Is an MBA Worth the Cost and Time Investment?

[StatGuy2000]

This is comparing apples to oranges.

Let's say you get to a point where you've completed a master's degree in physics and you're trying to decide what to do with your life.
In principle both directions will increase your earning potential. I can't say by how much though.

If you go the PhD route and eventually end up in industry, a lot can depend on the specifics of the PhD. Largely though, physics PhDs are hired for their technical skills - programming, data analysis and number crunching, internal research and development projects, engineering or technical problem solving. MBAs are hired for their management skills: organizing people and/or projects, chairing meetings, making business-related decisions such as which products to market, how to market them, which customers to target, etc.

As an aside, and at the risk of going off-topic, I do wonder whether an MBA degree actually does an effective job of teaching people management skills of the people I've bolded above.

 

[donpacino]

As an aside, and at the risk of going off-topic, I do wonder whether an MBA degree actually does an effective job of teaching people management skills of the people I've bolded above.

Although I'm on the younger side (5 years in industry now) through my experience and talking to people in industry, an MBA does a good job reinforcing skills that people already have, and good at refining people already in industry. Most people (at least that I have dealt with) do not think as highly of people who directly get an MBA with no experience, because they do not have the real world experience yet to back it up.

To take the above example. If you have never made business decisions as to which product to market, an MBA might give you tools to do it, but you still won't understand the industry.

 

[Choppy]

As an aside, and at the risk of going off-topic, I do wonder whether an MBA degree actually does an effective job of teaching people management skills of the people I've bolded above.

I wonder that myself sometimes.

Obviously a lot can depend on the program and instructors in it. And the students as well. Teaching a skill is one thing. But developing a skill, and producing a skilled graduate is something very different. Skill development comes from practice, constructive feedback, and the internal motivation of the student to get better. And to donpacino's point, experience can play a big role as well.

 

[StatGuy2000]

I wonder that myself sometimes.

Obviously a lot can depend on the program and instructors in it. And the students as well. Teaching a skill is one thing. But developing a skill, and producing a skilled graduate is something very different. Skill development comes from practice, constructive feedback, and the internal motivation of the student to get better. And to donpacino's point, experience can play a big role as well.

You raise great points. It is certainly true that skill development takes practice, constructive feedback, and internal motivation, along with experience. I suppose my contention is whether those particular management skills can be acquired just as easily without the added expense and time of an MBA degree.

Obviously, mileage may vary greatly on this matter.

 

[Choppy]

I suppose my contention is whether those particular management skills can be acquired just as easily without the added expense and time of an MBA degree.

In my experience people can acquire them without an MBA. Certainly there are a lot of examples of great managers who haven't received any formal training. In terms of making career decisions though, the MBA is a way of credentialing those skills. We live in a world that is very much "credentialized." And so if the OP or anyone else wants to do this kind of work, obtaining those credentials certainly increase the chances of getting work in management, or getting promotions once in a management area.

Whether that credential is worth two years of your time and tens of thousands of dollars is another, and very important question. I don't think it always is. There are a lot of people who go through all of that and end up on the other side with the credential and no great job prospects, and in some cases they may even put themselves into a position where they are less employable because they're overqualified for other jobs. These are all things a potential MBA grad should ponder before making any decisions.