Cultural Elitism (Sociology)

Elite Professional Services Firms:

Why Graduation from a Top Tier School is not enough

Kelli M. Johnson

The Catholic University of America

Sociology, MSO 190 (Section 01)

Professor Boston

December 6, 2013

Elite Professional Services Firms:

Why Graduation from a Top Tier School is not enough

The topic I have chosen for this paper will focus primarily on culture and how in the world of professional services, cultural matching is more important than one’s graduation from a top tier university. As someone who has been employed by professional services firms throughout my career, I recently reflected upon my own professional lifestyle, the colleagues I have had in the past fifteen years and my analysis of both the people and our behaviors is quite intriguing. It appears fairly evident that the key element in the criterion and hiring processes utilized by these professional services firms focuses on cultural matching. This paper will demonstrate how culture, not education, is a primary driving force when hiring decisions are made at the top professional services firms. My introduction of this topic is a social concern because it demonstrates how social inequality is promoted legally throughout the ranks within these types of firms and the population studied will include college students seeking employment and a random sampling of working adults employed by the top professional services firms. Elitism is a part of the professional life I experienced while employed by Deloitte & Touche, Boeing, Jefferson Wells and Accenture. In their hiring practices, this isn't considered discrimination; it is a hiring preference. I plan to provide perspectives from human resources, the hired employee and the candidate not selected. Additionally, I plan examine the educational choices made by students in selecting an institution of higher education and why the “cultural matching” utilized by professional services firms can make the choice of university almost a moot...