Is being part of the elite still meaningful? An exploratory study based on interviews with alumni from École Polytechnique and Harvard

Anne-Sophie Dubey (), Matthieu Battistelli () and Caroline Mattelin-Pierrard ()
Additional contact information
Anne-Sophie Dubey: CRG I3 - Centre de recherche en gestion I3 - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Matthieu Battistelli: IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc
Caroline Mattelin-Pierrard: IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc, PRISM Sorbonne - Pôle de recherche interdisciplinaire en sciences du management - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: This article discusses the increasing trend among young people to question their professional aspirations and be in search of meaningful work. Young graduates from elite schools are no exception to this. In this qualitative research interviews were conducted with alumni from Harvard University and École polytechnique, Paris. The main results are threefold. First, young graduates from elite schools find most meaning at work in environments where they feel intellectually stimulated and have opportunities to constantly learn and/or advance their career. Second, paradoxically, this quest for excellence through self- betterment often comes at the cost of depersonalisation, as notably manifest in how the informants behave like ‘excellent sheep' lacking a sense of self-direction, showing inner conflicts, and giving ambivalent answers. Third, this mental confusion often gives way to a trade-off logic, showing how various coping strategies can be applied to make elite work more meaningful.

Date: 2023-08-03
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Society for Business Ethics 2023, Aug 2023, Boston (MA), United States

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04883497

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().