The discussion revolves around the comparative value of a physics degree versus a business degree for employment in business settings. Participants explore various perspectives on the relevance and utility of these degrees in the job market, touching on themes of education, employer perceptions, and career paths.
Participants do not reach a consensus on whether a physics degree is better than a business degree for working in business. Multiple competing views are presented, with some advocating for the value of a physics degree and others questioning its relevance in business contexts.
Some participants mention the potential for biases in hiring practices and the importance of networking and communication skills, which may influence the perceived value of different degrees.
StatGuy2000 said:Your point will depend crucially on what type of business bureaucracy you are looking at. Some of the most lucrative positions in businesses often involve considerable technical know-how (your particular career field as a quant is the perfect example; others include data-mining, market research, etc.) and in those fields, a
swampwiz said:I was reading an article how the business degree (aside from accounting and perhaps finance) is considered by employers to be virtually worthless. The reasons for this are basically that the typical business student is not too bright and rather lazy, with virtually no math or computational classes required (baby calculus & statistics), leaving students who don't even have the critical thinking skills that at least a liberal arts education would give. Basically the employers are saying that whatever is learned in the typical business curriculum (again, aside from accounting and perhaps finance) can be learned on the job, and that it is better to have the folks who can either write very well (i.e., liberal arts degree) or deal with math (e.g., math or physics degree) very well.
I suppose that the best of both worlds would be to get a degree in physics and a minor in general business, but even then, a degree in physics and minor in math would seem to be even better!
Some folks might say, just work in physics, software development, or engineering, etc., but it seems like for folks from wealthy countries, it is poor career choice, since employers would rather hire folks from places like Kolkata, India or Cheungking, China at rock bottom labor rates. Some might also say go to work as a Wall Street quant, and while that may have some merit, it seems that the only way now to get work (and after the crisis, there isn't as much work) is to get a master's degree in mathematical finance from one of the top expensive schools and hope that work can be found to pay off that massive debt.
StatGuy2000 said:I have a BS in mathematics and a MS in statistics (both areas I consider to be science), and I can tell you that in my own personal experience, my skill set has been considerable demand by a wide range of businesses. I still continue to get constant calls or e-mails from recruiters/headhunters about positions in various businesses in both US and Canada related to my analytics skills, even in the current weak US economy.
So I don't really buy this notion that a science degree is somehow an impediment to entering business anymore than any other degree. Of course, anyone who is newly entering the current job market will face a tough time finding work (at least if you only look at positions in the US), but that is true regardless of what field you study.