Ed.S. degree for business purposes

What are people's thoughts about the Ed.S. degree,? ACE offers an Ed.S. in Leadership that they say (I've reached out to them) is a general program that applies to all fields. How is an Ed. S. Degree regarded? Anyone ever do that ACE program? Experiences with ACE?

 

Perhaps the thought is - that this particular Ed.S. in leadership would put a candidate in a better position to attain (and function in) a high-level leadership position in business. (The school says the degree is applicable in many fields.) Would it work for someone who aspires to leadership in business? Any thoughts? (I can see how it might.)

 

Just about everything in the degree program would be applicable to management: Navigating organizational change, Ethics issues in Leadership, organizational behavior, human capital management, etc. - all of those are often covered in related degrees at other institutions such as an MA in Organizational Management or Organizational Leadership. I think ACE is simply offering it as an Ed.S. More and more in my own career I see how the "softer" skill sets that are often derided become absolutely imperative as you move into management and leadership roles. There is an old adage that often people don't quit jobs, they quit bosses.

The Ed.S. seems to be seen as a "post masters" program, so it is in many ways a terminal degree. I just didn't know what the wider perception of that particular credential is.

 

I can think of no more irrelevant "degree" than an EdS in the business sector. No one will care unless the business in question is education-related--and so is the job one is pursuing. And I think it's iffy even in that narrow niche.

In general, I don't regard the EdS as a degree. It's just an ABD in disguise--additional coursework beyond the master's. Within the field of education it can have career value, but that's about it. And I don't consider it a degree because it is limited to just one field--education. There isn't a Business Specialist or Psychology Specialist or Physics Specialist. It doesn't present the general connotations across disciplines as do the bachelor's, master's, and doctorate. (Don't get me started on the associate's degree. I've got two of them I don't count them as degrees since the associate's is subsumed by the bachelor's. Perhaps the AAS, maybe, but it has credit transfer difficulties and is even less "degree-like" than the AA or AS.)

But if you think the EdS has value to you in your profession and on your career path, you wouldn't be the first person. And you'd probably be right. But that's a whole of of "iffing" to get there, especially anywhere outside the K-12 world.

 

What some are ignoring is that getting a degree means getting an education AND a credential--a proxy that communicates to others about you. And I think it fails on that mark anywhere outside K-12 education. Are there exceptions? No doubt. But your skepticism is well-founded.

 

It isn't necessarily that the Ed.S. in and of itself would have value so much as a program in leadership interests me, and the material within this program (appears) to have value. Even a second Masters like an MA in Organizational Leadership would cover the same ground, but the price would be about the same in many cases as what ACE is offering for this credential. I just didn't know if an Ed.S. being a post Masters program credential is seen as a higher degree than a second Masters would be or what the perception in general was for the Ed.S.

 

This is largely conjectural on my part I grant you, but I think the typical hiring manager, HR rep, or small business owner wouldn’t know what an EdS is and likely wouldn’t understand the potential value of that degree/of its content/of its recipient’s knowledge to their organization.

And that is not to denigrate them, but why would they? Unless they are trying to hire an instructional designer, school psychologist, or similar where an EdS would be a normal credential, resumes with the EdS aren’t going to pass their desks with any sort of regularity. Most doing hiring aren’t going to know that an MBBS is substantially equivalent to an MD, because they have no reason to know that if they aren’t hiring a doctor or medical researcher. This seems much the same to me.

If they are using resume filtering software, is that credential going to help your resume get reviewed? For the vast majority of businesses and private-sector jobs, you would have no reason to screen for people with an EdS.

I think most people in the public would have an equal (which is to say minimal, if any) understanding of this degree. If the goal is some fancy letters on the business card or letterhead to attract clients, this doesn’t strike me as the degree to pursue.

 

If they don't know... should they not ASK? Then:
(1) The applicant can explain how what they learned relates to the position
(2) The manager/HR rep/owner will have learned something that may prove useful.

 

Right, wrong, or indifferent it is on the applicant to clearly communicate their value to the organization to clear hurdles in the hiring process. Putting a niche intermediate degree/certification/qualification that is largely unknown outside of the education environment, and isn’t universally highly regarded within it, isn’t likely to result in the standout resume that many applicants are looking for. I think the MS would do that more clearly than an Ed.S in many situations.

 

OK. Thanks. I get it.

 

I see specialist degrees as similar to CAGS and other post-master's certificates (e.g
Liberty's executive certificates). The EdS, SpEd, PsyS, and SSP are license-eligible credentials in school psychology.

I don't know how the EdS would be viewed in the business world. They might see it as an educational leadership program.

 

I wouldn't expect that.

HR's job is to screen applicants OUT, not IN. The idea is to prevent a hiring mistake, not to select the best candidate. I wouldn't expect an EdS to contribute to either one.

 

School. My point about the "specialist" not being a degree--outside of the education discipline--remains where I sit on it. And that is central to the question posed by this thread.

 

This is an interesting degree option for me. I am not ready for it right now, but since I do work in education in a non-teaching role, it would be cool to be able to add Ed.S to my name.

 

There are also license-eligible Ed.S programs in clinical mental health counseling. It checks the graduate degree box.

 

I forgot to include one thought. Some Ed.S programs have culminating research or applied projects and some don't. I don't see that the ACE programs have a capstone, but there are many other Ed.S programs with a capstone or equivalent.

 

Exceptions are fine, but the concept of "specialist" as a degree to just about everyone, and it appears (almost?) nowhere outside of education. Every other degree is nearly universal. Even formerly "terminal" master's degrees, like the MBA and MFA, are being supplanted by professional doctorates anymore. But "specialist"? We can run around the edges of this thing all we want. It is NOT a commonly understood degree level. Thus, it is a "degree" in its context and nowhere else.

A degree is a proxy, communicating to others about its holder's qualifications and capabilities. What does "specialist" communicate to the average person who comes across it? Again, not what it actually is, but what it communicates to others.

The "specialist" is no more a degree than is a graduate certificate. Like one of those, it's part of a degree. If it opens some doors or qualifies some people to sit for certification, fine. So does a PMP, but that isn't a degree, either. If I put "EdS" on a resume, almost no one outside the field of education will have any idea what it is. But if I put "MBA" on it, almost everyone will know we're talking about a master's degree.

 

Thanks. Today I learned.