To get an MBA or an MA in communication?

Communication World, Feb, 1997 by J. David Pincus

In almost any profession these days, a graduate degree has become standard fare. Expected. Like a bachelor's was 25 years ago. Prospering in today's increasingly complex, cross-functional, internationalized work place demands more of an individual than ever before - more skills, more knowledge, more wherewithal, more everything. So which is best for a professional communicator who wants to grow, an MBA or a master's in communication? It comes down to two unavoidably frustrating words - it depends.

On what? Mostly your professional aspirations. But also on your educational and work background, your skills set and your perseverance.

Looking Beyond Today

The MBA or M.A. question can't be answered before addressing several other questions first. One such pivotal question is: What skills and knowledge will you, as a communication professional, need to be successful in the future that you don't have now? (Interpretation: What competencies do you need to boost your credibility?) And closely aligned with that question is this one: Do you see yourself as primarily a business person who's also a communication specialist, or a communication specialist who just happens to work in a business setting? (Interpretation: What role do you want to play in your organization or with clients?)

How you respond to those questions will go a long way toward determining whether an MBA or master's in communication is right for you. In other words, before you can know how to prepare yourself for the future, you have to first figure out what you want to be when you grow up. Simple enough.

Yeah, right.

Communication and business, once viewed as separate and unequal, have become uneasy partners. An odd couple, perhaps, each increasingly dependent on the other. This raises a dilemma pervading the work place and the college campus: Communication people need to become more business savvy and business people need to become more communication savvy. How savvy is savvy enough may be the critical issue. Which, of course, immediately launches another parade of sub-questions about how best to educate communication - and business - folks. One thing's for sure, though. Neither group gets enough information about the other.

MBAers Coming Up Short

Take the business side. Consider a statement that appeared in the October/November 1996 Communication World: "About 98 percent of the MBAs take at least one workshop [in communication] during their time at Stanford."

The words - spoken with unabashed pride - are those of Barbara Kent of Stanford University's management communication program. They appeared in an article by Indiana MBA student John Williams titled "Top Business Schools See Value of Communication Skills," which looked at nine prominent MBA programs' attempts to teach communication to wannabe managers.

The statement raises the hair on the back of my neck. One workshop. One "whole" workshop in a two-year program designed to prepare the next wave of business leaders. That's got to be, what, several hours or maybe a full day's worth of exposure to communication. Plenty, right? It's not the words themselves that rankle me. They are factually correct: More MBA programs today, particularly top-tier programs like Stanford and Dartmouth, are offering something communication-wise. A workshop. A module within a course. Maybe even a full-fledged course.

What fries my mind is the article's tone, its unspoken, misleading and alarming message: What's being taught in MBA programs today, while more than it used to be (something is better than nothing, especially when nothing is the norm), represents ultimate victory. The most we can hope for.

I couldn't disagree more.

As I see it, we're barely halfway up the mountain. Way too early to hoist the flag and sip champagne. The truth is, according to many business employers and research, MBA graduates today are unprepared to enter a work place where the manager's role is fast shifting from order-giver to team-builder. Take, for example, findings from a 1995 U.S. nationwide study (by Donn Silvis, ABC, of California State University, Dominguez Hills; Bob Rayfield, Ph.D., APR; graduate student Mu-Chen Chang of California State University, Fullerton; and me) of 215 MBA programs' use of communication education. It revealed that only half require any type of communication training. As disappointing and disturbing as such results are, the survey, which replicated a similar one we did in 1991, nevertheless represents an improvement over five years earlier when 70 percent said they required no communication training whatsoever of MBA candidates.

On a higher note, our study uncovered the emergence of tangible signs that contemporary MBA administrators and faculty have glimpsed the light of communication and are stirring to its warmth. But it's far more promise than discernible trend at this stage. Yet, there's no denying that today's MBA students tomorrow's CEOs? - are getting more and better communication training than their predecessors did. New realities begin with realistic hope.