Where do you draw the line on degrees earned?

I know there was a poll asking how many degrees folks had but there was not much discussion on where one “draws the line” so to speak.

Do you believe there is a point in obtaining Masters or Doctorate degrees where it no longer is beneficial?

I figured I’d just create discussion because my wife has surgery soon and I’ll need viewing material for the waiting room. Lol

 

I don't believe there is any benefit in obtaining them after death. I don't think they would be needed much or very useful in the After-world. But I'm an Atheist -- and not a very good one at that. So, what do I know? YMMV. And before then? It's an all-you-can-eat buffet. Load up your plate!

 

By definition, no. But what constitutes "beneficial" is most definitely in the eye of the beholder.

Would doing a third doctorate "benefit" me? The best judge of that would be me.

 

Success and quick recovery to your wife @JoshD !

After completing the requirements for a bachelor of science with a major in psychology, I very nearly also met the requirements for a bachelor of arts with a concentration in communication, including over 150 undergraduate semester hours qualifying me for a second degree.

There's certainly some overlap in the nature and value of the two degrees. They're at the same level and psychology and communication are closely related fields.

But there was enough non-overlap to make the second bachelor's worth the extra work to complete, e.g., a communication capstone. The communication concentration is more closely connected to the humanities, especially to language arts, than is psychology. My communication concentration includes several courses in marketing and public relations, making it defensibly a business-related degree.

 

I'm not sure any degree is beneficial...or not. My brother has no college - he's made more money than I will ever make, has a career, etc. I have colleagues that have no college and are doing the same job I am doing, and getting paid the same. In fact they've been doing it longer and have made far more money in their careers as well. Get a degree...or don't. I feel like there is aa transition somewhere between earning a degree because the degree is valued "out there" and can (perhaps) provide you with opportunities that you might not otherwise have access to, and having a degree because you THINK it has greater value out there. I feel like once you hit about 30, you will have either done something worthwhile to increase your value in the marketplace...or not and that is up to you. The degree(s) might be part of that, but they don't have to be. YMMV.

 

Interesting you say this. At my previous employer, there were folks doing my job without any college degree. When I left and came to my new company, each person doing what I am that I have come into contact with has a Masters of some sort with most being in Economics or Finance. Just an interesting observation I have made.

 

Thank you! After (3) bio kids, (1) we are in process of adopting, and hormonal issues, she has finally decided for a hysterectomy. She is anxious as it is a means to an end (having children) but excited to not deal with all the lady issues she has dealt with.

 

With the eye of the beholder caveat adequately covered, another angle is in discipline.

I know someone with a PhD and an EdD both in education. Lots of overlap in the coursework, not a lot gained by doing essentially the same degree twice.

If someone has a Bachelor's degree in Finance, doing another degree in Economics will probably not give them an edge.

Similarly, a master's in Business Analytics or Data Science will have a lot of overlap so there's no reason to do both.

If your two (or three) degrees are sufficiently distinct you gain value. If they are mostly the same, the value goes down.

 

Liberty pitches their PhD in Advanced Educational Studies as a top-up degree for EdD holders. It's "designed to provide post-EdD graduates with an accelerated path to advanced research studies and a PhD dissertation," they say.

 

It is interesting that in spite of the EdD being considered equivalent to a PhD (although still considered a Professional Doctorate by some) there is a certain inferiority attached to it. Much of which (as with attacks on Jill Biden) isn't based on anything substantive other than people's perceptions and "common knowledge" (easy, not a real doctorate, etc).

Seems Liberty decided to capitalize on that insecurity and offered a step up degree. Get a PhD....you know you want one....be a real doctor.

 

Capitalizing on insecurity, huh? Then Liberty might be a great school to learn marketing. So many things are sold that way!

 

But just think how much more effectively you could engage with world music with a Liberty Online Master of Arts in Ethnomusicology…

 

Mmmm -hmm....

"I've got a master's in rhythm and a minor in soul
And a PhD in the Blues..."

 

Very interesting and it is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). Would seem to be a good niche Masters degree.

 

It depends on an individual career. I had some professors at the Imperial College London Business School found several companies and sold them but still get their share annually. Then they earned their Doctorate degree to become a college professor because what they want teach and research when making money is not an issue. Here is one of them...

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/llewellyn.thomas
https://www.iese.edu/faculty-research/faculty/llewellyn-thomas/

If you have no passion in academia, I think a Doctorate does not really bring any benefits comparing to times and resources.

 

Both are true.

The degrees are equivalent. In fact, they're equal.

Also, the EdD (generally) IS a professional doctorate, not a scholarly one. That does NOT make it inferior, just different.

Scholarly doctorates (typically, but not always, the PhD) advance...scholarship! They typically create or test (or both) theory. (I've done one that tested theory and the other that created it.)

Professional doctorates advance practice.

Both involve an equal amount of research, testing, and writing. (Some professional doctorates allow for a doctoral project instead of a traditional dissertation, but it's hard to nail down exactly what that distinction is.)

There are exceptions to all of this, of course. I've seen PhD programs that are clearly not scholarly, and I've seen plenty of non-PhD doctorates that are scholarly. But these exceptions do not negate the general differences between these two categories of doctorate.

My PhD was much more flexible about being scholarly vs. practice-based, and my DSocSci was strictly (very, very strictly) a scholarly doctorate. Go figure.

 

I recently found lots of politicians in Asian countries obtained doctorates from decent American universities, even from ivy, after they started playing their tricks before people.

 

Sure. The proceeds of their "tricks" made the Ivy degrees affordable. A very tasteful luxury, no? They could have done worse