Education
Speaking to a friend on the phone last night, the topic of my MHR program came up. He asked about my thoughts, now that I'm halfway through.
I responded that objectively, I see the value of getting an advanced degree when you're pursuing something along what I want to do. I am personally somewhat jaded about advanced education,however, especially at the master's level. Between my experience, and some of my co-workers who are in MBA programs, I keep seeing the same thing: schools are competing amongst themselves for ranking and accredidation, and they aren't in the business of providing poor grades. My employer requires a B or better for reimbursement, and I require at least an A- of myself to feel ok about the course, but I can pretty much "phone it in" with occassional bursts of energetic output, and achieve this.
He said "That much be pretty disappointing."
I replied "Well, I think what gets me turned around sometimes is that school is theory, right? And I guess I was hoping for a little more practical application, but that's not what school is really about. You get that from work. But I'll have to gather it from somewhere else, which is kinda on the down low, so I can then use it to leave them."
He "What makes you think they don't care?"
Me "The tuition reimbursement was part of the benefits package, which was used for recruitment, and also primarily aimed at engineers for re-certifications. Only 10 people in the 500 person workforce here have used it to get a degree at any level. And they're changing it next month, capping the cost to discourage that even further. It is likely as of January, it will be taken away entirely. I am grandfathered in, so the original benefit will remain for me until I finish my program."
He "So essentially they're pouring $30k down the drain?"
Me "Yes. We recently had someone in an adjacent department to me quit because he completed the MBA, served his year, asked several times for advancement, and they would not negotiate a raise in his salary. So that's a $70k loss in investment for the company, and no one blinked."
******
I don't want to paint the wrong picture. I am grateful for the opportunity to be going to grad school, and I look forward to using it. I see the future point of where I want to be. I am just a bit frustrated because generally, practical knowledge and experience, climbing up the ladder, is done on the job. I feel like there's a wide gulf between where I am and where I want to be, and it will be just as big when I am done with my degree. Things like internships, volunteering, etc, will have to done without my employer's knowledge. It makes me feel very disengaged, which is good, I guess, since I'll be moving away in a year and change.
I maintain that I am excited to see the person I will become, having faced these challenges and come out the other side. I believe in my heart that this is a formative period of time for me as a professional, when I will cross over from one entry-level position to another into something that makes me feel engaged and satisfied, and managing this will be what gives me the ability to excel at it.
Or maybe I am just hoping I don't look back at this particular entry 3-5 years from now and think "what a doofus," like I do with my old college-day stuff ; ).
I responded that objectively, I see the value of getting an advanced degree when you're pursuing something along what I want to do. I am personally somewhat jaded about advanced education,however, especially at the master's level. Between my experience, and some of my co-workers who are in MBA programs, I keep seeing the same thing: schools are competing amongst themselves for ranking and accredidation, and they aren't in the business of providing poor grades. My employer requires a B or better for reimbursement, and I require at least an A- of myself to feel ok about the course, but I can pretty much "phone it in" with occassional bursts of energetic output, and achieve this.
He said "That much be pretty disappointing."
I replied "Well, I think what gets me turned around sometimes is that school is theory, right? And I guess I was hoping for a little more practical application, but that's not what school is really about. You get that from work. But I'll have to gather it from somewhere else, which is kinda on the down low, so I can then use it to leave them."
He "What makes you think they don't care?"
Me "The tuition reimbursement was part of the benefits package, which was used for recruitment, and also primarily aimed at engineers for re-certifications. Only 10 people in the 500 person workforce here have used it to get a degree at any level. And they're changing it next month, capping the cost to discourage that even further. It is likely as of January, it will be taken away entirely. I am grandfathered in, so the original benefit will remain for me until I finish my program."
He "So essentially they're pouring $30k down the drain?"
Me "Yes. We recently had someone in an adjacent department to me quit because he completed the MBA, served his year, asked several times for advancement, and they would not negotiate a raise in his salary. So that's a $70k loss in investment for the company, and no one blinked."
******
I don't want to paint the wrong picture. I am grateful for the opportunity to be going to grad school, and I look forward to using it. I see the future point of where I want to be. I am just a bit frustrated because generally, practical knowledge and experience, climbing up the ladder, is done on the job. I feel like there's a wide gulf between where I am and where I want to be, and it will be just as big when I am done with my degree. Things like internships, volunteering, etc, will have to done without my employer's knowledge. It makes me feel very disengaged, which is good, I guess, since I'll be moving away in a year and change.
I maintain that I am excited to see the person I will become, having faced these challenges and come out the other side. I believe in my heart that this is a formative period of time for me as a professional, when I will cross over from one entry-level position to another into something that makes me feel engaged and satisfied, and managing this will be what gives me the ability to excel at it.
Or maybe I am just hoping I don't look back at this particular entry 3-5 years from now and think "what a doofus," like I do with my old college-day stuff ; ).