HBS Graduates' Depression Spike

A story about a Harvard Business School professor who found HBS graduates were the most depressed group he studied 10 years after graduation.

"At HBS, everyone writes their application essay about transforming and disrupting the world, disrupting healthcare, disrupting energy, having a big impact. Then you get into that room of 1,000 people and it's a conformity factory. 85-90% of people by the end of 2 years end up going into traditional industries - finance, energy.

This professor surveyed white collar workers, blue collar workers, different socioeconomic classes, different professions - about 30 different cohorts. The most depressed group was these HBS graduates 10 years out. The reason is because they go in with dreams, they end up conforming and settling. Their lifestyle gets to the point where they don't have flexibility to take that stab at their dream. They feel professionally unfulfilled but trapped, and 10 years out they really have a lot of regrets professionally, which maybe bleeds into other areas."