Masters in Leadership

[natshar]

I know WGU has a masters in leadership and other schools do too. What is point of a masters in leadership? What can one do with that degree? Why would someone pursue that degree?

[bjcheung77]

Hahaha, you'll probably get many different answers, it all depends on the person and where they want to go, what their prior education/experience or interests are in... There's no direct answer, for everyone it differs. Now what would help you out in this case is to see which schools you're interested in and see what the Leadership degree is all about.

It'll give you an overview and career outlook on their site (many do at least)... Check out Brandman/WGU and it will tell you brief info on those programs. For me, a MS Leadership degree is for prepping into a NGO/Public/Private sector leadership role... See this thread for example: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...al-is-Ed-D

[dfrecore]

I would say it's for someone who wants to move up into leadership with a company, who needs a check-the-box degree - and doesn't want an MBA.

[natshar]

So I was right in my assumption that Masters in Leadership is a "check box" master degree.

[bjcheung77]

Hmm... If the stars all aligned and the individual just wants to move up into a leadership role, and just wanted a degree in anything and that was the first thing that popped into their head, and also wanted something to check the masters box off - then yeah, it's a check the box degree.

Then there are the others who go for something different - MS in Accounting, CIS, Economics, Finance, Healthcare, Management, Operational Man, Organizational Man, etc, the list goes on. These really shouldn't be *check the box* degrees, it's more of the ones as mentioned who don't really need the MBA and want to specialize in something. They don't want the MBA sticker or can't get it.

A BALS/BSBA is the Bachelors version of a check the box degree, the MALS/MBA for me is also the check the box degree because it's so common, it's just general business administration or management that can be used practically in any business/corporation, and everyone wants it because "it's the go to degree".

Why would someone want a Masters in ABC, XYZ? They want to specialize in that subject and be a better subject matter expert. Since Nat, you're going for a BSBA that's AACSB accredited, you've got the "grounded/well rounded education", the MS in XYZ will be just an add-on or the check the box to help you in whichever field you choose.

For someone who didn't get a BSBA from an AACSB, they would most likely get an MALS or MBA/MS in the same field but will require bridging course to get them up to par. It may not be their first choice of a Masters because of the bridging gap. It depends on the person and how they want to get to their educational goal... they may need that specific degree if they wanted to get into an applied leadership degree.

BTW, Natshar what is your end goal?

[natshar]

Hmm... If the stars all aligned and the individual just wants to move up into a leadership role, and just wanted a degree in anything and that was the first thing that popped into their head, and also wanted something to check the masters box off - then yeah, it's a check the box degree.

Then there are the others who go for something different - MS in Accounting, CIS, Economics, Finance, Healthcare, Management, Operational Man, Organizational Man, etc, the list goes on.  These really shouldn't be *check the box* degrees, it's more of the ones as mentioned who don't really need the MBA and want to specialize in something.  They don't want the MBA sticker or can't get it.

A BALS/BSBA is the Bachelors version of a check the box degree, the MALS/MBA for me is also the check the box degree because it's so common, it's just general business administration or management that can be used practically in any business/corporation, and everyone wants it because "it's the go to degree".

Why would someone want a Masters in ABC, XYZ? They want to specialize in that subject and be a better subject matter expert.  Since Nat, you're going for a BSBA that's AACSB accredited, you've got the "grounded/well rounded education", the MS in XYZ will be just an add-on or the check the box to help you in whichever field you choose.

For someone who didn't get a BSBA from an AACSB, they would most likely get an MALS or MBA/MS in the same field but will require bridging course to get them up to par.  It may not be their first choice of a Masters because of the bridging gap.  It depends on the person and how they want to get to their educational goal... they may need that specific degree if they wanted to get into an applied leadership degree.

BTW, Natshar what is your end goal?

Thanks. 

As you can see my tagline under my name I'm "always curious." I wasn't really asking about myself more just about people I know going for masters right away and wondering what the purpose of leadership masters is. Just something that came up in real life I wanted to ask.

Also, I just realized last week that AACSB is not the same as the accreditation TESU's business school has. The certification are confusing. I didn't realize my school's program was so prestigious until a week ago. Makes sense why they don't accept CLEP, ACE, etc in the actual major part of the degree.

I'm wrapping up my BSBA which is basically done except for a few classes which I'm doing now. No idea what my end goal is especially in light of everything that is going in the world now.

I don't plan on getting a master's degree anytime soon or maybe even at all. But if I did happen to need any masters degree for career advancement or something I'd get a masters in leadership because it seems fast and easy. But I wouldn't do that for no reason.

[ThatBankDude]

I would not say each business school holding AACSB Accreditation is "prestigious." That said, AACSB is more stringent with the business schools they accredit as compared to ACBSP and IACBE, in my opinion.

[dfrecore]

I would not say each business school holding AACSB Accreditation is "prestigious." That said, AACSB is more stringent with the business schools they accredit as compared to ACBSP and IACBE, in my opinion.

I would say that AACSB = gold, ACBSP = silver, and IACBE = bronze, although not having programmatic accreditation is not terrible.  

I agree that AACSB doesn't equate (necessarily) to prestigious.

[videogamesrock]

So I'll chime in because I'm wrapping up my first semester in an MA in Leadership Studies at Marshall University.  I have read many books on leadership throughout the years and have been a small business owner for the past 17 years and now serve on a nonprofit.  Basically a leadership degree is a combination of management/psychology/entrepreneurship but more focused on personal growth.  Lots of the stuff we've covered this semester I have either personally dealt with or have read about in the past and so writing the papers have taken less than two hours out of my week.  Lots of the reading will be from books on leadership that I do find of interest, so the material sticks fairly quickly.  The professor posts case studies and you use the readings and figure out how to tackle the problem within the scenario.

An interesting item, there is a strong conclusion that most of today's workforce lacks leadership skills.  Many workers are incapable of taking charge, making decisions, and stress too much over the little things.  They are often over trained in areas such as diversity, social justice, and inclusion which makes it very difficult to make tough decisions when you are factoring in other peoples feelings.  

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The MPS at Bellevue didn't work out for me, as I couldn't find a single answer in the book we had to read...Not sure if the Prof. forgot to update her books to align with the version the course required.  By that Friday I logged in to drop the course and the program all together.

[Muldoon]

I am considering a Masters in Leadership. I'm still researching of course, and my #1 choice will be to get a Masters in HR, but if I can't find a program I like, I'm leaning towards Leadership as my #2 choice of major. Walden and WGU both offer a program like that. The reason is because I really like business and understanding management decisions, and I work to support managers within HR, and maybe even someday I might be interested in management (leading an HR department or team), but I'm not even remotely interested in the math/finance involved in an MBA. I'm afraid that if I tried for an MBA I would really struggle in those areas, it's been the hardest part of my BSBA so far. The Leadership programs I looked at seem to have less emphasis on that so it ended up on my list of programs to consider.