Double Master’s or Ph.D.? 3 Questions to Help you Choose Your Career Path
Double Master’s or P.h.D.? – the question looms over you and you cannot come to a solid decision. This postgraduate choice might just be the most important you have made in your life, and you just do not know. Truth be told, a lot of decisions about your higher education comes down to two things – your career goals and your vantage point, each determining the other. Allow us to help you out by tackling this with a series of questions.
Question to Ask Before Making the Choice Between a Second Master’s and Ph.D.:
1. What Do You Seek: Breadth or Depth of Knowledge?
The most common answer to this question would be “a good balance of both”. However, in this situation, this golden mean is not exactly the correct notion to tackle your dilemma. A breadth of knowledge means that you know things that spread over a large area but are only aware of some basic surface knowledge. This is to say that, you will essentially know a little bit of everything but will not have specialized knowledge in one area fully. A depth of knowledge, on the other hand, would mean that you are fantastically capable and possess undebatable knowledge in one field, but not so much or at all in others.
While tackling this question from the point of view of getting a second Master’s or Ph.D. program, one must understand that having a Master’s degree de facto means that you have a deep understanding of the subject. A Ph.D. would mean that you are adding to the existing body of knowledge of that particular field. As constructive as the depth of knowledge might be in attaining that Doctorate, it is still upheld as the highest form of expertise achievable in a given subject.
Thus, from a personal viewpoint, a Master’s degree would be apt for those looking to broaden their scope of knowledge to two different areas, but a Ph.D. would be apt for those looking to specialize and gain expertise in one particular field.
2. What Are Your Career Goals?
This is arguably the most important question you need to answer while looking to arrive at a resolution for this particular dilemma. Are you looking to work on the field, in an organization? Or are you looking to pursue research and a career as an academic?
A Ph.D. degree would typically allow you to pursue a line of work in the education and research sectors, whilst teaching any or all levels of classes. On the other hand, double masters would mean that you are more suited for teaching classes lower than the postgraduate level or that you are fit for organizational roles. Do not get us wrong – a Ph.D. would still make you eligible for such roles, but the more readily available roles will be the ones that require skill rungs lower than yours.
Thus, at the end of the day, each option is different based on your career choices.
3. What Are Your Motivations Behind Getting Another Degree?
Are you getting a second masters to boost your employability or out of interest in a different field? As striking as it may seem, the latter might just be the more valid of the two motivations. Your employability, at the end of the day, boils down to your work experience and proven on-field expertise in a given area.
Having highlighted these, the best we leave you with is what you deem suitable for your life, career, and other long-term goals, responsibilities, commitments, and sensibilities. If a second Master’s takes you where you wish to be, so be it. If it is the Ph.D. that does it instead, go for that. Good luck to you!
