Torn between passion and utility

I am really not sure what to do next.

On the one hand, I would like to earn an MBA. I'm a business professional. An MBA would "check off the boxes" for me educationally at work. That's about it. I've already taught as an adjunct at two community colleges this past summer with my M.S., so I'm not really seeing much advantage beyond that.

I would also like an MA in some "softer" discipline. Maybe an MALS. Maybe something really funky like an MA in Spirituality. I have no economic reason to want this. I could argue that such a degree may give me an "edge" if I wanted to work at a variety of places (like faith based non-profits with my MA in Spirituality) but I cannot imagine I'm going to do anything other than HR at this point in my life.

My next degree will likely be my last. I have a busy personal life. Though I would love to get a doctorate some day, I cannot imagine it happening in the foreseeable future. So I have to choose wisely.

Ultimately, I need to do what is best for me and my family. But I'm curious if anyone has any musings or insights on the subject. I don't want a boxed solution, I would just like to start a civil discussion with others who are (or were) in the same boat.

 

In my own life I have chosen utility over passion. The reasoning for this is simple. I have no one to take care of me but me. My security is based solely on my own decisions and efforts. I had to feel secure, that I could pay the bills, have insurance, etc. and that this was not something that was likely to evaporate someday. Once that is achieved, those "soft" degrees can be considered but only then. It's a luxury item. If your car is falling apart and can't reliably take you back and forth to work it would be foolish to go out and buy a boat. Luxury item. Now maybe in your situation that MBA is not really necessary either, I don't know, but it seems more relevant to your job than the other degree so maybe it will make your position and your future more secure. That's where I would go in your position. Besides, MBAs don't take forever and some of them are pretty cheap. This is important to consider since it seems like your primary interest in that degree is to "check the box." Secure your career now and save the soft stuff for later. IMHO.

 

Thanks for that!

One thing I have considered is a sort of middle ground. For example, I see Franklin University has an MS in Business Psychology. I suppose I look at a program like that and say "Hey, that might not be a bad idea, especially if I want to make a move one day to Organizational Training and Development." Then again, I would probably do just as well with either an MS in Industrial Psychology or even an MBA in HR. So I think a compromise option might not be a terrible idea, but I haven't seen anything that really intrigues me enough.

In the short term, I'm likely going to get up off my butt and get my PMP and my SPHR. Those two credentials would likely do much more for my career than an MBA, at least at this stage.

I've also really considered that I want my MBA to be from as respectable an institution as possible. I realize every school on the block has an MBA program now, but if I do get an MBA, I don't want it to be a quickie, cheap as possible MBA. I want as much as my employer will pay for and I can reasonably complete.

 

This is an intriguing thread.

I chose utility over passion, but there will always be a part of me that regrets it. Maybe that's partly why I'm now working on a creative writing MFA. And I hope to get it by the time I retire and before I die.

 

I feel as though many people choose utility over passion and not just when it comes to selecting a graduate program.

I've been in this boat for years and I'm not sure how to get out of it. There's nothing like comfort and security to ever so slightly dull that fire in your belly. First world problem, I suppose!

Anyway, I don't have any good answers for you, but just know that you're not alone.

 

Well, I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that this question is not going to be answered easily. I suspect that once I choose my next move I may even regret that path down the road.

I have always chosen utility. I originally set out as an English Lit major when I earned my A.A. After that, I needed a B.S. for work so I got a B.S. in Business Admin. I wanted to be able to check off the "MBA/MS" box for work, so I earned an M.S.

I have always gone the way of utility. And yet, I have friends who earned the liberal arts degree and have a neat thing going for themselves.

I would like to get to a point in my career when the wife's career is winding down, the kids are off to college and I can maybe get a gig teaching at a community college as my primary job. Call it semi-retirement, if you will. And I suppose I imagine myself with my M.A. in History teaching about Roman battles (my passion) but realize that my career and academic credentials could easily point to me teaching in that very same school but in the business department.

So I'm really not sure which path I want to tackle. Part of the problem is I've given a lot less thought to where I intend to head. I'm a bit more of a "go with the flow" type of guy (in contrast to when I was a recently discharged veteran with no degree, a crappy job and a car with a busted radiator). Things have stabilized quite well. I'm comfortable. I'm at a nice spot on Maslow's Hierarchy. So it's an open question. I'm not sure there IS a right answer. And, perhaps, no matter my path I will wonder what would happen if I had taken the other path. Maybe that's OK too.

 

I think someone wrote a poem about that once.:sly:

 

I empathize with your situation. When I first began my studies, years ago, it was in a filed that appealed to my passion. Somewhere along the way I decided to be more practical and went for utility. I ended up earning 3 degrees for utility, telling myself each time that I would return to my passion someday. Today, finally, I am returning to my passion. I don't regret going the "utility route," but it takes a lot of patience. If you have the means to chase your passion, do it. If not, chase utility and either postpone passion or, alternatively, find an outlet to satisfy your passion.

 

It looks like you have the utility portion taken care of. I like the idea of now going for the industry specific credentials as you already have the degrees, now get the niche credential that will open up the specific doors.

On the passion side of things, why not? Why not mix the best of both worlds that can be loosely translated into your professional goals? You clearly have the tick-in-the-box, why not do something for yourself (next degree or certificate) and just grab a few industry specific credentials for career advancement.

 

I was torn too. However, I'm single and close to retirement, so utility won. I'm doing my MBA to stay competitive for the next 6 years.

If I had had other options, I would have done a fun and/or creative MA - writing, fine arts, forensic psychology, etc.

My thought is that I can take some fun/creative/interesting stuff after I retire.

 

Just out of curiosity, how do you like the MBA program at Patten? I gave New Charter University (same company) a try once and found the platform to be buggy and the instructors completely unfamiliar with the topics. I'm assuming Patten has its act together a bit better and it being RA is a big plus.

But I'm curious as to how you find the program.

 

I don't want to sound cavalier about this, but in your situation, I wouldn't reject the notion of a doctorate at this point.

There is a huge range in the amount of time and effort required for a Master's (8 or 9 months to 3 or 4 years), and for a Doctorate (two years of courses and one year for dissertation is the low end, but not all that uncommon.

If you knew, for instance, that a Masters would require 2,000 hours of clock time (whether full or part time), and a Doctorate would require 3,000 hours of clock time, might it at least be worth thinking about an extra hour a day for 3 years, or an extra 3 hours a day for 1 year, to be Dr. Neuhaus versus Mr. Neuhaus?

 

Instead of "Torn between passion and utility", how about this dilemma?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s6XrvfhMVg

 

I think you raise a valid point. It is indeed something I have toyed with the notion of. I backed off of the doctorate for a few reasons:

1. I don't really need a doctorate. By that I mean having a Masters versus a Doctorate wouldn't impede me in any way. I wouldn't really be sacrificing anything besides the title. I teach now with my current Masters (NA). I enjoy it. And I might teach more as time allows. But I'm not really gunning to be a professor.

2. The doctorate tips the scale a bit in favor of utility (thus negating the purpose of this friendly discussion). If I'm going to try to work my butt off for the next few years for the top academic credential I should probably make myself an expert in my field rather than trying to break into say, horticulture, at this point in my life. I feel (and I may be alone in this) that many professionals have masters degrees they "don't use" in their professional life. Our department's administrative assistant has an M.S. in Nutrition, for example. You can kind of work it into your regular duties (for example, she took on the secondary duty of publishing the company's health newsletter). But if the HR guy has a Ph.D. in say, enology (that he didn't have prior to taking his job) I wonder if my "passion" degree might actually harm all of the utility I built up over the years.

3. In weighing the two, I was not so charitable in assuming only one year for dissertation as you were.

4. Doctorates are crazy expensive and honestly, I find that a bit insulting (more on that in a sec). If I earn an MA in History from American Public University, I'm only on the hook for $11,000. I can pay as I go and not destroy my chances at retirement in the process. If I want to pursue the Doctor of Management at Colorado Technical University, I have to foot a nearly $60,000 bill. Say what you will about my present educational credentials, but I am debt free and employed. If I went to a local B&M University, let's say I went crazy and somehow got accepted to Cornell which is about an hour and a half south of me, my tuition would be $29,500 per year and I could arguably get an assistantship to bring my costs down.

Oh yeah, and I would have a Ph.D. from Cornell in Management instead of a D.M. from Colorado Technical University.

But even without comparing the cost of some of these online DBAs and Ph.D.s, you have to admit, it's a whole lot of money. If I were really that set on a doctorate, I imagine I could pursue a Ph.D. by publication and not destroy my finances in the process.

5. The effort - this degree will, at best, provide marginal benefit to my career. So what are the odds that I will pursue it with the type of zeal that would pretty much ensure I didn't just drop out? With 10-12 classes, there is light at the end of the tunnel from the time you begin. I can picture myself becoming forlorn a quarter of the way into a doctorate and feeling no great loss in letting it go.

None of this means that the doctorate is completely off the table but these were the reasons I, at least for the purposes of this discussion, set the notion of a doctorate aside.

 

I just started, but I'll let you know more down the road.

 

I'm a pretty simple person. If you can pay cash = passion. If you're borrowing the money = utility. Easy.