A Sort of “FREE” Business
The below is the opinion of an individual and does not reflect that of SASSE as a whole.
Amidst the latest influx of business jargons, buzzwords such as “innovation” and “impact” seem to permeate the lectures at SSE. Of course, with its snazzy FREE mission and mandatory reflection courses, the more-than-a-century year old institution has kept up with the lingo of contemporary business. Suddenly, you may even find that investment banks are brimming with inclusivity reports, all the while job posts repeatedly talk about visions, values and whatnot. In the sea of ceaseless internship hunting, this may all appear confusing for the average business student. One may, as I am right now, eventually address the authenticity of it all with this particular question: Has SSE, and ultimately the business world, really taken a turn for the better future that it so persistently endorses?
When I first started interviewing students about this topic, around two months ago, I never imagined how significantly the viewpoints would differ. At the time, many students had just completed their last exams before Christmas – a period with just as many emerging grins as fading smiles. Eventually, during the last couple of days of the exam week, one of the interesting correlations that I observed is how the responses of students more often than not mirrored their level of post-exam enthusiasm, which really just depended on their academic performance. For instance, I had the opportunity to interview a seemingly cheery first-year BSc student after her accounting exam, who exclaimed about how the university was “a hub of impact and change.” Her gloomier friend just beside, however, emphasized the “lack of diversity” and the “performativity” of some of the school’s espoused values. Although I could only assume who had done well on the accounting exam, and who had not, such interviews opened my eyes to some of the shortcomings of SSE’s measures towards a “better” future. This, I believe, comes down to an often flawed education system.
“FREE:
Fact and science-based mindset;
Reflective and self aware;
Empathetic and culturally literate;
Entrepreneurial and responsible”
“A brighter future starts with an education,” they say. “Learning for learning’s sake,” they preach. These words effectively fade away with the competitive and potentially harmful culture that is cultivated within the brick walls of SSE. To that end, interviewed students relentlessly recalled practice material that was never provided, faculty that never responded, and exams that could not be retaken despite a feeble “pass”. These aspects in themselves, though pointing to severe imperfections and a potential arrogance in the university’s ways, do not necessarily provide a complete picture of the social and mental distress that a considerable share of students go through — it being crucial to see the whole picture. A strictly hierarchical grading system. Stringent deadlines. Restraints against the recording of lectures. The withholding of practice materials, topped off with non-existent opportunities for improving a merely “passed” exam — all of these aspects inherently contribute to the academic stress and infamous grade-chasing that academia at large so passionately condemns. Quite inevitably, students either passively or directly refuse to share notes, and savagely claw at
each other for anything ranging from SASSE positions to summer internships. So, the purpose of learning is effectively lost, along with the true meaning behind “impact” and “innovation.”
Similar phenomena are, unfortunately, observed everywhere. Although the implementation of ESG metrics and inclusivity policies among corporations may certainly be a step towards the right direction, these efforts might as well be refurbished versions of green-washing and performative activism. Talks about innovation and impact can, more often than not, conceal an outdated system of thinking. Unsurprisingly, the pressures of an increasingly fabricated corporate environment have been felt across top European business schools, with SSE tacitly discovering that its glossy reputation depends on its ability to instill competitiveness in its students. However, normalizing this fuels a perpetual LinkedIn spiral, and ultimately hinders the achievement of true progress and real innovation. In a progressively unstable world, with global warming on one end and international hostility on the other, it is time for SSE to quit the corporate charade and start inspiring genuine learning.