are the type of people who can bring success into socially minded businesses. Banking is the short-term goal, with social investing as an underlying influence and goal to achieve.

Our society has a cultural mindset of individualism rather than a communal mentality, resulting in us looking to better ourselves rather than improving the well-being of our society. We do believe that Fordham is trying to address this by the incorporation of liberal arts and the Jesuit values that are ingrained with our education.

While these are definitely opinions from two liberal-minded students, we still believe that Fordham University stands for a holistic approach to education. Obviously, not all students at Fordham have the same views as we do, and many students claim financial security as their major reason for going into the financial services industry.

However, this does not negate the fact that Fordham imbues every one of its students with an aforementioned holistic education that promotes social impact.

Many people often question students that decide to take liberal arts minors in addition to their finance degrees. Traditionally, a minor in economics or another area of business would only support finance related fields. However, as more and more companies are moving towards the forefront of social impact, sustainability and diversity, the classical finance degree can inhibit a new generation of conscious corporations.

To alleviate this issue, Fordham University incorporated a liberal arts education into its business curriculum. Classes like philosophical ethics, faith and critical reasoning and liberal arts electives may seem like quite the nuisance to many business students. However, what these classes truly offer are a different method of thinking about certain problems and issues that affect everyday life, including business.

Furthermore, these topics broaden students’ knowledge and cultivate a broader spectrum of interests to which students can take advantage. Fordham also expresses interest in changing the standard attitude of business students through events and clubs.

The most recent example of this was the Fordham University: Diversity Leadership in a Global Society Banquet. The event focused on the importance of social impact, sustainability and diversity. Events like these are slowly changing the general mindset of college business students. The banquet acted as a networking event for Fordham business students to grow their own personal connections with professionals who have their minds set on social impact.

Furthermore, the fact that Fordham is an Ashoka campus (meaning it has been recognized for its efforts to improve social innovation) is just another reason to notice that Fordham is trying to prepare our finance students with a holistic education.

At the end of the day, for each and every individual Gabelli student, Fordham University provides a plethora of opportunities to have a social impact and a degree in finance has all the foundational education to produce good deeds. While Fordham should definitely never stop increasing its efforts to provide students with a quality education that will differentiate them from other single-minded finance majors, it is clearly up to the students to make the choice between doing what makes money and what is right.

These choices that we make as young adults paint who we are going to be for the rest of our lives.

Alex Nguyen, GSB ’17, is a finance major from Los Gatos, California. Matthew Ly, GSB ’17, is a finance major from Oakland, California.