Something historic happened last month: Raj Rajaratnam, a US hedge fund manager of Srilankan origin, was convicted for fraud and conspiracy in the biggest insider trading trial on Wall Street. Rajaratnam’s network of high-level contacts at such big names as Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, and IBM took the assets of his hedge fund Galleon to $3.7 billion in a fashion not much unlike a Hollywood movie.

Scandals and stories like these can make you wonder: Have these financial crises (definitely a plural by now) impacted Wall Street’s ability to recruit the best talent?

Universum’s annual survey of American MBA students reveals some interesting facts that are relevant to this question:

• 42% perceive an employer’s “good reputation” to be the most attractive.
• Goldman Sachs was ranked the 4th Ideal Employer (compared to 3rd in 2010) and J. P. Morgan was ranked 9th (compared to 7th in 2010).
• No Wall Street firm in the Top 25 dropped by more than 2 positons.
• No Wall Street firm in the Top 25 climbed up the ranking from 2010.
• Work/life balance is no longer the #1 career goal (decreased in importance by 6%), replaced by competitive or intellectual challenge!

Does that mean that the students are slightly less interested in Wall Street but the impact is not significant? Is this more a correlation than causation?