Business Management or Economics at a Russel Group Uni?

Maybe through an economics degree you'll be taught to think for yourself rather than rely on parental anecdotes with a sample size of 2 😅

The logic your using is the same as if someone were to argue that people should drop out of uni because Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs did, shows uni is pointless. Surely you can now see that the logic that you know two unsuccessful economists means that you'll be unsuccessful is silly. Stats 101 correlation doesn't equal causation.

I agree with the poster above, you and your experiences matter more than the course you do. Getting a good job is far more than just the subject you do at undergrad lol. The roles your discussing in finance and management don't even require business related degrees for their graduate schemes so I wouldn't worry too much. The most important thing is to study whatever you're interested in. That being said I slightly disagree with the poster above as I do think employers slightly prefer Econ degrees than business management ones purely because they're more theoretically rigorous and often contain a significant amount of statistics and calculus.

Why does everyone say it then on TSR especially? I've searched through over 20 forums on this and everyones saying "Do Economics, Business studies means you look like you dont know what you are doing and so therefore picked Business" and "Economics is a lot more rated because it covers a lot more maths than Business". I just keep seeing everyone say these same things that's why I was considering putting Economics first because apparently employers dont like you to have Business as people see it as a weak degree.

I did a Business degree at Leeds and I studied an Econ module among others. All Economics teachers were absolutely horrible and incompetent. Not sure if all Econ teachers at Leeds are like them but if so, I'd avoid them at all costs. I think a choice of the programme entirely depends on your preference. Econimics is definitely more Maths-based, whereas Business Management refers to different disciplines, like Finance, Entrepreneurship, Marketing and finally Econ. From what I observed, Econ grads rather go into banking and Business grads perform a variety of business roles in different industries. I think studying Business makes you a more well-rounded person but that's my personal opinion. As for jobs, many employers don't care what you finished as long as you graduated with 2:1/1st.

TSR is mostly populated by students doing their GCSEs or A levels who don't really know much about university or careers. Everyone relies on outdated and false misconceptions.

Take it from a graduate - what I'm telling you is very much so correct.

It's not about thinking for myself 😂 it's about making the right subject choice. I just keep seeing everyone say Economics is a lot better to study than Business and employers prefer it a lot. I guess you are right that just because my dads friends struggled picking Economics doesnt mean I will. Its just hard what to pick between Business and Economics. I either want a job in management or finance or retail or something and everyones saying Economics is better for all of it on almost all the forums I've read especially on this site. So would you say I should just pick Economics?

Well one would think the econ & finance is more suited to finance & the business & management courses are more suited to something like Blue chip company grad roles or consulting.

But all these roles are well known to not pay too much attention to the specific degree subject and focus more on candidates. If you want to work in Finance then networking, getting internships, and a stellar CV will be more important then which of these courses you enrol at.

I think you're making this decision harder than it needs to be. Just do the subject you have a passion for regardless of what others think. University can be really tough and it's practically impossible to do those late nights studying in the library if it's for a subject you don't love so you should definitely pick what you're more passionate about. So if you prefer business then please just do that, or if you're not sure, just do business economics lol.

Btw I'm a 3rd year Econ student whose done internships, a placement year and have a grad job already secured.

Thanks then. It's good I posted this forum as before I was starting to get convinced that Business is a lot worse to do at Uni than Economics especislly for employability rates from what I saw on this prior to which I wanted to choose. Would you say I should go for a PhD too or just get the degree then look for the work experience? I want to be in the best possible situation for job opportunities when I leave University.

Just a couple of notes:

- I doubt there are many jobs you would find easier to get with a business degree than an economics degree.
- a lot of the choice comes down to how good you are at maths and how much you enjoy it. Doing a mathematical economics degree gives you skills others lack. Doing a non mathematical one does not.
- you can check average salaries and employment rates for the two degree types by university in published statistics. From recollection the average economics grad at top universities does better than business grads at the same universities. This difference reduces as you go down the league tables.

Should you do a PhD. It really depends what you want to do. Its realistically far too early to look a doctoral research, these are very specialist research programs so its not something to consider on a whim or a maybe.

What I will say is id imagine for a PhD in finance you may well need the economics degree (with lots of econometrics) my impression is most research in this area is very quantitative and hence a strong analytical degree would be important (but this is not my field, I'm an engineer...)

If you want to work in finance I would load up on spring weeks & internships (top companies are competitive).

What I will say is id imagine for a PhD in finance you may well need the economics degree (with lots of econometrics) my impression is most research in this area is very quantitative and hence a strong analytical degree would be important (but this is not my field, I'm an engineer...)

If you want to work in finance I would load up on spring weeks & internships (top companies are competitive).

Ok then thanks for the advice. I just want whatever will give me better post graduate jobs out of the two. And at the Uni of Manchester do you know if they are good at helping to get the students there on decent jobs after?

Ah ok thanks then. It's just hard because I dont even know exactly out of the 4 which one I wanna do.

Thanks. I probs would rather Business then if theres a variety of roles I could pick from as I dont know for sure if I want to go into banking. What sort of job do you have now then from getting a degree in Business and would you say doing a PhD in it is a waste of time? And yeah I know grades are important so I will work hard to achieve good ones for both my A Levels and the degree when the time comes. So would you say then that if I dont know between retail, finance, management and maybe something to do with real-estate, business would be better?

Thanks then I will. So this means I still will have the sane chance at a good Business related job doing Business at any of the Russel Group Uni's I've just said? Because I probably was set on doing that until I read all the people on TSR slate Business and say it's a Mickey mouse course and that Economics is miles better if you want to get employed.

Not really.

You're getting some bad advice on here. Business or Econ genuinely doesn't matter. What matters the most is experience via internships or industry etc. Your degree really won't distinguish you if you do Econ and not Business lol. They're quite similar but focus on different aspects.

Econ is not considered 'harder' or 'more rated' by employers.

Firstly, if you want a job in management or finance, you wouldn't really need a PhD. Why do you want to study for a PhD? If you're going for a research specific role, then a PhD makes sense. If you do, you will have a preference on what you want study anyway.

A business and management degree won't really cover the level of material you will particularly need for finance, although people tend to be trained from the bottom up in the sector anyway. Management jobs aren't particularly picky about the subject of your degree, as far as I know.
You may have exemptions for exams in professional accounting qualifications, but that will depend on the modules you choose, and you should be able to get exemptions from both business and management and economics and finance degrees.

For me, the economics and finance degree will probably be more useful than the business and management degrees, but I might be biased.
If you want to start your own business, the business and management degree may be useful if you are going in with no experience (not recommended).

In terms of postgrad, I think you can do a postgrad in business with an economics and finance degree, but you can't do a postgrad in economics or finance with a business and management. However, you might want to check this with your choice of universities and their postgrad programs.

I'd go with Manchester and Durham as top choices for their degrees.

Firstly, if you want a job in management or finance, you wouldn't really need a PhD. Why do you want to study for a PhD? If you're going for a research specific role, then a PhD makes sense. If you do, you will have a preference on what you want study anyway.

A business and management degree won't really cover the level of material you will particularly need for finance, although people tend to be trained from the bottom up in the sector anyway. Management jobs aren't particularly picky about the subject of your degree, as far as I know.
You may have exemptions for exams in professional accounting qualifications, but that will depend on the modules you choose, and you should be able to get exemptions from both business and management and economics and finance degrees.

For me, the economics and finance degree will probably be more useful than the business and management degrees, but I might be biased.
If you want to start your own business, the business and management degree may be useful if you are going in with no experience (not recommended).

In terms of postgrad, I think you can do a postgrad in business with an economics and finance degree, but you can't do a postgrad in economics or finance with a business and management. However, you might want to check this with your choice of universities and their postgrad programs.

I'd go with Manchester and Durham as top choices for their degrees.

One last question though. Would it give me more post graduate chances if I chose Business then did a degree at Manchester/Durham then applied and got accepted to the Harvard or Yale Business school or not? Or will going to those Business schools not do much after Uni?