Am I better studying physics than management for a business job?

I know this question might sound strange but after looking at job prospects for both degrees I found that a large percentage of physics graduates go into business jobs. I am asking this as many people say that a general business degree is not as desirable for employers and is considered an easy degree. Whereas with physics it is well respected and gives you a wide range of skills mostly numerical skills which are sought after by many industries such as computing, finance and of course science

Yes.

Original post by RulesforRadicals

Yes.

Thanks for the reply, would you care to elaborate? :smile:

Reply 3

RulesforRadicals

Original post by LeeABC

Thanks for the reply, would you care to elaborate? :smile:

The respectability of business degrees are extremely sensitive to the institution (with Cass, Havard etc on one end), physics and engineering degrees show quantitative skills, problem solving etc, just be sure to show you are good at communicating also.

Reply 4

Smack

Volunteer Team

Original post by LeeABC

Not really. Regardless of the "respectability" of a business degree, if you can get one that provides a year in industry then you'll already have a years' experience when you graduate which will put you in better stead for finding a job. Some organisations accept applicants from all degree disciplines for many of their commerical/non-technical roles, but at the same time many don't.

Reply 5

Unkempt_One

Get work experience during your Physics degree. Physics opens more doors. You can do an MBA as a Master's after undergrad or mid-career.

Reply 6

qno2

Business has a bad reputation as being that subject that people study if they don't know what else to do. You'll normally find that the employment statistics for business degrees are not as good as most people might expect which speaks a lot I believe. The important thing here would be that you should get some work experience in your penultimate year; that's the thing which will really set you apart from other graduates.

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Reply 7

georgeous31

Warwick does a Physics and Business Degree precisely for this purpose. Two years of Physics with only one module of business in year 2, followed by a whole year in Warwick Business School.

I went there on an offer holders day recently for physics - some people decide to switch to the combined at the end of their first year.

Reply 8

LeeABC

Original post by georgeous31

Thanks for the reply. I have been looking for a similar course to this in Scotland (where I live) but I just can't seem to find one. If there was one out there, there would be no question that's what I'd apply for but unfortunately they are not widely available in Scotland :frown:

Reply 9

High Stakes

Original post by LeeABC

If you want to be successful in business (i.e. run your own business, rather than be a cog in the machine for someone else's) I'd say go for physics. Anything which has specialist knowledge that can help benefit you and provide you with an advantage over your peers. Entrepreneurship demands the right person at the right time and a lot of fantastic business ideas are borne out of people using their specialist knowledge to solve common everyday problems.

Degrees such as; Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Engineering or anything specialist will help you come up with and generate innovative ideas.

That's my opinion anyway. @Princepieman is in Scotland as well.

Reply 10

Schadenfreude65

Original post by Unkempt_One

Get work experience during your Physics degree. Physics opens more doors. You can do an MBA as a Master's after undergrad or mid-career.

This. There's no need to try to fit everything into your undergrad degree. Physics will give you more options, and make you attractive to a wide range of employers. You can do a masters in a business-related area afterwards, and also take advantage of summer internships to get business experience before you graduate.