Three Myths About Advanced Academic Degrees, and Why Employers Should Dispel Them

Academics have misguided perceptions about businesses, and businesses have strange ideas about academics. But there are good reasons why that should change.

No one doubts that a PhD in Biochemistry is useful for a pharmaceutical company and that a geologist is good for an energy company. But the value of an advanced academic degree extends far beyond these narrow capacities, and both businesses and academics would be better off if they recognized better ways to integrate.

There’s a story about an ancient philosopher named Thales who always had his head in the skies, until one day he fell into a well (and died, in some retellings, or didn’t even notice, in others). In any case, this is a caricature of not only philosophers but academics in general, and it persists to this day – academics are bumbling and absent-minded professors, and they may often be mistaken for bums.

On the other hand, there’s also no shortage of caricatures for business people – the greedy “Scrooge” bankers, the cutthroat “wolf of wallstreet” traders, and the pushy and bejeweled salesmen.

What these unfortunate caricatures say, mostly, is that some academic researchers don't know the business world and vice versa.

Historically, the university has prided itself on its isolation from the private sector (it is known, after all, the ivory tower). Separation from the private sector was part of the definition of research integrity. However, more and more basic research funding is coming from the private sector, which now funds more basic research and development than government. Thus, these caricatures are not only unfortunate but also outdated.

Management consulting firms such as McKinsey and BCG have long hired STEM MSs and PhDs, and energy companies have long employed physicists and earth scientists.

Nowadays, industries ranging from insurance (AIG) to FMCG (Mars Chocolate) build science teams from STEM graduates with advanced degrees, and some innovative consulting firms like ReD Associates hire out of the humanities and social sciences to develop "a deep understanding of real people back at the center of business decision making."

Even tech startups are hiring out of the humanities to build HR, marketing, social, and strategic angles for their business (for example, Monkee-Boy, an interesting web-design company in Austin, hired a fiction writer with an MFA as a marketing manage).

Companies that successfully leverage specialist education and research for their professional goals have a distinct advantage on today's market. But there are some misperceptions or "myths" about advanced degrees that might prevent employers from hiring people with advanced degrees:

Myth #1 – People with advanced degrees have over-specialized skills that do not apply to the business world.

Basically, an advanced degree is a data point that signals qualitative and/or quantitative research ability, project/task management skills, long-term dedication to a task, presentation skills, and the ability to learn and develop (and ultimately, to train). These are certainly all relevant and desirable qualities for a variety of positions.

Myth #2 – People with advanced degrees want a larger starting salary and/or won’t consider an entry level position.

A lot of people go for an MBA right after college for a better starting position, but many graduate students in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences just go to graduate school because they love a certain subject. But many also can't wait to leave to be a part of the exiting and changing world around them. And as the amount of tenured positions decreases, opportunities in the private sector are increasingly attractive to STEM and humanities graduates who might have been on an academic research trajectory.

Myth #3 – Academics don’t have the basic communication skills to speak to non-specialists.

There's no shortage of PhDs in chemistry, psychology, and anthropology teaching specialized material to non-experts, so they know how to communicate abstract and difficult concepts in clear and simple language. People with advanced degrees are often highly articulate and acutely aware of their audience.

These myths might be profitably considered by employers and recruiters when screening a pool of talent only by experience. They may be overlooking some interesting candidates (and previous work experience alone doesn't indicate talent anyway). The best candidate for a marketing position, after all, might not be the person with 10 years of marketing experience. The best candidate might in fact be a fresh psychology PhD who wrote a dissertation on emotional responses to social media.

And doesn't hiring an MFA for a marketing/branding/storytelling position sound cool?

Follow @marcosien. This post was originally published at maggbit.com.

Robert Reber

Senior Engineer Client and Unified Engineering, Technical Service Manager - Microsoft Office at Air Products

9y

Excellent post Anwar. It seems to me the best ideas are the ones a person brings into a new position. Often times, as in academia, you develop the ability to transfer ideas from one domain to another, and it is this cross domain pollination if you will that sparks the truly imaginative solutions or ideas. The misguidance as the article speaks to shows a form of one dimensional thinking that I hope recruiters and hiring managers will begin to see, and of course overcome.

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Great article - It's always a challenge explaining to potential applicants of the MSc(Mgt) Program the benefits of quality research skills in the corporate world,and the value an advanced degree in management.

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Richard Russo

President/CEO at Endomedix, Inc.

9y

After reading this post and many of the comments, I am reminded that many people who don't work in the "main street economy", especially academic, government and public sector personnel, are so inexperienced or uniformed about the realities of the business world that these "outsiders" focus on the shortcomings or lack of understanding of the business or corporate "types"as opposed to understanding their world. Most employers look for people who can produce concrete results, not analysis or commentary, in the short run. They value people who have proven by their past experience that they can produce as opposed to valuing people who might produce in the future, especially if the latter are afflicted by a focus on rationales as opposed to a bias for making things happen and obtaining results. They respect advanced degrees, but have learned that extra years in a university doesn't translate into superior or even adequate performance. Hence the dictum: those that can, do; those that can't, teach. This point is can be well illustrated by the academic disdain shared by many people with advanced degrees for "sales people". The fact is, the most difficult task that companies have is to generate profitable revenue. Hence, companies value product developers, marketers and sales people. A good sales person in most industries is routinely recognized as more valuable than a PhD in HR or finance. In fact, in many companies (not in the S&P 500, but in smaller though still very large companies), the top sales people earn more than company president. The fact that people with advanced degrees think themselves some how superior to those people who bring in the revenue speaks volumes - in several languages - about the distance between those with academic degrees, inside and outside the academy and similar haunts and what employers very often are looking for. It's useful to understand the world that you are trying to join.

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Cyrille Précetti

Directeur Normaclass-Machine Vision for abattoirs part of Scott Automation

9y

There always were doubts of PhDs being overspecialized and out-of-touch with reality. In fact : -PhDs usually have dozens of conference papers experience, and have learned to produce clear, concise, sometimes entertaining, presentations of arcane topics and usually on tight schedule -PhDs taught themselves techniques for advancing research, providing a lifelong eagerness to learn techniques, software, tools, often cross-disciplinary and continue doing it for life (yes it is addictive to learn) Education through research is a real success, fostering creative individuals who are valuable to companies and Society as a whole

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