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Reviving a 'Lesser' Degree in the Sciences

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By Chris Woolston

Like advisers everywhere, Charles MacCluer has recruited a few students who just didn't fulfill their promise. He gave them expert guidance and training, but, as he puts it, he couldn't keep them from "getting sucked in by the dark side." His "failures" decided to pursue a Ph.D. when they could have had a perfectly fine master's degree.

Historically, scientists haven't had much respect for the master's degree. "It's always been a consolation prize, an off ramp to a Ph.D.," says MacCluer, a professor of mathematics at Michigan State University. That off ramp often leads to fulfilling careers, but the traditional master's degree in science still doesn't have the prestige of a master's in business, journalism, or architecture. In MacCluer's mind, it's time to buck that tradition.

A New Degree

Michigan State and many other institutions around the country now offer "professional science master's degrees" for people who love science but can't see themselves taking the Ph.D. track. Instead of totally immersing themselves in a narrow field of research, students get a multidisciplinary education that typically includes courses in business and management. Many educators hope the professional science master's will soon become the M.B.A. of the science world, a prestigious degree that can take students to the upper reaches of industry and government.

MacCluer's program in industrial mathematics at Michigan State typifies the new breed of degree. In addition to advanced math courses, students receive training in accounting, business administration, business communication, and management. They also must complete an internship that includes solving real-world problems for local companies.

The students end up well rounded and highly employable, MacCluer says. Recent graduates include an actuarial analyst, a government transportation planner, an information technologist, and a quality-control engineer. According to MacCluer, the starting salary of recent graduates is about $54,000.

Sadly (from his point of view), a few of his students have decided to go on for their Ph.D.'s. These students will most likely end up in academe, not government or industry, and they won't be in a position to hire future graduates, he says.

A Growing Movement

Similar programs have been sprouting up across the country. Sensing a glaring need in science education, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the William M. Keck Foundation have financed the start-up of 67 professional science master's degree programs at 30 universities since 1997. Uncounted other programs have evolved on their own. The degrees cover the whole gamut of science, including biology, biotechnology, chemistry, and physics.

In addition to providing new career options for scientists, the programs are helping meet a vital demand in industry and government, says Sheila Tobias, outreach coordinator for the Sloan Foundation's master's initiative. Very few people near the top of those realms really understand the science and technology that shape our world, she says. Whether in Congress or in corporate boardrooms, a few well-trained biologists or chemists or physicists could make a big difference.

The Sloan Foundation has created a Web site about its professional science master's programs. This summer, the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology, a nonprofit group that is an affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, will launch a Web site to provide a clearinghouse of information on all types of science master's degrees, including the professional science master's. The site will be part of the commission's site.

Successful Graduates

Professional master's programs attract interesting types. Marc Umeno already had a Ph.D. in physics from American University when he enrolled in the entrepreneurial physics master's program at Case Western Reserve University. His Ph.D. training gave him a firm grasp of technology, but it didn't prepare him for the marketplace. "I didn't have the knowledge to go to upper or middle management of any business," he says. "I didn't even know the simple things, like what a patent is good for." The extra schooling paid off: Umeno is now president and a cofounder of NeoMed Technologies, a company that has developed a nuclear-imaging device for diagnosing coronary artery disease.

Feliza Bourguet, one of the first four students to enroll in the master's of science and applied bioscience program at the University of Arizona, took a more conventional approach to her degree. Her undergraduate education left her with two overwhelming feelings: She didn't know what to do with her life, but she didn't want a Ph.D.

At first, her options seemed limited. "Some graduate students recommended applying to a Ph.D. program and then leaving with just a master's, but that seemed like cheating the system," she says. The professional master's program opened a different door. Before she finished her third semester, she landed a job as a biomedical scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. It's an excellent start, she says, but she'd eventually like to take her business, management, and science skills to a biotech company.

Writers and Snake Handlers

The old-fashioned master's degree in the sciences isn't exactly worthless. One of the brightest science-career columnists appearing on this site happens to have a master's degree in biology from Montana State University. Nobody interrupted his algae research with any sort of practical instruction, and he turned out OK.

He may be a freelance writer working out of his basement, but this columnist still has plenty of company. According to the National Science Foundation, more than one million Americans with master's degrees in the sciences are currently gainfully employed. (An additional 17,800 are unemployed and looking for work.) They can be found teaching classes at community colleges, putting together pie charts in government offices, and leading nature walks through state parks. For many, a master's degree turns out be ideal preparation for a labor of love.

Victoria Schneider, proud owner of a master's degree in biology from Villanova University, wrangles alligators at Clyde Peeling's Reptiland in Allenwood, Pa. As the head reptile keeper, she also works with crocodiles, green mambas, rattlesnakes, spitting cobras, and other fun creatures. She feeds them, cleans their cages, and even performs the occasional medical procedure. For her, life with reptiles is far superior to life at the bench. "I don't enjoy using pipettes," she says -- telling words from a person who handles fangs on a daily basis.

For Schneider and many others, two years of graduate education is plenty. Whether scientists spend those two years writing a thesis or honing their business skills, they have a good chance to end up where they want to be -- namely, far away from Ph.D. land.