Ph.D. in Project Management 1

[ahad29]

I have a masters degree in mechanical engineering and 4 yrs experience working with force transducers. I am thinking of getting my Ph.D. (Part-Time) in Engineering Management with specialization in Project Management. I wanted to know if it is too early to get a degree in Project Management since I only have 4 yrs expeience (Say 7-8 by the time I get the degree). Also how useful is it in the industry? Does the industry really require someone with a Ph.D. to be a project manager? Or is it good only in academia? I would greatly appreciate any input in helping me make an important career decision. Thanks

Ahad

 

[RDK]

Generally a PhD in any field is a research degree. It involves doing some new research in some area and advancing the knowledge of the subject.

The biggest value of a PhD in industry is the PR value of the letters after your name. A Masters is better suited for work in industry than a PhD.

I’d stay at the master’s level unless you wanted to be a consultant and then the PhD is more of a marketing tool than anything.


The time frame is about right. The advanced degree will take some time off the usual time to make the transition to management, usually on a 2 for 1 ratio so say 8 years experience with a 2 year graduate degree would translate into 12 years normal experience to make the transition

However once in management further advancement would be dependent on performance than on education.


Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[pmkb]

If you are located in the USA, you might consider some self-study for PMI's CAPM credential until you have the prerequisites for the PMP credential. The PMP credential is well respected.

Stacy
Project Management Knowledge Base

 

[IRstuff]

Almost all of the project managers at work have moved up through the ranks. I don't know of any of them that advertises having a higher degree in project management.

If anything, having such a degree can be a detriment, since there's usually an "ivory-tower" connotation associated with higher degrees.

TTFN

 

[HDS]

Woudl you get more milleage from an MBA?

 

[IRstuff]

In companies where you might actually hire a project manager from the outside, an MBA would certainly have a cachet. But, this is essentially in lieu of a documented track record. If you have a decent track record, that counts more than either degree.

To me, that's the essential trade. Do you give up your outside life to ace a few projects to build a track record or do you give it up to get a degree? The down side, of course, is that you might find that you either hate it or are bad at it. In that case, the degree is sort of superfluous, while the actual project experience can still be taken advantage of.

While I'm not a project manager nor want to be, my experience working on projects gives my "lessons learned" higher validity than if the lessons learned were only from books or lectures.

TTFN

 

[ahad29]

Thanks all for your input. So a Master's degree may be a plus but Ph.D. is more of a PR value. I do agree that experience would be a more preferrable asset than degrees. But do these opinions only stand for the Project Management Specialization or the field of Eng Management in general. What if the specialization were in QUALITY SYSTEMS or SYSTEMS ENGINEERING? Thanks

Ahad

 

[IRstuff]

I've never met anyone in Quality who had higher than a BS. The majority of systems engineers in our company have BS degrees, with a few MS and very few PhDs.

As far as I can tell, a PhD is almost always considered as a research-oriented person. You essentially have to spend up to 6 to 10 yrs after BS to get PhD, which puts you behind the power curve on experience. Much of the experience that REALLY teaches you lessons are almost always learned by BS-level junior engineers.

As you become a senior engineer is when you get to pontificate about "lessons learned" when you were just a newbie. ;-)

TTFN

 

[DaveVikingPE]

I agree with the MBA - to a point. At my company, the Project Managers are either a) young people who, despite NEVER proving themselves technically, are great at landing on their feet and always haing someone to blame. Or b) Great jugglers, firemen, and muleskinners (while mule is still alive, 'natch).

There is a trend of PM "a" working on the MBA part-time (online or at the local university(s)). PM "b" is probably a clinical workaholic and extremely rare.

A Ph.D. in project management, in my opinion, would only be meaningful if your research concentrated on sociological effects of idiots in "leadership," or contrasting "business development" with "technical mastery" or engineering history of project managers (L. Sprague De Camp's "The Ancient Engineers" has good insight into that).

Maybe study "engineering business processes"? But how is that different than "fast-food marketing business processes"?

What about a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering? - If you're interested in engineering management processes.

 

[RMech]

Having recently comleted my PhD in Mechatronics in Medicine and worked in the Medical Device industry for 18 months I would be very wary of advising anyone to do a PhD to further their careers.

A PhD is a research degree and generally only opens doors to opportunities in research or areas of industry that you may have covered in your studies.

Personally I think it does very little for career and leaves you with 3-4 years less experience than your counterparts. Employers are interested in people who get results and a good track record demonstrates that best off all.

You could end up being stuck in something which you hate and end up with little to show for it. I heard of a person who was partially sighted and spent 9 years studying for a PhD but was only awarded an MPhil.

 

[JayMaechtlen]

There are people where I work with PhDs in unrelated fields, now working in IT as DB admins and such.

Definately, consider the real career outlook!


Jay Maechtlen

http://home.covad.net/~jmaechtlen/

 

[Ashereng]

Ahad

a) Have you talked to your manager?
b) Does he think this would be useful in your company?
c) Is he willing to pay you for it (tuitiion and salary while you are in school)?

If the answer is yes, yes, yes - then I suggest that you go ahead and do it.

If the answer to a) is no, maybe you should.
If the answer to a) is yes, and b) is no, well, that sort of answers it for your company. Maybe for your industry or geographical location too?
If the answer to a) is yes, and b) is yes, and c) is no, well, this is where the future payout vs self actualization/improvement debate/analysis takes place.

With respect to do you have enough experience to go back to do a Ph.D, it is common for students to do bachelors to Ph.D straight, so I would venture yes, you have enough experience.