Should you choose an MBA or Msc in Management? The central difference is the experience of candidates. MBA is targeted at those who have dipped their toes into the professional world, while a specialized master’s degree – be it an MSc or a MIM (Masters in Management) – is for pre-experience candidates who may have only recently completed an undergraduate degree.

1. What are MBA and MSc?

MBA is for professionals who have few years of managerial work experience because practical aspects and situations are the core of an MBA. MBA is the gold standard in professional business education. The MBA course curriculum exposes the student to a wide range of management disciplines and provides a way of rational thought over management and a career in that specific area. A student can pursue an MBA in any specialized field such as Finance, Human Resource, Marketing, International Business, etc. The first stage of the MBA curriculum is same for all the student which includes mandatory modules and the successive stages are elective where the student can choose any specialization followed by an internship/project in the end.
Masters of Science (MSc.), on the other hand, is a specialized training in a specific discipline. For example, if a student wishes to pursue a career in the financial sector, the MSc. curriculum provides more course work in that area. To pursue an MSc. in a specific field generally the student needs to have a Bachelor’s degree in that same specific field because MSc. is more advanced and is a specialized course in that specific field.  MSc. is ideal for a student who does not have any work experience as it’s a combination of theory and practice and is more academic in nature. Therefore, in all the stages of the MSc. curriculum, the focus would be on a specific discipline thereby making you an expert in one specific field.

2. Textbook vs. peer learning

MBA is more general and focused on peer learning with a greater focus on developing your leadership skills and teamwork. It is common to see group projects and classes being extremely interactive and being held late into the night. While specializations are on offer in the form of electives, there is a clear focus on providing a rounded education which covers everything from human resources, to logistics, to supply chain management, to corporate social responsibility, and especially to soft skills which pertain specifically to the significant challenges of managing human resources, and strategy – taking into account the bigger picture.
MSc, on the other hand, would be solely focused on helping a student to gain the skill sets required to succeed in a specific functional role. In order to develop these, the focus would be slightly more academic and theoretical, with a textbook and professor-led approach. Thus, it would be more textbook oriented.

Hi Neha Verma,

Thanks for A2A

MSc and MBA are two very different fields and it is practically difficult to compare them.

• MSc is Masters in SCience. It gives you exposure to the specific field or technology that you have chosen and you get to woek on the designing and product part of the business. You may be employed as the technical lead, Product lead etc and you shall be dealing with the products technical requirements alone. In this you will be dealing only with the technical domain and people management skills required are low. Your subject amtter expertise is of prime importance.
• MBA gives you a broad exposure in every domain of the business. You shall be at a manegerial level where you take important business decisions. The decisions you take as an MBA graduate shall be considering the market scenario and will impact the revenues and costs of your company. The MBA grad also has to interact continuously with the technical guy to understnd what the rpoduct will represent. MBA is more about managing people and taking strategic decisions from the front.

MSc and MBA graduates work hand in hand. MBA grads give market related info and info about changing technologies to the MSc. grads who then design a product to meet the market requirement. Sometimes they create a totally new product also. The MBA graduate and their team then work on building awareness and creating need for the product. They generate sales and finally meet the rpofits and revenues of the company.

Therefore what you want to do depends on how you imagine your future to be.

All the best

Hi Neha !

• As you have added the tag of " Medical Technologists" to your question , I shall answer referring to it .

• A Master of Science degree in Medical Technology is better if you want to pursue jobs in the lines of Medical Technologists .

• You can specialize in areas of chemistry , microbiology or haematology.

• You can work in areas related to health profession such as research , administration, laboratory management etc.

• Some common Medical Technology job types include Medical Writer , Marketing Executive , Production Manager, Medical Coder among many.

• You will be employed in diagnostic labs of clinics , hospitals,research centers etc.

So my advice would be MSc is a better choice as it involves more of subject matter expertise

compared to an MBA which covers generic areas such as Marketing , Operations , Finance etc.

All the best !