Spaces of business education and the (re)production of financial theory in practice
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: Sch of Geography
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Sarah Hall (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Barnes, Trevor J.; Peck, Jamie; Sheppard, Eric
(2012)
The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Economic Geography
Beaverstock J
(2012)
Competing for talent: global mobility, immigration and the City of London's labour market
in Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society
Faulconbridge J
(2009)
Organisational geographies of power: Introduction to special issue
in Geoforum
Faulconbridge J
(2009)
Educating Professionals and Professional Education in a Geographical Context
in Geography Compass
Hall S
(2011)
Trans-local academic credentials and the (re)production of financial elites
in Globalisation, Societies and Education
Hall S
(2009)
Financialised Elites and the Changing Nature of Finance Capitalism: Investment Bankers in London's Financial District
in Competition & Change
Hall S
(2011)
Commoditising Learning: Cultural Economy and the Growth of for-Profit Business Education Service Firms in London
in Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space
Hall S
(2010)
Geographies of money and finance I: Cultural economy, politics and place
in Progress in Human Geography
Hall S
(2012)
FINANCIAL BUSINESS EDUCATION The remaking of gendered investment banking subjects in the (post-crisis) City of London
in Journal of Cultural Economy
Hall S
(2009)
'City of London, City of Learning'? Placing business education within the geographies of finance
in Journal of Economic Geography
| Description | The following important findings have emerged: 1. The increasingly technical nature of corporate finance, particularly structured finance, has changed the type of financial business education demanded by investment banks. Rather than relying on the generalist education typical of MBA programs and educational background as typified earlier generations of financiers, investment banks also use education companies (both externally and brought in-house) to provide specialist educational experiences including: face-to-face and online learning associated with the calculative devices of financial modelling; experiential education in embodied competencies such as leadership; and educational courses leading to examinations aimed at securing regulatory clearances. 2. The growing demand for specialist professional financial education is reflected in the developing of specialist for-profit education companies that run courses focussing on specific aspects of corporate valuation (e.g. different approaches of financial modelling) and the increased number of Masters of Finance degrees offered by business schools. These courses aim to update their curricula more frequently than MBA degrees through a greater and faster circulation of innovative quantitative finance techniques between education and practice (as more financiers are hired with postgraduate degrees in maths and physics), rather than relying on a linear flow of financial theory from business schools into practice 3. Financial business education is spatially differentiated. Some forms of education (particularly that provided by specialist companies and in-house within firms) are used to embed investment bankers within the organisational culture of their employer and the social norms of the financial centre that they currently work in. However, other forms of education (notably that provided by business schools and the new Chartered Financial Analyst program) are used to demonstrate their fluency in internationally shared elements of quantitative finance theory and practice, hence facilitating career mobility between financial centres 4. The teaching of corporate valuation techniques in both business schools and specialist education companies is grounded in the understanding that (financial) risk can be calculated, managed and profited from if appropriate financial models are utilised correctly. However, the global financial crisis has raised significant questions concerning the extent to which financial risk is better conceptualised as uncertainty. Our research reveals the important role played by education providers, particularly leading US business schools, in legitimating financial risk management and the attempts made by education providers to mitigate the reputational damage they have suffered during the crisis as a result Future research priorities emerging from these findings include the need to understand the relationship between financial business education and the development of new forms of financial markets e.g. those associated with environmental change and Islamic finance and the role of education in (re)producing the international financial system following the global financial crisis. |
| Exploitation Route | Future research priorities emerging from these findings include the need to understand the relationship between financial business education and the development of new forms of financial markets e.g. those associated with environmental change and Islamic finance and the role of education in (re)producing the international financial system following the global financial crisis. |
| Sectors | Education Financial Services and Management Consultancy |
| Description | The research findings were fed into business education providers to assist with their planning of future business education. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
| Sector | Education,Financial Services, and Management Consultancy |
| Impact Types | Societal Economic Policy & public services |
| Description | Financialised elites and the changing nature of finance capitalism : investment bankers in London's financial district |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Delivered at workshop on credit and debt in present day capitalism |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | |
| Description | Gendered geographies of financial services training in the post-crisis City of London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | The gendered identities of individuals working within financial services in the City of London is a well-established subject of academic, political and media debate. Whilst some commentators have emphasized the declining power of 'gentlemanly capitalism' and 'old boys networks', others have adopted post-structuralist approaches to examine the continued dynamic and contested nature of gendered identities within finance. However, the majority of this work has been conducted during a period of rapid financial services expansion. Much less is known about how the ensuing 'global' credit crunch has impacted upon the performativity of gender and gender relations in financial services work. In response, in this paper I draw on research conducted into the training courses run by investment banks in the City of London from 2006 onwards to examine the changing ways in which such courses seek to perform and (re)produce gender and essentialised gender relations amongst investment bankers in the wake of the 'global' financial crisis. In particular, I consider how the crisis has been scripted as being caused by 'male' bankers who undertook 'excessive risk taking' to meet their desire for'instant gratification'. I then explore critically how investment banks have sought to adapt their training courses in an effort to (re)produce 'feminine' investment banker subjects whom, they argue, embody a more 'nurturing' and 'caring' mindset. I conclude by examining how this gendered understanding of the crisis and the resulting changes in investment banking training can contribute to wider debates about both the international financial system and understandings of the changing relationship between gender, gender relations and the economy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | |
| URL | http://www.bris.ac.uk/geography/feminism-and-futurity/seminars/theme-1/#sarah |