However, there are a handful of specialties where Master’s compensation is equivalent to – or higher than – MBA compensation. They include: Project Management ($107,800 vs. $92,100) and Supply Chain Management ($108,000 vs. $108,200).
The findings for starting and mid-career salaries from business doctorate degrees were mixed. The highest starting and mid-career salaries from the doctoral space came from Economics at $95,900 and $127,900, with MBAs earning $3,900 more by mid-career than doctorate holders. The only other business-related doctoral program was Business Administration, where degree holders earned $78,600 and $108,000 respectively.
MBAs FIND LITTLE MEANING IN THEIR WORK
Despite earning higher wages – MBAs held 13 of the top 30 mid-career salaries – they weren’t particularly enthused about their work. The highest satisfaction came from MBAs in Health Care Management, where 82% answered “Yes” to whether their work makes the world a better place. That tied for 50th place among all degrees. The next highest? That would be Health Care Administration at 80%. After that, you won’t find an MBA concentration until Human Resources Management (65%) , Business Management and Human Resources Management at (61%), Operations Management (59%), and Project Management (59%).
However, you’ll find several MBA specialties near the bottom of the list, including Marketing and International Business (35%), Information Systems (39%), Economics (43%), Accounting (45%), Supply Chain Management (45%), Information Technology (45%), Marketing and Communications (46%), and Business and Marketing (46%). Strategy – the highest-salaried field – came in at 49%.
Alas, it isn’t just MBAs who are unhappy, as the bottom is also littered with graduates holding business-related master’s degrees, including Taxation (29%), International Business (33%), Accounting (36%), Accounting and Taxation (38%), Business and Marketing (39%), Finance (40%), and Economics (41%). Those numbers were actually lower than those of lawyers (42%), often cited as the unhappiest profession.
That said, these numbers correlate with a recent Gallup survey, which found that professionals with business-related undergraduate degrees are often the most disengaged employees in the workplace
The people who found the most meaning from work held master’s degrees in areas like Communicative Disorders (95%), Pastoral Ministry (95%), Community Health Education (94%), Physical Therapy (93%), and Divinity (92%).
To review the top MBA, and master’s degree salaries by concentration, continue to the next pages.
Don’t Miss: THE MOST LUCRATIVE SEVEN-FIGURE MBA DEGREES ON EARTH
Top 10 Compensation
| Rank | Major | Degree Type | Early Career Salary | Mid-Career Salary | Percentage of High Job Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petroleum Engineering | Master’s Degree | $102,800 | $187,600 | 69% |
| 2 | Nurse Anesthesia | Master’s Degree | $140,900 | $162,800 | 87% |
| 3 | Computer Engineering | Doctorate Degree | $108,100 | $150,000 | NA |
| 4 | Electrical and Computer Engineering | Doctorate Degree | $103,200 | $145,100 | 64% |
| 5 | Strategy | MBA Degree | $92,200 | $145,000 | 49% |
| 6 | Electrical Engineering | Doctorate Degree | $99,100 | $141,400 | 66% |
| 7 | General and Strategic Management | MBA Degree | $81,800 | $140,700 | 58% |
| 8 | Computer Science | Doctorate Degree | $110,800 | $140,600 | 66% |
| 9 | Chemical Engineering | Doctorate Degree | $91,900 | $139,300 | 63% |
| 10 | Juris Doctorate | JD Degree | $66,100 | $139,000 | 42% |
Source: PayScale
Comments or questions about this article? Email us.