In my time spent here at school I've
learned that universities like ours offer the epitome of opportunity,
particularly if you are active enough to go out and find it. There are so many
instances where “opportunism,” both positive and negative, is present in
students’ daily lives. When thinking about this week’s prompt I came up with
two illustrative instances where I chose not to act opportunistically. One
follows the moral and ethical explanations of explaining behavior, while the
other doesn't.
During the great college search 3
years ago, over the course of numerous tours and info sessions, I learned one
important thing about college: a student’s time as an undergrad is the best
time to go abroad. This was one of the most highlighted talking points for most
schools I looked at attending, Illinois included. After a couple of years here, I think I understand
why study abroad is such an opportunity while an undergrad. There is a huge
variety of programs offered, in many cases equivalent tuition, living expenses
are lower as a student, and at this age we still have the flexibility in our
schedules to be able to go abroad for a month, a semester, or even up to a
year. At this age, real world responsibilities have yet to kick in and thus
study abroad for many becomes a reality. And yet, as much as I’d love to have
the international experience, I have elected to forego a semester abroad and
thus have not acted opportunistically. I have chosen not to take advantage of
the circumstances which make the undergraduate years the prime time for study
abroad in order to take advantage of other circumstances which can instead save
me money in the long run. Rather than go abroad for a semester or even year, I
decided to graduate a year early. Unlike
the moral or ethical motivations for not acting opportunistically, in this case
my rational or reasoning for the decision I made was much more economically
based. When it comes to a study abroad opportunity, deciding whether or not to
take advantage of the opportunity is not a question of right or wrong, good or
bad, but instead is the result of other forces, economic, social, linguistic
which may push someone to go or not to.
My second example is more in line
with the idea of not acting opportunistically in order to “be a good person” or
serve some moral and ethical desire. As
a senior this year, trying to figure out what to do with my life going forward
has been a big deal. If I wanted to serve my own best interests and be “opportunistic”
my best move would be to look for a job with a consulting firm or in a
business, where salaries are high, signing bonuses exist, and the job perks are
good. Instead, at the end of last year, I decided to forgo that job hunt and
apply to an organization where I can really make a difference. Rather than
working at a glamorous job with a high salary, I have chosen to be a teacher in
a lower income school in a community that at this point I know little about; a
job which also has a much lower salary than the positions I’d otherwise be
looking at. I view it as my chance to give back and to do my bit for the
betterment of society, as well as work for a cause that I firmly believe in.
Those motivations have little to do what is most economically efficient and
much more to do with what drives me as a person, as well as what I believe. The
causes of anti-opportunistic behavior and choices is not necessarily clear cut, and
the explanations are very different when looking at my two examples.
Taking advantage of an opportunity (or not) when there is no ethical issue involved is not opportunism. So the first example, really doesn't match the prompt. You seem to recognize this, so I wonder why you included it in your post.
ReplyDeleteLikewise in the second example, making a lot of money is not itself unethical, especially if done in a legitimate business. While it is admirable to to be a teacher in a lower income school, I wouldn't characterize this choice as refraining from acting opportunistically.
I took the prompt's opening sentence to mean that the definition of opportunism as we'd be using it would be "taking advantage of circumstances" which I didn't take as an exclusively negative idea, and one that wasn't necessarily tied to ethics which is why I included the first example. I now recognize my error. Although I'm curious as to whether or not taking advantage of my parent's money to go abroad (instead of saving & graduating early) would make it opportunism. In that case I would be taking advantage for my own self interests, and the losers in my decision would be my parents, especially if you factor in a scarcity of money in my household. Just curious. And if that still wouldn't be considered opportunism, what is it?
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the second example. I agree that making lots of money in itself is not unethical. But what if I expand the the example and say that I had the opportunity to work in a position at a company as part of the supply chain team on a project determining where to outsource manufacturing locations, in effect detracting from middle income, American jobs, where I would be paid a high starting salary salary. In this case, the job itself could be considered unethical, and running in direct contradiction to the efforts of my other offer with Teach for America. One choice helps create and is a proponent of poverty while the other choice combats it. Since poverty and the human condition is an issue of ethics, would this added information make the choice a matter of opportunism?
In case neither of those actually turns out to be opportunism, I'd like to check my own understanding my own understanding by adding a more simplistic hypothetical example. If I was offered money to take an online test for a course I had previously gotten an "A" in but politely refused because I found the prospect unethical, would that be a case of turning down "opportunism"? I would make gains by making a profit at the expense of the student who wouldn't be gaining the knowledge or feedback they should have been by taking the course in the first place.
Let me say at the outset that I'm not an expert on ethics. So I will leave to you how to find the ethical path in the choices that you confront. Similarly, in the relationship between what you and your parents have together, what is simply viewed as an immature decision, part of growing up, and what creates actual harm to the relationship, I leave to you as well. I made several poor decisions when I was in college for which my parents got angry at me at the time, but we got over it reasonably quickly and moved on. I had a very strong relationship with them thereafter.
ReplyDeleteSo let me give an example that is squarely opportunistic and then we can try to return to your examples. In class I talked about when the campus did an RFP for a learning management system and one of the requirements was that the product had to run under SSL. In both proposals we got the bidder said their product could do this. In fact, neither product could do this at the time. So they misrepresented what their product was capable of. They did this to make their product seem more attractive. Another example, prior to the subprime crisis, lenders would give the riskiest sort of loans to the least financially literate borrowers, who didn't understand what they were getting into. Typically when thinking of an expression of opportunism, misrepresentation is part of it, particularly misrepresentation that is self-serving, meaning it was done deliberately to deceive.
If this telling makes sense, then acting selfishly and not for the social good, but without deceiving anyone else is not opportunism as the term is normally used.
I hope that helps.
I appreciate that clarification. Adding the idea of misrepresentation, or I guess deception, to the concept of opportunism really helps to differentiate what you were really looking for versus what I was citing as my examples. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI have same questions about ethics after reading two example because I think both of them is rational weighting in some turning points. But your explanation in comment makes sense to me, especially in the first case. I was struggling with double major or graduating earlier in my sophomore year too. And finally I make a decision other than you because I consider I will be more prepared to the real world when staying in the college longer. This might be true or might not. But I felt a little bit guilty on the tuition paid by my parents, even if they absolutely support my decision. In such standard, I would say I was somewhat opportunism because I use someone else's resource to avoid the pressure from real world, if I separate myself from my family. However, ethical concern in some cases will be complicated because it also involves my parents' expectation on me and other factors.
ReplyDeleteWhile there may be some ethical considerations when deciding whether or not to stay in college or graduate early, especially because it is so expensive, I don't really consider it to be an example of opportunism. I don't really think either decision would make you any more or less ethical. While in one case you may think you are taking advantage of your parents generosity, the decision itself isn't really selfish or deceiving them.
ReplyDelete