The Changing Face of Graduate Degrees in Engineering and Construction
Education is always a very touchy subject in construction. I’ve certainly noticed some unspoken dissention between th
e school of hard-knockers and the book-smart engineering kids. One time when we were setting up a new office in the storage closet of the building, a boss told me that nobody with a master’s degree is allowed to use the power tools. C’mon guys can’t we just respect each other?
The reality is that education has forcefully permeated the construction industry right down to the subcontractor tradesman. Unfortunately for some, it is not going away and it’s only going to get bigger and more specialized. So the question we need to ask is not if we should go to grad school, but rather, what kind of graduate degree is best for a career in construction. So, what is it?
I’m sorry, but the answer is just not that simple, and after getting a master’s degree in Construction Engineering and Management, the biggest thing I’ve learned is that there is rarely a right answer for anything. This makes things difficult when making decisions because you can’t just knee-jerk to accepted convention – you actually have to think about the situation and make a unique individual decision. God forbid.
However, the accepted convention exists, andthat is of course to get an MBA. I am personally not a huge fan of the MBA (don’t tell my brother or girlfriend, but it doesn’t really matter because they’re too busy throwing money around to read my blog anyway). I took a couple of real estate development courses in the business school at Colorado and got the feeling that while these people were very pretty and articulate, when it came to substantive knowledge about the construction industry, they were way off base. They were real-estate developers and they couldn’t tell you the difference between a soil classification, a shear-moment diagram, and a CPM schedule. However, I will admit that they had a much better handle on the finance and accounting of construction projects – although, its really not that hard to figure out.
I am in favor of more specialized degrees than the MBA and degrees that will emphasize ethics and sustainability rather than greed and accumulation of money. I know that MBA programs have more recently started to push harder on leadership, ethics, and sustainability, but after the accounting scandals, exorbitant CEO pay, and mass-layoffs of recent years, I really think this effort is too little and certainly far too late.
I am much more in favor of specialized degrees in Construction Management, Engineering Management, and even MS degrees in accounting or economics. We live in a specialized world and an MBA is just far too broad in my opinion. I will also say that any further education beyond undergrad is better than no education beyond undergrad, but if you’re gonna do it, go the specialized route.
Related: The Dangers of Heavy Machinery
Tags: Construction blog, Construction Economics, Construction education, construction master's degree, graduate degree, John Poole
Degrees in construction, what about them? Experience trumps education every time, and although I believe our construction industry in under educated it is overrun with masters degree graduates that struggle to produce. You go to school and you are taught processes, that’s going to save the human race if your drinking the cool aid provided by universities.
Lets get real, education has nothing to do with competence, ethics or a will to produce. One of the best things about the construction industry is that talent still has a chance over a nebulous degree that invokes discussions rather than production.
The problem may lie in the fact that construction degrees should be more like a medical degree, cut open a couple of cadavers and get your hands dirty, then if your good enough we’ll let you work on a live one.
I agree with you John
I’m also not a fan of the MBA, and would recomend a more specialized degree depending on what side of the fence you want to be in. For us construction pro’s a CM or CEM graduated degree is a plus and gives us an edge for the type of work we do, which is construction. Currently I’m doing my MS degree in Construction Management and find it very well suited for my goal to be a project manager. I’ve taken courses that have updated my technical Knowledge and also courses about construction accounting, finance, control and scheduling. all very important for anyone thinking of furthering their career in construction, in my opinion more so than the MBA.
Herman
Sadly, this is just an extension of many rifts between not only academic and real-world experience, but between isolated specialties that has contributed to the many problems in construction. Architects and general contractors are well known to not respect each others background,and that certainly plays out in the field. But even architects and engineers are trained not to value what the other brings to the table. Engineers are taught to narrow a problem down to one concise equation so that they get one numerical answer. Architects are trained to have genius ideas (preferably while in the shower) and the better the idea, the less able they should be to explain it. Frankly, its a miracle anything gets built at all.
What happened to the renaissance person who could design and build just about anything? Answer: The MBA’s told them they could never get financing, and the lawyers said it was too risky….(Kidding!) Now the hope comes in the multi-disciplinary programs that encourage teams from several departments (and several cultures, if possible) to solve real problems. I just spent the summer in China with a team of engineering and business students from Baylor and American Universities and several Chinese schools. The students were bright and enthusiastic, the teachers were fantastic, and it helped my project move along much more rapidly.
Everyone should encourage these programs- coop with a school to help with a business problem, hire graduates who have shown the brains to look beyond one department, and tell your professional organizations to talk to each other! It’s a global world and it needs global solutions.
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All of the above have to some degree valid arguements, however a little hands-on experience with education is a much better mix. I earned a MBA degree with a concentration in engineering management after having worked on various projects as a project architect/engineer, superintendent and then project manager, then the manager of project managers. Before embarking on this career I worked as a construction laborer while earning my first degree in architectural engineering. The education and experience was very helpful when it came to solving problems in the field as well as the drawing board(computer monitor).
Having the experience and education undoubtedly allows one to pursue a speciality within the industry that is more appealing to their particular career goals. I am afraid the rift between the academicians and the real-world purists will continue as long neither gets to “walk in each other’s shoes”.
Developing dual MS/MBA programs in construction management along with co-op experience within those programs as a requirement may be the direction the industry needs follow. Combining the “Big picture” financial and technical management curriculum may offer individuals a glimpse into everything the industry has to offer. Whatever sector one chooses to pursue will undoubtedly be up to individual desires and their respective experiences.