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Paper 2002-763

Why Settle for an MBA?

Ann Marie Flynn, Joseph Reynolds, Louis Theodore Department of Chemical Engineering, Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY

Introduction

We engineers in education face a double challenge. First, many engineers move into management type positions within 5 years after graduation and utilize little to none of the technical material provided during their academic experience. They become what some have described as “paper shufflers”. The second problem is an outgrowth of the first. The intelligent engineer, realizing the first problem, scuttles any plans for an advanced degree in engineering and instead moves on to a business/management-oriented graduate program, e.g., an MBA (Master of Business Administration). And, who can blame him/her? It obviously makes sense.

The displacement of engineers from traditional technical jobs is a reality that has been reinforced from discussions with hundreds of graduates from Manhattan College. Make no mistake and let us not be deceived. Only a handful are involved with detailed technical calculations and responsibilities. For us in chemical engineering, few are concerned with the design of a multi- component distillation column, non-idea solution behavior, kinetic theory of chemical reactions, etc. The day of the high tech engineer is fast disappearing and has in a very real sense become a dying breed. And so, the clever engineer seeking an advanced degree looks elsewhere…usually in the direction of an institution offering an MBA. The degree is no longer unique to business majors; it is readily available to engineering majors. But, what is so special about the MBA mystique that it now belongs solely in the domain of the business schools? Surely, we engineers in education could do at least as good a job as our business educator counterparts…or perhaps even better. After all, ABET requires that engineering programs include some of the material offered in a typical MBA program, e.g., statistics, ethics, etc. This leads to the main thesis of the paper: engineering educators can provide programs and could very well better prepare engineers for a career in business /management.

Several faculty in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Manhattan College have discussed this situation at great length. The result: a proposed graduate program called “Masters Program in Engineering Management and Business Administration” (MEMBA). It is now widely accepted that the MBA is the ideal program for company executives, e.g., a CEO, but not for engineering managers. However, there are a lot more technical managers than CEOs ... and good project and program managers are difficult to come by. One authority who has been exposed to both an engineering and an MBA education recently commented: “For engineers who want to successfully rise through engineering management ranks, this (program) will be better than an MBA.” (1)

“Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyrightã 2002, American Society for Engineering Education”

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Theodore, L., & Reynolds, J., & Flynn, A. M. (2002, June), Why Settle For An Mba? Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--11223