This is one of those purposely provocative pieces that contain a few ounces of truth and a pound of exaggeration. The gist is true of top investment banks, where - frankly - these metrics aren't a bad proxy for the personality that "fits" the culture - ultimately those hiring hire like in kind.
This is much less true of the pedigree at the top law firm. Middle of the Harvard class is absolutely not preferred to a Columbia law review candidate. That's false. One need only look to the Supreme Court to see that this Harvard thing is half true! (Being funny here - look up where the Supremes went to law school.)
Most of all, life isn't fair and whining over elite hiring is a rich person's crying game. Let's look instead at the number of women and people of color in top jobs. Let's look at the number of CEOs who rose from poverty in the US. Those are the stats we should read and care about changing. They aren't pretty.
Just my 2 cents.
