The Path to Wealth

The article I read from New York Times, "Lure of Great Wealth Affects Career Choices", points out how people are choosing Wall Street oriented careers over other careers which provide "useful" services. There are graduate school and medical school graduates who are experts and specialists in their prospective fields but choose the path to wealth through Wall Street. Some qualified medical doctors never even practice medicine because they enter into another career path through Wall Street, perhaps advising people on where to invest their money. The difference is that as a doctor they would only make $100,000 but on Wall Street they could be making upward of several millions.

Dr. Glassman, a graduate of Harvard Medical School, stated:

"I wasn'’t sure that I was willing to take the risk of spending many years applying for grants and working long hours for the very slim chance of winning at the roulette table and making a significant contribution to the scientific literature”".

As a hematology-oncology specialist, Dr. Glassman earned about $150,000 in 1996. He recently changed his career path to management consulting. He never stated how much he now makes on Wall Street or his net worth, however, experts estimate he brings home an annual income in the seven figures and estimate his net worth to be more than $20 million.

So as more people choose to enter Wall Street to find their own path to wealth, what will happen to the fields of academia and scientific research? What about the lawyers who graduate law school but choose to make more money on Wall Street?

John Moon, a managing director of Metalmark Capital, said that, "“If Wall Street was not there as an alternative, I would have gone into academia."” So, perhaps with more people leaving their specialized fields to enter Wall Street there will be a larger demand for people who wish to enter academia.