Is Business and Management course a worthless degree to do?

Hi

I have applied for Business and Management course to do at Durham University as my firm and for insurance is Manchester University. Someone have recently told me that doing a Business and Management is less employable than other degree and by doing this degree mean is very competitive to get a job? Should I go through clearing and change my course? Really appreciate to get valuable advice?

Thanks

Reply 1

NowAndThen

19

On the contrary. A large percentage of graduates study specialist degrees, such as economics, and do not work in the field of their degrees. Why? Because the real world has more openings or opportunities that do not really need someone with a degree in economics. What happens is then graduates with all these degrees have to learn, adapt and apply their thinking skills to areas they have never been trained for, such as operations, marketing, business development, etc. Now, on the other hand, a business and management course actually gives a very broad grounding on almost all aspects of a business, from HR to marketing to operations to business planning. A graduate entering the real world would not be as 'lost' as one with a specialist degree. So the question is whether you want to be a specialist or it would be otherwise.

Reply 2

Barry2011

Not sure about the course but those Uni's are very respectable so you would definitely be at the top of any Business management grad programs.

Reply 3

NowAndThen

19

And, another way of looking at it is this. Would top universities like LSE, UCL, Warwick, Durham, Edinburgh, etc etc waste their resources on delivering a 'worthless' degree? Business and Management degrees are not as well understood as straightforward single discipline degrees.

Reply 4

Baldness

2

It is a specialist degree without having the stigma of all the "new" degrees that appear to offer ever tight vocational training or seem targeted at specific popular sounding trendy jobs or departments within business.

You can specialise during business degrees but you are not open to scorn from employers because you studied some fancy sounding "degree" in a specialist business area that you have now apparently decided isn't where you want to work or cant get a job.

Many employers still see all this rebranding and renaming of degrees as spin and indicative of a decline in standards rather than some exceptional opportunity to acquire brilliant individuals with just the right set of skills to slot into a department.

Reply 5

WokSz

17

I really do question the logic behind some of the questions posed on these forums. I understand that you're worried about job prospects, but to consider a degree offered by some of the world's top Universities, e.g. Harvard, Oxbridge and LSE, as less employable than others is preposterous! Just because someone tells you something about a degree doesn't mean it's correct and to then consider changing your subjects as a result is also quite wrong. You've done your research, you know what the course is about and you have a spot at two great Business Schools: why are you now quitting because someone has told you?

Management is a degree that focuses on more than just simple strategies. It doesn't only look at companies such as IKEA and understand how they operate, but also brings to 'light' issues such as organisational behaviour, Human Resources (a great deal of applied psychology), Accounting (Corporate Finance) and more complex issues such as modelling to understand decision-making. What's more frustrating is that a lot of people on these forums refuse to understand that Management remains a very popular degree with employers (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/10146038/Graduate-jobs-top-12-degree-subjects-for-getting-a-job.html?frame=2605849) and you'll notice that despite an economic downturn, executive education is on the rise: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/8cb8e480-d7a7-11e3-80e0-00144feabdc0.html#axzz38BmDGxC6 - meaning having a Management degree now may actually be a benefit in the future!

So, next time someone tells you something of this nature, present a valid counter-argument. It just seems that us Management students sit back and take the 'shots' being fired at us.

Reply 6

Zenomorph

3

Another way of looking at it is this - Would top universities like LSE, UCL, Warwick, Durham, Edinburgh, etc etc base their resources on degrees based on anything other than D & S ?

So just because something is in large demand, does that mean it is good ?

How about heroin, clearly very popular but is it good ?

Reply 7

WokSz

17

Original post by Zenomorph

Another way of looking at it is this - Would top universities like LSE, UCL, Warwick, Durham, Edinburgh, etc etc base their resources on degrees based on anything other than D & S ?

So just because something is in large demand, does that mean it is good ?

How about heroin, clearly very popular but is it good ?

Whether it's good or bad is beyond the relevance of the OP's question. If you read what she wrote, she requires a clarification on whether Business and Management is employable.

Should you wish to debate the link between something being 'good' and popularity, I recommend opening a thread in the 'Debate' sub-forum.

Reply 8

Zenomorph

3

Original post by WokSz

Whether it's good or bad is beyond the relevance of the OP's question. If you read what she wrote, she requires a clarification on whether Business and Management is employable.

Should you wish to debate the link between something being 'good' and popularity, I recommend opening a thread in the 'Debate' sub-forum.

Barking up the wrong tree , boyo

Reply 9

WokSz

17

Original post by Zenomorph

Barking up the wrong tree , boyo

Ok. That's nice.

Reply 10

Mcdermott

9

I too will study Business and Management at Durham University this fall. I´m from Sweden with a short experience in b2b sales and I´m planning to learn a 4th language during my 3 years there. I´m very interested in financial markets but it is worrying that my degree choice wont cut it.
Any clue what UK employers think of EU students and Durham as an institution?

Cheers

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 11

WokSz

17

Original post by Mcdermott

I too will study Business and Management at Durham University this fall. I´m from Sweden with a short experience in b2b sales and I´m planning to learn a 4th language during my 3 years there. I´m very interested in financial markets but it is worrying that my degree choice wont cut it.
Any clue what UK employers think of EU students and Durham as an institution?

Cheers

As a non-UK student myself, I found employers to be exceptional and focus more on my merits than my origin. Quite a few even saw the fact that I had come from abroad as an advantage in certain roles and teams.

As far as Durham goes, there's a wealth of information on TSR about Durham Business School's reputation. I personally was very impressed with its courses. It a great deal more theoretical than most Departments in the UK, but that could be due to the institution as a whole being very research-driven.