Ranking the faculties: ‘We’re happy with a six out of ten’
The primary goal of your average management student is to earn a lot of money later in life. At least, that's what most people think. But how accurate is this image? And what do the management students themselves think?
Ranking the faculties
What stereotypes do students on the Nijmegen campus have about each other? Ranking the faculties – a bit like Ranking the Stars, but without Paul de Leeuw – is finding that out. How do students at the Faculty of Arts feel about students at the Faculty of Law? What about the other way around? And how do they feel about students in the social sciences? During Vox on Tour, we asked students to complete a survey about this. We discussed the results with several students from the relevant faculty.
Veerle Miltenburg (19), International Business Administration (IBA) student:
‘The stereotype that we all want to work for big companies and make a lot of money simply isn’t true. Some students decided to study Business Administration because they already work for their parent’s company and plan to take over one day. But the image of a heartless management student really is unfounded. You can also put your heart and soul into your management position. I’m here because I want to be a CEO and lead a company, not because I want a huge income.
Most of the people here love a good party; a six out of ten is a good enough grade for most. Some people refer to IBA as a part-time study in that you spend six weeks doing nothing and two weeks studying non-stop. It’s either that or a failing grade. I’m lucky that studying comes naturally to me. Metermaandag at café De Fuik [when you can order ten beers for €12.50, ed.] is really popular. We all love a good party.’
Okko Kruijshoop (22, left) and Guus Jacobs (23, right), both Public Administration students
Kruijshoop: ‘When we have lectures with the Sociology students, I notice that they tend to pay closer attention than we do. We’re doers and tend to be rather opinionated. That’s what we’re taught to be. We need to come up with well-grounded arguments and prepare for debates.’
Jacobs: ‘I studied history before and I agree that Public Administration students tend to be go-getters. In terms of style, we’re somewhere between law students and social studies students. I like that; being among ‘normal’ people.’
Kruijshoop: ‘Yeah, me too. It’s a pretty homogenous group. There’s really no such thing as your typical management student. They’re just regular people.’