M. Tech or MBA: What’s best for Engineering Graduates?

A student who has completed his/her B. Tech and wants to pursue higher education, always confront the most common dilemma faced by the engineering students of our country: Whether they should go for Masters in Business Administration (MBA) or Masters in Technology (M. Tech)?

Engineering Graduates

Engineering Graduates
Engineering Graduates

While an MBA prepares a student for generalist roles and opens avenues in non-technical industries for students, an M. Tech qualification offers students plush jobs and freedom to take their passion for technology to the next level. Both MBA and M. tech can be pursued from several education modes such as full-time M. tech, Part-Time M. Tech, Executive MBA, or Correspondence MBA.

The factors such as financial level, academic performance, and time devoted to the education by the student can be very influential in choosing the modes of education for the degree course they have opted. For example, an unemployed, rich student having a mediocre academic performance but wants to excel in a particular technical field can go for a Full-Time regular M. tech from colleges like SRM University or AMITY University.

While an employed, middle-class student with an average academic performance who wants to widen his/her career opportunities can go for an MBA through Distance education in LPU or any other university.

Current Scenario

While both career options are stable and rewarding, current trends indicate that students prefer MBA over M. Tech. A study conducted by Times of India (TOI) with the help of Randstad, analyzed the CVs of CEOs in India to understand the educational paths taken by them. Statistics show that:

  • 45% of the CEOs completed their graduation in Engineering.
  • Out of this 45%, 78% further pursued post-graduation.
  • Interestingly, out of all these people who went for post-graduation, 64% opted for an MBA degree.

The study also found that 69% of CEOs leading a family-run company went for post-graduation, out of which, 83% opted for MBA.

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M. Tech (Advantages and Disadvantages)

  1. Tech is the most probable career option after B. Tech, still, students go for MBA and many educationists believe it to be a deviation from the engineering path.

Advantages

  • Tech is a better choice for students who want to excel in the subject and want to gain more understanding of their field.
  • Tech is actually a specialization course for students who want to improve their technical skills. M. Tech education gives students the vantage of in-depth technical knowledge over their MBA counterparts.
  • Although MBA job positions are very attractive and alluring, a Chief Technical Officer plays an important part in almost all decisions taken by a company.
  • Tech degree also opens the opportunity to pursue a doctorate degree. A Ph.D. can provide students the apex positions of research institutes and colleges. These job positions have a good pay scale and also help the students to earn a great deal of respect in society.

Disadvantages

  • Tech degree has a limiting scope in our country than that of MBA.
  • Unlike MBA graduates, M. Tech graduates do not have knowledge of several aspects of business management such as finance, human resource management, marketing etc. Thus, it hinders their growth in the corporate structure.
  • Tech is more difficult and requires more hard work in academics. There are very few good colleges in India that offer M. Tech and getting admission into these colleges is very difficult.

MBA (Advantages and Disadvantages)

The difficulty level and rigor associated with an M. Tech degree also adds to the popularity of MBA in the student community.

Advantages

  • MBA programs enable students to handle various situations related to business and this skill is in great demand in the corporate market. MBA completes one’s education by supplementing a technical graduate with management knowledge.
  • It increases the career opportunities for students by making them suitable for multiple sectors of employment.
  • MBA also equips students with leadership qualities and teamwork strategies which aids them in rising up in the corporate ladder.
  • Generally, MBA graduates have a better pay scale than other postgraduates and they also start from the middle management level and hence have an advantage right from the beginning.

Disadvantages

  • As an MBA student skips the chance of learning core competencies, he/she might never be involved with the actual designing of the product and might only be responsible for the overall project.
  • Because of high competition in MBA career, multitudes of fresh MBA graduates are released in the market looking for the best jobs and only a few of them get the desired jobs and the rest are left behind looking for the next opportunity.
  • The same level of competition exists during the admission in the business schools and only the graduates from colleges like IIM and XLRI get good placement.
  • MBA is also expensive. If a student can’t get the desired job role, it might take years to settle the academic expenses.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both degrees have their fair share of merits and limitations. It all depends on the choice and future prospect of the candidate. With the recent trend in the management sector, MBA has become a hot career option and competition for grabbing a seat in top MBA College has also become demanding. Over the last few years, the fee for MBA programs has skyrocketed with IIM’s charging as high as Rs 23 lakhs.

On the other hand, M.Tech is also a tough shell to get into. All renowned institutes require the candidate a descent GATE scores, which is considered as one of the toughest postgraduate entrance tests in India. For 2018, over 7,30,000 aspirants appeared for the exam. The fee for the M.tech program is comparatively low as compared to MBA programs.

Though, one should note that the scope and career growth depends on the skills and expertise of the candidate and not the degree. Both the courses are equally tiring as well as rewarding.

Having discussed the individual merits and demerits of M tech and MBA, The following conclusion has been drawn:

  • If a student likes the subject and wants to specialize in the particular field, he/she should go for M. Tech.
  • If a student wants to generalize and widen his/her career scope, MBA is the choice for them.