

A simple theory of why smart young people go into finance, law, and consulting - yummyfajitas
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/01/a-simple-theory-of-why-so-many-smart-young-people-go-into-finance-law-and-consulting.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+marginalrevolution%2Ffeed+%28Marginal+Revolution%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

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showerst
I've always thought that for many people, the social respectability factor
goes hand in hand with the money.

One thing I've noticed is that the children of people who were successful in
some risky endeavor (entrepreneurship) tend to be much more likely to take a
'safe' socially respectable job (law, medicine), even if it has a much lower
income ceiling, even when they don't have tons of loans to pay off which would
necessitate a higher income floor.

Some smart people just really are interested in law and medicine too, so we
can't discount that. But it is interesting that a top tier CS major will make
80% as much as a top tier law grad, yet have 3 years less schooling and work
1/2 the hours, but you don't see kids from upper-class homes flocking to CS,
at least in my experience.

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nodata
Alternative answer: Money.

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dangoldin
That's roughly what this theory boils down too albeit phrased better.

