Is The MBA Useless Or More Than Useless?

The MBA is useful because other people think it is so. An interesting economic phenomena is that when people place an inflated value on the productivity (or lack thereof) on a group of people (MBAs, Asians, Harvard grads, etc.) it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, which engenders more of the same but now for good reason.

The MBA is useful because other people think it is so.

Let me put it this way. My mom has an MBA from a top school and I don't think she finds it particularly useful but we both agree it's why she's earning what she is.

Oops sorry I was gone. I don't think that's the consensus at all. More debt but a lot more money. Duke University.

What she did before, who paid for it, what she does now - ie actual job not title - also employee or business owner? Also, don't you think it plausible that she could have learned the same information, in this day and age, with a buck fifty in late charges at a decent library (or on the interwebs?)

Let us know how your mother's success story means that MBAs are useful.

What she did before, who paid for it, what she does now - ie actual job not title - also employee or business owner? Also, don't you think it plausible that she could have learned the same information, in this day and age, with a buck fifty in late charges at a decent library (or on the inter webs?)

Well, If you're dedicated enough you could learn a whole Bachelors and Masters level worth of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, English Literature, Law, Economics, etc. - practically any subject from self-teaching yourself from a library and reading e-books, in fact many university students do appear to be self-teaching themselves half the time, but what good is it if you can't prove it to prospective employers since you can't exactly accredit yourself. lol.

MBA stands for massive bulls**t accolade now. If you can graduate with an engineering degree MBA will be as hard as wine tasting class at ur local junior college.

They could ask for a portfolio of work, but I haven't heard of anyone getting employed that way, though there might be..

I don't have an opinion on whether an actual MBA is useful or not, it doesn't sound interesting to me, but it does seem to be popular and I don't understand why employers pay for their workers to obtain one, but hey..

MBAs are not the right choice for everyone, but from a top school it can be a worthwhile signal. She is an employee, not a business owner, but was recruited into a very accelerated track because of her MBA. She paid for it, but it has surely paid back. I'm sure you can learn all that stuff, but not make the same connections and not "emit" that same signal.

An MBA is a pre-requisite for nothing. No profession or professional body will demand an MBA. Compare medicine, law, dentistry, engineering where the degree is essential. Also, I don't think you can compare an MBA to any one of these professional disciplines. MBA, unlike bachelors degrees in these fields, is not a terminal professional degree, in fact, it is not even a normal masters degree. This is also obvious if you look at the admission requirements for MBA. Anyone with cash can get one, whereas with a professional degree you need some ability to get in and even more to complete it.

Food for thought:




MBAs won't be employed over anyone with a real degree. But the argument is that they are useful for advancing your employment. So it having breasts or sleeping with your boss.



It's popular with people who don't know better, or who can't progress in life and think that it's somehow useful. Any doctor, lawyer, dentist, engineer, astronaut, pilot, or member of any occupation that gets things done would laugh at the MBA and people who are proud of their MBAs.

It's credentialing, or perhaps HR filtering. The degree itself is useless but if you go to a top university for one you will get interviews with top employers. Otherwise it's a waste of money, like a 2.2 law degree.

Actually an MBA in many firms is a requisite for promotion. This happens more in industries such as consulting or banking where you're generally selling your people. The reason why there is a large intake of MBA students is not because of what they learn, because in all fairness it's not going to help much, but more because it allows them to charge clients more.

Once you say LBS or INSEAD the client know with certainty that this person is a high performer and has good work experience, since getting into a top business school is difficult.

Emit the bull**** signal? I am sure that some gullible people, who aren't educated, think that any MXX degree means that the person is smart. But no one who has studied a real Masters or undergrad degree falls for that bull****.

People could get onto a very accelerated track by spreading their legs, so the MBA isn't the answer. Lets concentrate on that for a second: What job before, what job after, what in the MBA did she study that made her get the new job? Or was it in fact other pre existing abilities that she had? One does not cause the other, that's all. If everyone had gotten an MBA, would everyone have been promoted?

Probably an MBA reject speaking here. A signal is a signal and really even a Bachelor's degree can be learned through the internet.

I am very sorry you got rejected from an MBA program. I am also sorry that you are not open to other opinions, you started this thread hoping for one answer and the fact that we have provided others that might not coincide with yours disturb you greatly. Frankly, I don't care. I'm going to have a comfortable life and college education without debt because of this worthless "MBA" so I'm fine with that. Go look at top 20 schools and their MBA alumni, if you don't think that's impressive… Hey, well, losers gotta hate!

They would have to be dumb clients to expect more from an MBA than from someone with actual experience.



It is not difficult, when compared to law or even accounting. Entry and graduating from these degrees is a lot more difficult than entry to any MBA program.

Except that a 2:2 law degree is a real degree and a terminal professional degree. The grad has hard concrete knowledge in a discipline, that is useful in life, not just management nonsense that is pseudo science, and has a degree which is a pre-requisite to professional admission. A 2:2 law grad can become a legal professional, and 2:2 for that degree is nothing to laugh at.

Comparing MBA to a law degree is like comparing a degree in ikebana with a degree in physics - one is soft and easy and there is no right and wrong, the other is hard and involves hard, concrete knowledge. Anyone can get an MBA, few are admitted to law degrees, just like medicine or dentistry, and fewer can graduate.