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America's Hottest New Dating Sites: Business School Campuses (wsj.com) 96

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
A growing proportion of women in M.B.A. programs has yielded greater gender parity in classes -- and more business-school weddings. From a report: Liza Merolla and her husband, Justin Merolla, are among a growing number of couples who met through one of the world's most expensive dating sites. They were students at the business school of Columbia University in New York City, where two years of tuition and fees total more than $200,000. It paid off. The Merollas, ages 34 and 36, graduated in 2015 and are living happily ever after in Brooklyn. On Monday, they had their first child, Avery Merolla. Roughly half of Americans ages 18 to 28 say they use online dating sites, according to Pew Research. Others are finding romance at business schools.

Glenn Hubbard, former dean of Columbia Business School, said he has lost count of the number of business-school weddings he has attended. Statistics seem to support his observations. Women made up less than 30% of students enrolled in M.B.A. programs during 2005, the year the nonprofit Forte Foundation started to tally gender. Today, about 40% of the students at the top 50 programs are women. The shift makes for a more gender parity during classes, study groups, recruiting events and boozy nighttime gatherings. No surprise that's a recipe for romance, Mr. Hubbard said: "Business-school students are pretty social." Sarina Richard, who got her M.B.A. at Harvard in 2016, said the rigorous admissions process increases the chance of meeting an interesting, eligible companion. "You've already been vetted through the admissions process, so you know this person is legitimate," she said. "You have this immediate connection around intellectual rigor."
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America's Hottest New Dating Sites: Business School Campuses More

America's Hottest New Dating Sites: Business School Campuses

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  • Great.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Nidi62 ( 1525137 ) on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @09:52AM (#59814832)

    Just what we need: MBAs reproducing.

    • Just what we need: MBAs reproducing.

      Well, I was going to suggest we go after the root cause of that and devalue the shit out of an MBA and make that pursuit utterly worthless.

      But then I remembered people are still paying for degrees in Lesbian Dance Theory. Rather obvious we can't rely on common sense tactics here.

      • But then I remembered people are still paying for degrees in Lesbian Dance Theory.

        But then I remembered people are still paying to watch Lesbian Dance Theory.

    • Just one more step in the long-running process of making the world into an ideal breeding ground for psychopaths.

      Meanwhile, social media and online dating make it harder for people who aren't narcissists or who have some appreciation of privacy to reproduce.

      • Just one more step in the long-running process of making the world into an ideal breeding ground for psychopaths.

        This is the moast important /. kkk0mment of calendar year 2020, and probably for the entire 2020s [if we can even make it to 2030 without the psychopaths in the biological sciences figuring out how to CRISPR/CAS9 the human race out of existence].

        There's a /.er upthread who likes to say, "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil."

        A

    • Re:Great.... (Score:5, Informative)

      by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @10:43AM (#59814996)

      Oddly enough most of the stupid business decisions are not from the MBA, but from the guy who got into management via different means.

      I got an MBA, before I started the classes I expected to be morally disagreeing with a lot of the topics. However I was pleasantly surprised that things that the MBA gets a lot of guff for, like Layoffs, going in and revamping everything, finding ways to make employees lives more difficult. Were actually strongly discouraged, with a lot of data showing how such actions are often counterproductive. A lot of the classes I found were similar to Computer Science Classes with a lot of the same topics with Some Different Names.

      Here are some takeaways.
      Turnover costs about double to replace an employee over a year. So for most businesses during a downturn is is probably better to keep as many employees as possible, as when the upturn happens you will be spending less to rehiring employees thus reap much more benefit during the upturn, then you would save on the downturn.

      When implementing a business change, it is important to have a good freeze period on changes, which allows the change to be ingrained, as well give time to collect solid numbers off it to see if it is working or not.

      Hiring Local has a lot of advantages including a more loyal workforce as well if you are centered in an area that supports your industry there is a lot of available staff to hire from.

      Volatility is bad. Treat your customers, competitors, employees, and community consistently as a known quantity you have your expectations known, and people will be more willing to work with you knowing that they will get what they expect.

      In terms of Dating other MBA's It does help make sure you are dating people with similar lifestyles as you, and ambitions. However you can say that about nearly any other Major. While some majors may not have a near 50/50 representation so those may make them harder to date with.

  • ...connection around intellectual rigor??? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cayenne8 ( 626475 ) on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @09:55AM (#59814838) Homepage Journal
    From the summary:

    connection around intellectual rigor

    I somehow always thought that "MBA" and "intellectual rigor" were mutually exclusive concepts...!?!?

    ;)

    • Most Masters Degrees begin to have you really focus down onto more detail topics.
      BS In Computer Science (With perhaps an interest in Parallel Processing)
      MS In Computer Science studying Parallel Processing
      PHD In Computer Science thesis on Memory Management methods of Parallel Systems.

      The Masters Degree in Business Administration is much less focused and more general. Often taken by Students with different majors with their undergrad, Science, Engineering, Music, Arts... These are not greedy wall street exec

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mwvdlee ( 775178 )

      https://www.google.com/search?... [google.com]

      rigor
      noun, MEDICINE
      a sudden feeling of cold with shivering accompanied by a rise in temperature, often with copious sweating, especially at the onset or height of a fever.
      short for rigor mortis.

      "Intellectual rigor" sounds about right for an MBA.

  • Makes sense (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mobby_6kl ( 668092 ) on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @09:55AM (#59814840)

    I was a complete shut-in nerd in college but in retrospect that was the best place for dating in a low-risk environment. Now in my early 30s I'm way more sociable (though still introverted) but due to work and other responsibilities, as well as most friends being married or in long-term relationships, I rarely get to be in situations where I can meet someone who isn't my colleague or a customer service employee.

    I've considered going to business school anyway and it totally makes sense that that would a place where you can meet people in similar situations and with compatible life goals.

    • And it's not just the friends that are married or in long term relationships. Most of the friends that aren't are divorced or have other baggage behind them. (Not a condemnation on divorce itself, but it does come with headaches.)

      AND, today, most people don't attend ANY "third place" organizations, like church. So for most people it's just work and home. Which means the only place to meet people is work, and dating people at work comes with baggage too.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Octorian ( 14086 )

        AND, today, most people don't attend ANY "third place" organizations, like church. So for most people it's just work and home. Which means the only place to meet people is work, and dating people at work comes with baggage too.

        This is probably why online dating has become so popular. If you're not good at schmoozing it up at bars and clubs, you really don't have any other options. Even if you do try and show up at those organizations, its uncommon enough for young people that you're still not going to have any options.

        • No one is "good" at anything at a bar.
          The man of your dreams is not at a bar.

          • The people who are 'good' at anything related to a bar are the worst possible choice for a life partner.

          • > No one is "good" at anything at a bar.

            I don't know about that -- seems to be plenty of people who can down more liquor, plays darts better, play 8-ball / pool better, socialize with the same/opposite gender better, etc. then the average Joe.

            > The man of your dreams is not at a bar.

            Well, he is, if you are there together. =P

            Kidding aside, "the bar" is just a proxy for "a social gathering." Where do people [physically] hang out today?

            • Believe it or not, but some people still do things besides work, drink, and play video games.

              Some people do things. In fact, I have it on good authority that a full 25% of the population attends *reads from notes* church nearly every week. You might meet some people there.

          • No one is "good" at anything at a bar.
            The man of your dreams is not at a bar.

            Sounds like you need to go to better bars.

            I'll meet my wife at the bar tonight, and while we eat we'll likely hear the familiar chatter of lawyers talking about their cases, business partners discussing their future, a few people networking exchanging business cards, some grad students discussing their research, etc. All while drinking some great drinks and eating some cheap, fantastic food.

            Not every bar serves their cocktails in a fishbowl to college students.

        • It has also become less socially acceptable to hit on people in public. You are expected to either know the person advance or arrange a meeting online. If you don't want to meet online, school is one of the only places you can without baggage.

          Heck, I can't think of too many friends (not work acquaintances) who I didn't meat either directly or indirectly though a school I (or my spouse) attended.

          • This is true, and so that's why we need our "third places". If you aren't doing anything with your time beyond work and home video games, how do you expect to meet people? Get out and join something.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by barakn ( 641218 )

            I can't think of too many friends (not work acquaintances) who I didn't meat either directly or indirectly...

            You said 'meat.' Heheh.

          • It has also become less socially acceptable to hit on people in public.

            Which is precisely why Chad Thundercock gets teh p00ntang, whereas dutifully-compliant socially-acceptable rules-following incel nerds go home and whack off to hentai pr0n.

            Because Chad Thundercock doesn't give a flying phuck what's socially acceptable or socially unacceptable.

            Chad Thundercock just barges right ahead and does WTFE he wants to do.

        • "Even if you do try and show up at those organizations, its uncommon enough for young people that you're still not going to have any options."

          Depends on the org. (I mean, don't join the DAR to meet guys.) Religious orgs are still reliable marriage factories. But, yeah, generally I agree. The internet has become a crutch for desperate people. No wonder depression is rising.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Octorian ( 14086 )

      I was a complete shut-in nerd in college but in retrospect that was the best place for dating in a low-risk environment. Now in my early 30s I'm way more sociable (though still introverted) but due to work and other responsibilities, as well as most friends being married or in long-term relationships, I rarely get to be in situations where I can meet someone who isn't my colleague or a customer service employee.

      I've considered going to business school anyway and it totally makes sense that that would a place where you can meet people in similar situations and with compatible life goals.

      Unfortunately, I went to an engineering school where such opportunities were much rarer. Seemed like everyone who didn't get lucky in Freshman orientation was basically doomed to be single through graduation. Also, the few women we did encounter in our lives loved to get together and chant "the odds are good, but the goods are odd" in a way that felt very depressing to be on the receiving end of.

      Sure, getting hitched straight out of college is probably not a good thing. But neither is being denied relations

  • If you are going to get married, do it in college. After college it becomes nearly impossible to meet and get to know a good intelligent person that doesn't have historical baggage.

  • This illustrates the thorny problem of the West (Score:5, Interesting)

    by butchersong ( 1222796 ) on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @10:02AM (#59814860)
    "The Merollas, ages 34 and 36" "On Monday, they had their first child, Avery Merolla". So, you have two people presumably at least mid-wit status (jokes about MBAs aside) and they've spent their entire lives working and striving and have achieved... a '.5' replacement rate. At that age I doubt they'll be reproducing anymore and if they do manage another child, odds of genetically driven developmental problems skyrocket. There is something deeply unhealthy about a society that structures the lives of their best and brightest in this way.

    • Breeding doesn't guarantee smart people will produce smart people. There are more than sufficient breeders to maintain population and plenty of (underused) opportunities to select worthy contributors to STEM from the general population. Offspring are an encumbrance, that is all.

      • Exactly this.

        My wife and I enjoy our unencumbered life every day and we are looking forward to not having to pay for college tuition during our retirement.

        I am not worried at all about the ability for our species to replace it's dying members.

        • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

          by rho ( 6063 )

          I am not worried at all about the ability for our species to replace it's dying members.

          Because all people are exactly equal in every measure, any random child born on the African savanna is the same as one born in Tokyo.

          The future is for those who show up for it.

      • Breeding doesn't guarantee smart people will produce smart people.

        No, but being rich and educated parents does. Well it doesn't guarantee it (see e.g. the Trumps) but it certainly helps when the parents have the resources to ensure their children's development and education.

      • Saying that breeding two people of high intelligence doesn't guarantee the child will be high IQ is disingenuous at best. There are no guarantees but intelligence is determined by your parents.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by sinij ( 911942 )

        Breeding doesn't guarantee smart people will produce smart people.

        Only through the use of misleading qualifiers could your statement be considered true. Yes, obviously there is no guarantee. However, intelligence (or lack of thereof) is heritable. As such, original point still stands - below replacement reproduction by smarter people and above replacement reproduction (or mass immigration) by dumb people will lead, on population level, to dumber nation.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ixidor ( 996844 )
          brought to you by carl's jr...

        • Your hypothesis is well over 130 years old -- it was very popular among the "scientific racists", and there is zero evidence it will come true, in spite of some loudly insisting that the laws of nature will make such inevitable, for all that time.

          The underlying problem is you are using a vague and biased definition of smart. The fact is that smarter men are more attractive to women than dumb men, and thus they have much more reproductive success. By "smarter" here I mean >105 IQ (or the equivalent), an

    • Capitalism has been the number one thing limiting human population world wide. How does it do it? Exactly this, delaying reproduction until careers are established and making it expensive, time and money-wise, to reproduce. All in all, this is a GOOD thing. Global Warming and the 6th mass extinction show that the world cannot handle any more people.

      • Hah I think capitalism has almost done the opposite until relatively recently, and in fact capitalism requires infinite population growth to prop up its own requirement for infinite growth, although it's too short-sighted to account for this absurd need.

        Capitalism doesn't even discourage reproduction particularly, it simply discourages the working class from taking time off work, and maternity (or paternity) leave is a whole lot of time off work. When women largely weren't working and the few who were didn'

        • [...] capitalism requires infinite population growth to prop up its own requirement for infinite growth [...]

          Don't confuse capitalism with Wall Street. There's a big, big difference.

    • So, you have two people presumably at least mid-wit status (jokes about MBAs aside) and they've spent their entire lives working and striving and have achieved... a '.5' replacement rate. At that age I doubt they'll be reproducing anymore and if they do manage another child, odds of genetically driven developmental problems skyrocket. There is something deeply unhealthy about a society that structures the lives of their best and brightest in this way.

      Like the intro to Idiocracy [youtube.com].

      "Evolution does not necessarily reward intelligence. With no natural predators to thin the herd... it began to simply reward those who reproduced the most... and left the intelligent to become an endangered species."

    • It's crowded enough already, we don't need any more people.

  • That intellectual rigor... (Score:3)

    by bogaboga ( 793279 ) on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @10:06AM (#59814874)

    "You have this immediate connection around intellectual rigor."

    Let's keep in mid that [most] successful intellectuals or folks in business are also psychopaths or sociopaths to a degree.

    No thanks; I'd rather meet my mate in the real world!

    • This is true, but the [most] successful folks in business aren't getting MBAs. MBAs are for people that want to be middle managers someday.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rho ( 6063 )

        Incorrect, MBAs are for meeting your future pod-person spouse. Didn't you read the summary?

  • You must be joking. There's nothing intellectual or rigorous about MBAs.

    • Plenty of dumb people get into Columbia Business school, and then they barely have to try!

    • To be fair, I’ve known a number of people with Master’s degrees of various sorts who weren’t particularly intelligent, and a number who were rather bright.

      Heck, I’ve known some doctors who didn’t seem all that intelligent. But I will say our current GP is quite sharp.

  • As Frank Zappa said... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Archtech ( 159117 ) on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @10:14AM (#59814904)

    "If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education, go to the library".

    (If you can find a library nowadays).

    • Also, if you're in college and want to get laid but your roommate is getting in the way, go to the library.

  • ... attract more women to engineering schools? Where the odds are good but the goods are odd.

    • A bit of a tangent...

      There was an article on the BBC site about why women do or do not choose STEM fields. While there is almost 90% as many young women as young men who are strong enough in math/science to do well in STEM fields, many do not choose to. I am pretty sure sexism is a factor, but the bigger factor is that those women with the brains for math/science, as a group, have much better writing/reading skills than the men.

      Thus the young men, being not very good at anything but math/science, mostly e

      • But in poorer countries [leedsbeckett.ac.uk], lots of women DO go into computer science and other hard STEM fields. Which suggests the difference is not in capabilities (whether STEM capabilities or reading/writing capabilities), but rather motivation to go into a field that tends to lack human interaction. Which women find less agreeable than men, on average.

  • That's scary to think about. Those same people that run around with spreadsheets showing how much they could save by sending your job to Infosys or Wipro are __reproducing__.

    Unfortunately, given the psychopathic nature of MBAs their kids are likely going to have a whole host of personality issues...but at least they'll be wealthy because they'll gain access to the Ivy League club, get the management consulting/investment banking job and the cycle will continue.

    I do take issue with the term "academic rigor"

    • Look at it this way: they wouldn't have bothered to write an article about it if it were true.

      This is marketing for universities to attract women looking to score big with a rich guy, and to ensure the rich guys (they're predefined by families and it has nothing to do with diplomas they just have their parents pay for) have a reason to talk their parents into paying for them to go literally fuck around for a few years.

      Colleges and universities exist partially to legitimize the "elite's" hold on society

  • Intellectual rigor? MBA? Non-sequitur detector triggered.

  • Socialization is literally all modern colleges and universities are good for. It's been this way for decades. The top positions are set aside for people from wealthy families, the plebs get the remainder of the jobs. Colleges and universities are just a way for a bunch of rich folk to actually fuck the more attractive plebs while their parents buy them a diploma to legitimize their future pre-allocated position at the top of industry.
  • I hear the Russians escaped while we weren't watching them.
  • Dr. Ian Malcolm: John, the kind of control you're attempting simply is ... it's not possible. If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it's that MBAs will not be contained. MBAs break free, they expand to new territories and crash through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but, uh ... well, there it is.
    John Hammond: [sardonically] There it is.
    Henry Wu: You're implying that a group composed entirely of MBAs will ... breed?
    Dr. Ian Malcolm: No. I'm, I'm simply saying that li
  • They used to say that women went to college to get their MRS. The more things change the more they stay the same. Now you only qualify as a marriage worthy male is if you are getting a Masters or above. It is good that smart women are having children. Too much research has shown that the more Math a woman has taken, the fewer children they have.

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