So what is a business degree?
Well, a business degree, officially known as a Master of Business Administration degree (or MBA for short), is a degree that proves that you know things about, well, business administration. This includes things from marketing to finance to accounting to hiring and firing. Obviously, you can go and get a specialist degree in any one of those fields, but despite the word "Master" in its title, an MBA certifies you as a sort of Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none kind of person. It shows a certain knowledge of entrepreneurial and financial tasks that is often appealing to employers.
"But Thomas", you say, I have no interest in business! I want to be a scientist!
Well the great thing about a business degree is it allows you to be promoted upward in almost ANY field. Almost no one (in the corporate world, at least) is going to put some laboratory scientist with little to no administrative experience in charge of anything more than a supply closet, some lab rats, and a few of his fellow scientists. A business degree shows a corporation that you have administrative know-how, without them having to take a risky chance on you, which could cost them a lot of money.
Well the great thing about a business degree is it allows you to be promoted upward in almost ANY field. Almost no one (in the corporate world, at least) is going to put some laboratory scientist with little to no administrative experience in charge of anything more than a supply closet, some lab rats, and a few of his fellow scientists. A business degree shows a corporation that you have administrative know-how, without them having to take a risky chance on you, which could cost them a lot of money.
A business degree pays well, too. The median earnings for an American with a Masters' degree in any field is ~$59,000 per year. Not bad but not great. Compare that to a median salary of ~$110,000 for an MBA-holder, no matter the prior occupation. That's close to double. And despite the fact that salaries have been stagnant for a while, it's still a heck of a lot better than research science, where 38% of Ph.D's are unemployed. That's in stark contrast with a nearly 95% American MBA employment rate.
If you're working in industry, an added bonus of an MBA is that you can often get your company to pay for it. They WANT capable management. So, you go to school, get paid to do so, and walk away with better employment prospects and a better salary. Seems good to me.
But that's only one half of the equation for a lot of people. The really cool part about an MBA is that it can be taken in addition to any other degree, so you can keep working in a field you love, but in an administrative capacity.
Now this isn't to disparage research scientists. I'm just saying that, for some people, financials come over the ideal of scientific research.
Tomorrow I'll wrap up this preliminary research series with a discussion of other second degrees, such as the Master of Public Health.
Until next time,
Thomas
If you're working in industry, an added bonus of an MBA is that you can often get your company to pay for it. They WANT capable management. So, you go to school, get paid to do so, and walk away with better employment prospects and a better salary. Seems good to me.
But that's only one half of the equation for a lot of people. The really cool part about an MBA is that it can be taken in addition to any other degree, so you can keep working in a field you love, but in an administrative capacity.
Now this isn't to disparage research scientists. I'm just saying that, for some people, financials come over the ideal of scientific research.
Tomorrow I'll wrap up this preliminary research series with a discussion of other second degrees, such as the Master of Public Health.
Until next time,
Thomas
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