For women that have pursued a Masters degree, how was is it?

Taught me to manage my time better as I was working while studying. The life skills I got from the experience are definitely worth it

Bunch of imposter syndrome but it gets better. Definitely worth it for my field – career growth and finance wise.

I don’t really disclose it or mention it except in my resume. People less educated get promoted over me so I don’t think it did much. But I swapped degrees (science to accounting) so I needed it to do my qualifications.

Lots of people I know have masters so it’s not the hardest thing to do (depending on the field). Was tough at the time to work and study, now it’s just around.

I have two master’s degrees, and currently am not sure what it’s gotten me besides prolonged time in academia. I’m about to finish up a PhD and am worried I won’t get a job because I’m too qualified, which I didn’t even realize was a thing until I got rejected for loads of jobs two degrees ago. I am hoping in the long run it’ll help me to have all these letters after my name, but currently the main benefit has been social connections and getting to live and travel around the world as part of my studies.

I’m an RN who has almost completed a Master of Mental Health Nursing. It has been absolutely worth it for me. I started because I love what I do and just wanted to learn more. I have genuinely enjoyed the coursework and haven’t found it stressful or the content difficult because I’m so interested and also have a pretty solid knowledge base because I’ve worked in mental health for almost ten years. I’m doing it online, one unit at a time, as I’m working full time. Besides wanting to do it for personal reasons, every one of my managers (we’ve had 4 or 5 over the last 2 years) has been very interested when they find out and I think it will definitely look attractive on my resume when I choose to move on. 🙂

I have an MBA!

To me, it’s a little bit of a double-edged sword. Professionally, it’s certainly given me a slight leg up in terms of career progression, which is the exact reason I got it. But, I’m not in the role I’m in solely because of that but moreso the merits and what I accomplished in my past roles as a whole.

In terms of the knowledge I gained from business school, I’ll honestly say it really hasn’t been that helpful and applicable to real world experience. I learned a hell of a lot more from my professional day job and internships from actually working in the business world than I did from actual coursework and lecture. I’d say only maybe 10% of what I learned I actually applies or helps me in my day to day stuff.

In terms of the actual schoolwork and the program itself, I did an “Executive MBA” program at a pretty large SEC school so my program was tailored specifically towards those who worked full time and was a hybrid program so it may be a little different from just brick and mortar or all online.

Coursework wise, it was certainly more challenging than undergrad, but not excruciatingly difficult. A lot of the early courses essentially spent the first part of the semester re-covering 100 and 200 level undergrad courses and just diving a little deeper into those and the higher level classes.

The thing I’ll say I disliked the most and may have just been my experience is the people in my classes (often many of the same people) is that there’s a lot less camaraderie and everyone was so damn competitive. Like honestly I was there to get a degree where a lot of people were really competitive with each other about class ranking, their careers, discussions, etc. So I didn’t really have like a circle of friends or study groups or everything and pretty much just everyone on their own.

If I had to go back and decide to do it again, I don’t know if I would. It’s a great resume booster, but it’s not going to just automatically move you up from an entry level file to a VP position off the bat just because you have it. I also had a scholarship and could afford to pay each semester in cash so no way I’d take out big loans to do that either.

I’d say, if you have a definitive path you want to follow (IE law school, get a PHD and teach, etc) or you want to progress professionally in a field and have a roadmap you want to follow then great! But I don’t think I’d recommend it just in an “ehh, why not” way unless you’re just passionate about what you’re learning.

I went from making $50k to $150k – I knew I wanted a WFH, six figure role, and researched jobs that were in demand. I went to school during the evenings and worked my day job for 2 years. 100% worth it.

I got a Masters in Special Education to be a teacher, as my bachelors was not a teaching degree. Obviously it allowed me to pursue my career.
That being said, it was ridiculously easy. Lots of busy work, and did not really prepare me for the classroom. I was hugely disappointed in the content.

Uneventful. Gave me serious burnout and I don’t even work in my field now.

I enjoyed mine, it was in organic farming and I have worked in that area ever since ( over 20 years)