MBA versus MSc, are they equal? 1

[Cooky]

Considering both MBA and MSc degrees are post graduate courses, I often wonder if they are of equal academic value.

I am studying part time for a Master of Engineering degree in the UK, and will have completed 9 years study when I finish. From the same starting point, an MBA can be completed in about 3 to 4 years.

That's not equal!

Cooky.

 

[plasgears]

MSc is for engineers doing engineering work and supervision of same. The MBA is a nebulous pursuit for any or all entering the management arena. You could pick it up by personal study and seminars.
A true engineer should pursue the PE to validate his/her training in the profession. Doctors, accountants, and lawyers take qualification exams, too.

 

[GregLocock]

Well, you can get an MBA in 10 weeks at some prestigous universities, I am told. So I'd say it is worth about, oh, 20% of an MSc, max.

Cheers

Greg Locock

 

[zdas04]

I've got both a PE and a MsME and I'll tell you without hesitation that the markeplace values the PE many times the value placed on an MsME (the MsME was a lot harder to get). The UK "equivilent" of a PE is Chartered Engineer which is granted by the engineering societies and looks to be just about as hard to get as a PE.

The value of an MBA seems to wax and wane. It seems to be a required checkmark in your copybook to get to top management in many industries, but it is just one of many checkmarks required - and one misstep is usually enough to bar that door. If you don't have aspirations to top management an MBA seems to be of minimal-to-zero value.

David

 

[corus]

As far as I know an MBA doesn't study engineering, other than how to spell it, or even better, how to include it in an acronym, essential management skills which can be learnt in a short space of time.
If you're wanting to get ahead in Engineering then chartered status is what companies look for as it shows practical as well as academic ability. An MSc will help but some companies prefer Chartered even if you have discovered the Unified Theory of Matter. If you're wanting to use your skills in a research or academic role then an MSc will go a long way.
After helping someone with an MBA, I wouldn't consider an MBA as equal in any sense of the word and is probably useless other than in PR.

 

[RDK]

As someone with an MBA, let me state the opposing view, especially since the thread is mostly negative on MBA’s.

Managing involves a lot of skills that are not specific to engineering. The view that one can pick up these skills through self study or at seminars is as valid as stating that one can pick up the same skills as a MSc obtains by self study or attending seminars.

Yes both can be done. However as with all self taught subject areas, one would have great gaps in one’s knowledge of all areas.

When I hear this type of discussion going on about if a MBA is equal to a MSc. I often wonder about the basic common sense of the participants. The two degrees are totally different subject areas. They are designed for people with totally different career aspirations. To directly compare the two is to try to compare apples and oranges. If you want vitamin C eat an orange, don’t curse apples for not having enough.

As I have stated in other threads that the real purpose of an education is not to train you to do specific tasks but to train you to think. The specific skills that you learn are incidental to the training of your mind. If you want to be a technical engineer, than take advanced courses in your subject area so that you will think like a senior engineer. If you want to become a manager then take courses in management so that you will think like a manager.

Some of the worst managers that I have met are also some of the best technical engineers I know. The reverse is also true. The ones that are happy have found which role they prefer and are able to stay in this role.

You also have to differentiate between management and leadership. In another thread some described the difference as in traveling through a jungle, management is keeping the machete’s sharp, leadership is picking the direction to travel and motivating everyone to work towards that direction.

Leadership is not well taught in any schools that I know of. Even the military, in my experience, does a poor job of actually transferring leadership skills to its junior officers. Don’t slam MBA’s because they are poor leaders. Their education is geared towards the need to keep the machete’s sharp. Don’t slam MSc’s because they are poor leaders either. The technical engineer may know how to sharpen the machetes, but without true leadership, no one knows which way to go.

Both MBA’s and MSc’s often get caught up in planning to keep the machetes sharp and in how best to sharpen them. They then lose sight of the fact that the team is going in circles and is still lost in the jungle.



Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[brad]

Nice comments Rick.
I think the bad name given to MBA's largely comes from the presumption in Fortune 500 companies that the MBA is the solution to the failure to find the path in your proverbial jungle.

I've seen many incompetents regarded as brilliant because they suffered through an MBA program. Conversely, I've seen leaders who were not given an opportunity because they hadn't gone through the MBA wringer (even though they had the business acumen that was far superior to the 25 year old Anderson Consulting nimrod with the Wharton MBA).

A friend of mine, with an advanced degree in engineering, is finishing up his MBA so that he can improve his chances to rise up in a major corporation. He already had the skills that he's expected to achieve via the MBA, he just didn't have the paper. His quote: "For me, the MBA is the hazing that gets me into the Stupid Club--I need to be in the Stupid Club to advance in this company." A very cynical view perhaps, but one that I couldn't challenge.

I know lots of good MBA's, but all of them were good before they got the MBA's. It's a matter of causality: Somebody who got an MBA (or MS for that matter) is more likely to be good at that, all else equal, because attainment of that degree suggests that they had an interest in the subject matter. However, if one is incompetent but gets the degree nonetheless, they are far less likely to actually be good.

MBA's who think that the MBA is the endgoal to fame and fortune are often the least competent (and the most obnoxious).

Brad