The scapegoat for most things negative in relation to the economic crisis has been the banker. In the past this was a position of envy, the dream job of those looking to find a stable job with all the sexiness of high-profile meetings, large bonuses and perks and high salaries. However, now the banker is seen by many as the cash bonus hungry position that is holding tight-fisted to taxpayer funding instead of putting it into small business and personal lending. This result has put a hit on a pilot study program at Edinburgh Napier University.
The reputation of bankers is being blamed for the University pulling the plug on a Masters level course in banking. Less students are seeking banking as a chosen career. Despite the course being considered affordable at 2,250 pounds, the course did not have enough interested in the programme to continue into the next year.
The class had hoped to see at least a pilot class enrollment of thirty students. However, only eight entered what has been described as an “extremely interesting and rewarding” course by those enrolled.
The future of the programme is not entirely scrapped according to a university spokesman. Napier is working with the Chartered Institute of Banking in Scotland (CIOBS) to explore relaunching the course during the autumn 2011 term.
Those in the banking industry are not conceding that a tainted reputation to the job position is at fault for a lack of interest in the course, but rather the University’s lack of advertising the course and its benefits to students.
Simon Thompson, chief executive of the CIOBS, said: “Napier has not been successful in advertising the course. The difficulty with Napier is that they have no track record with that subject area. As an Institute we had a record number of students. I suspect that Napier’s resources are focused elsewhere.”
British Banker’s Association insisted that despite the condition of the economy in the wake of the financial crisis, that there is still high interest in the banking profession. The spokesman added: “There are banking courses that are still seeing a steady stream of applicants coming through. Around 426,000 people are directly employed in banking across the UK.”
The banking industry is actually seeing a surge of growth in the Asian market, particularly Hong Kong. Many major banks from across the globe are investing in growing their banking brands in that market.
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