While more than 80% of graduate students in an August gradschools.com survey said M.B.A. programs need ethics courses, how much are M.B.A. programs really helping engineers?
Paul Schmeling said it was a big help to his career at Emerson Process Management's Rosemount Measurement division in Chanhassen, Minn. As global product marketing manager, Schmeling had been working in an engineering position in which he felt he was becoming a specialist."I knew I didn't want that, and I also wanted to move into management," he said.
While being a specialist is certainly a fine career choice for some, Schmeling said,"you can get confined, and I didn't think being a specialist would help me move into management." If you have an engineering degree, "the M.B.A. gives you more exposure to businessrelated topics you didn't get in engineering school."
Kim Corfman, associate dean and academic director, NYU Stern School of Business in New York City, said the decision to go for an M.B.A. depends on engineers' goals. "If you want to make your company competitive in the marketplace, then that's exactly what an M.BA.'s good for," she said.
The opportunity for advancement is the same as with any other career choice. "The most talented employees usually rise in organizations," Corfman said. "The same thing happens to salespeople. Suddenly, you're a manager, making decisions for products to invest in and directions in which R&D should go."
TIME CRUNCH?
Schmeling said all his courses were at night and on the weekends, and it took four years. Going to school full time could get you out in two years, "but doing it at night gives you more flexibility," he said.
