I don't know that we do want to promote more and more smart kids into consulting or quantitative finance, given all of the areas where their talents could be applied (although not as well compensated).
As a former strategy consultant and corporate strategist, I'm going to bite and ask why? I'm a firm believer in applying sound business principles to important causes to maximize value for those most in need. Many of my former colleagues agree, and are now leading or in CXO roles in what would traditionally be considered siloed research or R&D-heavy firms.
As a social entrepreneur now, it's *exactly* my consulting background that is allowing me to fill a niche that is not covered by either private or public sectors, or inadequately so, where the least well off have urgent unmet needs. And my quant finance training ensures I have access to capital to maximize my impact, and not get fleeced on term sheets in the process.
I think there is:
a) Considerable room for lots of different professions to be fostered, to the detriment of none
b) Opportunity for high ability students to develop interdisciplinary skills to tackle some of the world's toughest problems
c) A need for the private sector to step up and carry water on the humanitarian issues of the day
A great example of where consultants add value is in the (IMO, impressive) roll-out of vaccines in the US. I think we'd both agree that that is a great use of consulting talent. Making bobbleheads of Pokemon characters and optimizing the sales strategy? Not so much.
