<p>This is for working in industry not academia. What kinds of jobs are available to doctorate holders that aren't available to the rest? How do the salaries of doctorate holders compare to others? Do they have more job security or less than the rest?</p>
<p>At least in the aerospace industry, having a Master's Degree or Doctorate was very common among team leaders and managers. Generally, your standard team members would have only a BS, whereas project leaders/chief engineers would <em>tend</em> to have at least a Master's. At least this is how it generally was at Lockheed Martin.</p>
<p>A doctorate in industry would open doors to high-level management. With directors and Engineering Vice-Presidents of aerospace companies tending to have a Phd. As a special case, an astronautics Phd, however, may have doors open to work for NASA JPL.</p>
<p>It is also notable to add that some non-profit aerospace research firms (i.e. Aerospace Corp.) only hire engineers that have a higher degree (Masters/Phd).</p>
<p>So, in summary, a doctorate degree would open doors to high-level management or special high-tech research positions.</p>
<p>Of course all the above are just overall general trends, and as always there are exceptions and these trends might not necessarily apply outside of the aerospace industry.</p>
<p>With directors and Engineering Vice-Presidents of aerospace companies tending to have a Phd.</p>
<p>A couple of summers ago I was an intern for Boeing Satellite Systems. I had two mentors one had his PHd and the other started working a year before finishing his. My cube happened to be in the cooperate building and was one floor under the execs. I was able to talk to many managers, some directors, and two vps. </p>
<p>I found that many project managers had Phds but 2nd level management and up did not have their PHds. Most of them had their masters in eng or other tech degree. Some of the directors I met didnt even have a BS tech degree, they had a buis,econ,acc, degree with an MBA. But these guys were in charge of the financial side and not operational sides.</p>
<p>A couple of days during my intern I went to another company , The Aerospace Corporation and used some of there tools. Though the place wasnt for me I could tell I was a dream place to be at for people that have intrest in progress the aero/avia industries. Around half the guys that I met had their PHds.</p>
<p>The people that worked here were similar to what I saw at JPL.</p>
<p>doctorate degree would open doors to high-level management or special high-tech research positions.
I diff. agree with you about special high-tech research positions but with regards to high-level management I found that having a Phd was diff not needed. I found and have been told ones leadership performance and ability to get the job/project done while working and using people effectively is what determines if a person will ever make it to high-level management.</p>
<p>What I meant in terms of high-level management was that the "Program Managers/Directors of Engineering" or "VP of Engineering" in your typical engineering company is usually an engineer with at least a Masters for the former and a Phd in the latter. There are surely to be exceptions but I am just telling things from my own experience. For example, the Director (just below the VP) of Engineering at Lockheed Martin in Orlando was a GaTech Aerospace Phd. In either case, someone with a Phd in Aerospace has a much better shot at becoming VP in Engineering than someone with just a BS in it... Just by sheer virtue of his extra qualifications and background. </p>
<p>That said, the non-engineering high-level managerial positions (i.e. VP of Sales, for instance..etc) would probably be taken up by someone with a degree in something other than engineering, say an MBA or maybe a Phd in a business-related field.</p>
<p>In some cases, however, experience may prove to be more valuable than a higher degree. It is possible for some people with impressive experience and background to achieve "Chief Engineer/Director" status eventually with just a BS in AE. </p>
<p>Having military experience, I heard also helps.</p>
<p>I had always imagined doctorate holders would be stuck in R&D positions forever with little chance of going into management but this is interesting. Do these Ph.D. management jobs lean more towards management or engineering?</p>
<p>Also, can you talk about job security? I have heard that R&D teams are the first to go during large cutbacks. True or false? Also, is the salary increase over B.S. holders large enough to ever make up for those years spent earning a doctorate?</p>
<p>From what I have seen military experience does help a great deal, esp during the hardest part, phasing into a managment postion. And also for gaining into the very high end management. Seeing Military officer on a resume is very common among politicians and top businessmen.</p>
<p>Lancer ya i agree with you about everything you said.
An eng degree is the best B_ degree one can get.</p>
<p>"Do these Ph.D. management jobs lean more towards management or engineering?"
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<p>While i was interning one of my mentors was promoted to project mananment postion or first line manager( the lowest level)<br>
He was in his ealry 30's and had been with the company for 3 or 4 years. It was a big accomplishment to be given a managment postion. Pay goes up dramactly with the potentila to keep on being promoted, hours you put in go up and you learn to always have your cell next you since you are now on call every hour of the day.</p>
<p>About cutbacks, managers have better job secuirty than people that work for them. Only get your PHd if your really into research. You dont need a Phd to go into management, know that the largest factor is your performance.</p>
<p>As far as pay there was only difference in pay based on education for no more than the first 5 years. After that its implied that You have job expirence specific to your job that surpast your education.</p>
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I had always imagined doctorate holders would be stuck in R&D positions forever with little chance of going into management but this is interesting.
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<p>Actually, Phds in many engineering fields often have some difficulty getting into real engineering jobs that are actually meant to be taken at the BS (or sometimes MS) level. Many companies are reluctant to hire Phd engineers for these technical engineering positions because they are viewed to be "overqualified", for one. Secondly, Phds are more expensive as they would require a higher salary for the same job. In their view, it is better to hire a BS or MS who can do the same job at a lower cost to the company.</p>
<p>Really, really, high managment jobs are expensive positions to begin with, and a Phd I believe wouldn't be necessarily "overqualified" for those.</p>
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Do these Ph.D. management jobs lean more towards management or engineering?
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<p>The management jobs I've seen definitely lean more towards the management end of things. Instead of focusing on designing and the actual engineering they are more geared towards people management, efficient resource allocation, and heavy paperwork. Directors may be involved in some engineering decisions every now and then although the focus is definitely on managing people.</p>