At Columbia, Consulting Becomes As Popular As Finance

Columbia Business School recruitment day – Ethan Baron photo

IN 1966, GENERAL FOODS WAS THE TOP MBA EMPLOYER AT COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL

Of course, changes in MBA employment evolve over the years. Columbia, which is celebrating its centennial this year, shared comparative job data for the Class of 1966 in its new employment report. A half century ago, consulting firms were not even among the top ten MBA employers at Columbia. Instead, General Foods Corp. topped the major employer list, followed by Arthur Andersen, Arthur Young, the Ford Motor Co., Corning Glass Works, IBM, Peat, Marwick & Mitchell, Grey Advertising, Stanford Oil Co., and Trans World Airlines (see table below).

More of Columbia grads went to work in manufacturing than any other field. In fact, manufacturing firms hired more than a third—36%—of the school’s MBA graduates back then, compared to only 8% now. The perecentage of international students at Columbia was just 3%, versus 41% today. The percentage of women in the MBA class was a mere 1%, versus 36% today.