Hello,
I'm curious of everyones take on the Master's in Engineering Management degree/certificate. This is offered at several graduate schools and is essentially an MBA for engineering majors. Some schools offer an abbreviated version of the program to get a Certificate, which usually consists of 4 classes (accounting, marketing, financial issues, and project management). The masters program is typically 12 classes.
Do you think that this is worthwhile for young engineers who eventually want to get into upper management? I'm 28 and considering doing this part time after work. I work for a mid size transportation consulting firm and plan on eventually getting into upper management after I gain much more experience (~10+ years from now).
I'm just not sure if the benefits of the degree are worth my time and money (probably looking at $50k in tuition and 3 years of part time classes for the degree). The Certificate is a much cheaper and quicker option, but I don't know what value it holds. Aside from the president of my company, most of the upper management does not have any type of business degree. I'm guessing most companies are like this. Typically, engineers work their way up to a management role and then learn the job on the fly. Will this trend continue, or 15 years from now, are most upper management going to have a business degree? I would love to hear your opinion on both the masters degree and certificate option.
Mike
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