Should You Do A Masters?

About a year ago, a connection on Linkedin messaged me and asked whether my Masters was worth it, since he was thinking of doing the same course. I answered him then, but thought to myself that I would write a longer one. So here’s this long-coming post trying to answer the question.

First of all though, why should I be answering this question? Well, someone did messaged me so he was interested in an answer. Extrapolating that, there might be other people who might benefit from this. Even all those points aside, there is always the benefit of retrospect, where it would make me appreciate more where I am at now, review what I’ve done good/wrong, and help in planning in the future since I have already done a ‘post-mortem’.

To answer the question, whether should you do a masters, relates a lot on a position where you are and what your motives are. I assume most people further study to increase their employability, hence increase their financial situation. However I think this is not as simple as that, as it seems employers still prefer experienced worker than education level. Given two candidates with similar skills and experience, the one with the masters (or phD) would be more likely to be employed, but if the one of the candidates have even a few more years experience difference, it would still more likely ‘beat’ the one with the masters. Plus to get the master’s degree, it costs quite a lot (around GBP9,000 for local students in the UK, and GBP20,000 for their international counterparts). Also to get the extra perceived advantage of having a masters, you need to take at least around 9-12 months off from working. In short it requires a great investment and it should be compared to the benefit of increase salary.

For some industry, masters do not even increase salary (at least not visibly). You might be better off taking industrial certification, which might cost a fraction of a masters. The other benefit is that these courses are more ‘current’ as they are modified often. The cons is that they might not be recognised much. In comparison, a master’s degree is a formal education qualification.

Way of Thinking

When I did my degree, I felt that it was more about taking things in (lots of them) and trying to output them during an exam.

In comparison during my masters, I feel that it is more of using all of my knowledge and creating a narrative. Arguably I have worked for a few years and my masters was related to my work, but it still feel that I had to connect all the dots and create a bigger picture. The thesis was similar, in the sense that instead of me answering a question, I had to find a question that I would, could and should answer. Personally I felt that was the hardest part during my masters. It was a challenge, and I like to think that it changed me, as it made me believe that I can go and find whatever I like and work on it. So in short, that is my answer to the title: yes, if the conditions fit you, go ahead and do masters as it will change your way of thinking (if not a lot, then at least a bit).

Next step

Doctorate is a natural progression for people who did a master’s degree; masters is required too for a phD student. But is there enough benefit in doing one? That is a question that I am still thinking, and one that will determine whether I spend the rest of my next years poring over journals or not.

Thank you for reading.

Note: I realise that it is called master’s degree.