Can I do anything with just a management degree?

[Tyrion101]

I decided not to long ago that math and I do not mix, however I still want to do something in aerospace or the airline industry or something, I want to be around a service I know something about, even if it's not in the capacity I wanted. So any ideas? I'm looking for interesting opportunities, my main goal at the moment is working and living overseas. Preferably in Europe, though Asia would be fun.

 

[Joppy]

You 'decided' that you and math don't mix?

 

[Vanadium 50]

however I still want to do something in aerospace or the airline industry or something ... my main goal at the moment is working and living overseas.

Flight attendant?

 

[Tyrion101]

I'm working on a management degree, and would like to use it. By me and math not mixing, is math makes hulk smash. I would like not to be hulk for a career.

 

[billy_joule]

So you want to work in management in the aerospace or airline industry?

That's a pretty vague goal, I assume that'd include things like supply chain management of inflight food, overseeing the next SpaceX launch or managing a flight booking call centre. Do these all hold equal appeal? Or can you be more specific?

 

[Tyrion101]

I know it's pretty vague, but I don't have an idea of what is out there, maybe my question should be what is out there? One of the things I am looking for is the chance to work overseas.

 

[Ben Espen]

I know it's pretty vague, but I don't have an idea of what is out there, maybe my question should be what is out there? One of the things I am looking for is the chance to work overseas.

You might look into supply chain management. When the supply chain involves overseas manufacturing, there is often an opportunity to travel extensively.

 

[OrangeDog]

The people giving sarcastic answers are clearly showing their ignorance about how the aerospace industry works. The fact of the matter is that many engineers make terrible managers. The one thing they need (which you can't read in a textbook or solve in an equation) is people skills! So, a math or science background might help a little, but these things don't necessarily make an effective leader. It would certainly help you to partake in extracurricular aerospace activities or maybe some introductory aeronautics courses. You won't get into anything high level like aerodynamics (brutal and lots of calculus if you aren't good at math) but a basic understanding of aeronautics history, how aircraft work, manufacturing processes, etc will go a long way to help you be an effective manager in the field. Talk to the engineering department and see if you can audit classes.

Short answer: it is totally possible if you are willing to add aeronautics experience to your extracurricular activities or electives.

 

[AgentCachat]

You can get a good bit of related knowledge by taking some MOOCs. Most large companies need accountants and accounting managers, personnel managers, purchasing and materiel managers, public relations people, writers, and lots of other positions. But many of these positions will not feel you are working in aerospace or
aeronautics.
Why don't you contact some companies in the field and try to find out what kind of business majors they hire and what they do?

 

[donpacino]

I decided not to long ago that math and I do not mix, however I still want to do something in aerospace or the airline industry or something, I want to be around a service I know something about, even if it's not in the capacity I wanted. So any ideas? I'm looking for interesting opportunities, my main goal at the moment is working and living overseas. Preferably in Europe, though Asia would be fun.

what is your background. how old are you.
we need information to help you.

 

[analogdesign]

The people giving sarcastic answers are clearly showing their ignorance about how the aerospace industry works. The fact of the matter is that many engineers make terrible managers.

While this is true, it is also true that non-technical managers are often even more terrible. It is difficult to give credible advice to your superiors on project status, resource needs, or risk assessment if you don't understand, at least in part, the technologies you are responsible for.

All my managers in my career at least *used* to be technical so they at the very least knew the jargon. My very finest managers were highly skilled technical contributors who continually expanded their role and influence until they were in management. People skills are a skill like any other, and technical people are just as capable of learning them as others. Many engineers have excellent people skills and many do not. The ones that do make the best managers.

"Management" as a degree is mostly BS in that it is focused on "trends", "synergy", and "unlocking shareholder value". I've met MBAs would would have been better off skipping the degree and reading Andy Grove's book "High Output Management" instead.

I've never in my life had a good manager who had a management degree. Never.

 

[OrangeDog]

While this is true, it is also true that non-technical managers are often even more terrible. It is difficult to give credible advice to your superiors on project status, resource needs, or risk assessment if you don't understand, at least in part, the technologies you are responsible for.

All my managers in my career at least *used* to be technical so they at the very least knew the jargon. My very finest managers were highly skilled technical contributors who continually expanded their role and influence until they were in management. People skills are a skill like any other, and technical people are just as capable of learning them as others. Many engineers have excellent people skills and many do not. The ones that do make the best managers.

"Management" as a degree is mostly BS in that it is focused on "trends", "synergy", and "unlocking shareholder value". I've met MBAs would would have been better off skipping the degree and reading Andy Grove's book "High Output Management" instead.

I've never in my life had a good manager who had a management degree. Never.

I agree that an entire degree dedicated to management is silly, but there is a lot to be learned just like any topic. And often someone in charge won't just rely on themselves to make judgments. A smart leader will have technical experts by their side (much like the president should have a good cabinet theoretically) to help them asses those situations. I also agree that a technical background is essential for a technical leadership roll. That is why I recommended he familiarize himself with engineering.

 

[analogdesign]

I agree that an entire degree dedicated to management is silly, but there is a lot to be learned just like any topic. And often someone in charge won't just rely on themselves to make judgments. A smart leader will have technical experts by their side (much like the president should have a good cabinet theoretically) to help them asses those situations. I also agree that a technical background is essential for a technical leadership roll. That is why I recommended he familiarize himself with engineering.

I don't disagree with you, but I'm not sure going to Lockheed and telling them, "I suck at math, but I took management courses and am marginally familiar with how an airplane works" will be an effective strategy.

Also, given the kinds of resources most engineering groups have, what manager has a cabinet (or technical experts by their side?) I'm pretty sure someone at the director level would dump this person at the earliest opportunity.

Where I work, management folks were typically the top technical contributors and are expected to continue to contribute even as managers.

If a manager isn't technical, how is he or she supposed to make a decision on the way forward in a project after getting two different viewpoint from "technical experts".

 

[donpacino]

I don't disagree with you, but I'm not sure going to Lockheed and telling them, "I suck at math, but I took management courses and am marginally familiar with how an airplane works" will be an effective strategy.

Agreed, but Op has not mentioned when he meant when he said "I suck at math"
does that mean you got a B in calculus and have some difficulty with it, or you can't use excel to plot y=15x-47.
If its the former OP could be a quality engineer, as long as they stay away from math heavy jobs.
If its the later, OP won't survive in industry.

 

[StatGuy2000]

It might be worth looking at the OP's previous threads:

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/there-is-nothing-i-am-interested-in.841612/

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/what-could-i-do-instead-of-engineering.840362/

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/need-help-with-conversions.832661/#post-5228826

From what I gather from each of those threads, the OP had originally been engineering student, but he/she has a difficult time grasping basic mathematical concepts (either because he/she takes longer to understand mathematical concepts compared to other people, as suggested in some of his/her posts, or his/her prior education in the subject was deficient). So he/she is trying to determine what career path is open to him/her (preferably in an area of his/her dreams in aerospace) without needing to get bogged down in math classes.

 

[donpacino]

Op could go switch to industrial or systems engineering. Typically those programs are lighter on the math side. Most of the complicated mathematics int those fields come from prob/stats. The prob/stats for those classes in undergrad tends to be simplified.

In addition a degree in systems or industrial is a good path to being a project engineer, which is a good path to management, while still having an understand of engineering.

 

[rootone]

I met someone a while ago who worked as an airline 'planning engineer'.
It basically involved ensuring that all the aircraft would be receiving routine maintenance on schedule and making sure there were sufficient stocks of replacement parts, checking that all necessary paperwork was correct, etc etc.

 

[AgentCachat]

AnalogDesign:
"While this is true, it is also true that non-technical managers are often even more terrible. It is difficult to give credible advice to your superiors on project status, resource needs, or risk assessment if you don't understand, at least in part, the technologies you are responsible for.

All my managers in my career at least *used* to be technical so they at the very least knew the jargon. My very finest managers were highly skilled technical contributors who continually expanded their role and influence until they were in management. People skills are a skill like any other, and technical people are just as capable of learning them as others. Many engineers have excellent people skills and many do not. The ones that do make the best managers.

"Management" as a degree is mostly BS in that it is focused on "trends", "synergy", and "unlocking shareholder value". I've met MBAs would would have been better off skipping the degree and reading Andy Grove's book "High Output Management" instead.

I've never in my life had a good manager who had a management degree. Never."

My Ms in Management was useless. Employers wanted someone who knew about their industry, not management buzzwords and the latest human resource gimmicks.
The only parts of my degree of value in my judgement were the quantitative and quality control courses. The rest could have been taught in a short seminar. The same subjects would be in an IE degree.