Ethics Issue Disturbs Some : Despite Scandals, Wall Street Lures Students

The Ivan F. Boesky affair has understandably left academics uneasy, and some are urging a new emphasis on ethics in the classrooms of the nation’s business schools.

A few professors report that students are coming to them with misgivings about working on Wall Street.

More typical, however, they say, is the student who is irked because Boesky’s legacy appears to be a poorer public perception of the stock market and the high-paid Wall Street professional jobs to which they aspire.

Yu Oen, who got his undergraduate degree from Boston University in December, hardly hesitated when asked why he yearns to land a job in investment banking.

“The pay is really good,” said Oen, 20. “I intend to make a quick buck early in my career. I may not stay in the field forever.”

Training as an investment banker will help Oen master the nuts and bolts of corporate finance, preparing for the career of his dreams. He sees himself becoming a powerful financier someday and taking over companies he fancies.

In the meantime, he is willing, actually eager, to toil at a dull job on Wall Street. He has several offers, but has his heart set on a trainee slot at a particular firm.

Pay Ranks Third

“Right now I have a realistic view about the work involved,” he said, envisioning 16-hour workdays spent at tedious tasks.

“Everyone tells me I won’t have a personal life. One interviewer said: ‘I hope you are not married,’ ” Oen said.

Although the money he likely will earn was his first thought when asked about his career choice, he said it really ranks about third in his priorities.

“I think that if you’re going for the money and the glamour, you’ll be awfully disappointed,” he said.

At colleges and universities around the country, a growing number of young men and women like Oen are preparing to enter the business world. One college freshman in four is looking toward a career in business, according to a recent survey by UCLA and the American Council on Education.

Oen is optimistic despite events that have focused attention on the ethics of the business world, such as insider trading by Boesky and others, overcharges on defense contracts, E. F. Hutton’s check overdrafting scheme.

“When I get into an investment bank, the company will tell me the policy of what I can do and what I can’t do, and if I go by that, I won’t have any conflicts,” he said.

But firms must be aggressive in policing their employees, he added. Some of his acquaintances would be prone to cut corners if the payoff made it worthwhile, he said.

“The question that they ask is not whether it is ethical, but will I get caught,” Oen said.

The population of Wall Street always was thought to include the occasional rapscallion, but the Boesky scandal has sparked suspicion of widespread knavery and that has upset business students, professors say.

“Some of them are disturbed that the Street and people working there are getting a bad name,” said Boris Yavitz, a former dean of the Columbia Business School who now teaches a course on corporate responsibility.

“The institution as a whole has been somewhat besmirched, and they feel badly about it,” he said.

Allen J. Michel, an associate finance professor at Boston University and one of Oen’s mentors, says: “There ought to be placed more emphasis on the ethics in financial dealings. Even in the finance department, I, for one, will be spending more time on the areas where an investment banker can get himself into trouble.”

The misdeeds on Wall Street that came to light last year have spurred discussion in the classrooms, but have not deterred students bent on business careers, several professors agreed.

Kevin Martin, dean of students at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business, said students seem as determined as ever to pursue investment banking careers. The Boesky scandal did not steer them away from Wall Street, but it may put them on guard for pitfalls.

“A scandal like that, I believe, just makes people more cautious. It’s a good reminder that ethics really is a part of everyday life and you better live it or you can get into trouble. I don’t think that they believe that the industry is a corrupt one,” Martin said. “Investment banking still has a tremendous allure for them,” he added.

The profession’s current popularity has to do with much more than attractive starting salaries and bonuses, according to Martin, who said the challenge of being in a rapidly changing field is what draws students to investment banking.

Long Hours Expected

“Students are a lot smarter about the dollars than some people believe. They realize that they’ll be starting at around $60,000 a year, but they’re not naive about the amount of time they’ll have to put in to earn that $60,000,” Martin said.

In Oen’s case, the money is a secondary consideration for good reason: His wealthy father back home in Indonesia presides over an empire of sorts, with interests in cattle trading, department stores and restaurants. Working within the family holdings could provide Oen with a handsome living.

But, he wants to cut his teeth on Wall Street. If he gets hired by his first choice firm, he plans to stay about two years before leaving to obtain a master’s degree in business administration.

Until that time, he said, “I think I can learn a lot from the investment banking field.”