The Master’s New Signaling Power

Starting in 11th grade, American high school students are already taking the SATs and deciding what colleges they want to attend. The nail-biting and sleepless nights begin early on: Are my scores good enough? Will I get accepted? Whats the right program? But these high school students do not yet realize that for many of them this wont be their last degree if they want to succeed in their careers. They will have to go through this whole process AGAIN when they apply to masters programs. An article in The New York Times (The Masters as the New Bachelors) discusses the fact that an undergraduate degree is no longer enough to make it in the working world. When flipping through professional job listings they mostly state: bachelors required, masters preferred. So why is a bachelors no longer enough? One possibility is that having a masters degree serves as job market signaling, a term coined by A. Michael Spence. A masters degree signals your go-get-em qualities to future employers. Its not about the quality of your education; its how much effort youve expended to get there. Similarly, Eric A. Hanushek, an education economist at the Hoover Institution, suggests that the devaluing of the college degree provides a masters degree with more signaling power. Another reason masters degrees are becoming more popular is that they are also becoming more practical and specialized. There are now degrees being offered, like an M.S. in skeletal and dental bioarchaeology, or a professional science masters (PSM) that combines training for specific jobs with key business skills. Even the MBA has been broken down into specializations, such as supply chain management or managing mission-driven organizations. Possibly the most upsetting part about this new trend is that students must pay for their education while universities and businesses benefit. Employers no longer have to help train their employees, and universities can charge even more per year for a masters degree than a bachelors. But job seekers really have no choice. Richard K. Vedder, professor of economics at Ohio University and director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, explains that colleges are educating more students than the market has space for, and a masters might be the only way for someone looking for work to stand out (that, or a diploma from an elite undergraduate college, says Vedder). So those looking to jump-start their careers will have to swallow the costs and start looking at which masters degree program is right for them. And do it fastbefore the PhD becomes the new masters! Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best (function(){ var hsjs = document.createElement("script"); hsjs.type = "text/javascript"; hsjs.async = true; hsjs.src = "//cta-service.cms.hubspot.com/cta-service/loader.js?placement_guid=24f41371-e10a-463e-9a42-bcb9c5f35a66"; (document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0]||document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0]).appendChild(hsjs); setTimeout(function() {document.getElementById("hs-cta-24f41371-e10a-463e-9a42-bcb9c5f35a66").style.visibility="hidden"}, 1); setTimeout(function() {document.getElementById("hs-cta-24f41371-e10a-463e-9a42-bcb9c5f35a66").style.visibility="visible"}, 2000); })(); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); Photo credit: pthread1981