<p>Is getting a Phd beneficial for someone who plans on working in industry rather than teaching in a university. Is it worth it or is a Masters degree suficient to be successful in the engineering world. what are the benefits and drawbacks of getting a Phd over a Masters in engineering.</p>
<p>In general, no. If you just want to work in industry you won't get a big payoff from all the effort required to get a PhD. But it will open doors to working in research and development in industry. I think a master's can get you a little more (than just a B.S.) and might be worth it.</p>
<p>A PhD is valuable in a sense that it instantly gives you an edge in rainmaking. For consulting that can be valuable. On a whole, I'd say it's not worth it - but it can be lucrative for certain jobs.</p>
<p>How about for a career in Research and Development?</p>
<p>Research and Development jobs are dwindling fast. An increasing amount of R&D work is being outsourced from China, India, Brazil, etc. PhD engineering does not have much pay out.</p>
<p>If you want to do R&D, PhDs are very useful. Undergrad degrees give you the basics, but you need an advanced degree to make innovations. The fundamental understand you get is essential. The previous comment about outsourcing isn't really true. Most outsourcing is done with the lower level jobs. The innovative jobs are still here for the most part.</p>
<p>Thanks McGirt.
(10 char)</p>
<p>The R&D jobs are here...it is the low level manufacuring jobs that are being outsourced. I know many fellow PhD grads that are working in industry, I've never heard of any outsourcing of their type of jobs.</p>
<p>What about working for a year or two and then getting it?</p>
<p>^That's what I'm planning on doing. Maybe more than 2 years though.</p>
<p>OK, here's the thing... If you want to work at a place like JPL or something, a PhD from a good institution would help you get them to notice you. IIRC, you want to design satellites and such, so in your case, it might be a good thing to consider.</p>
<p>As to working for a year or two and then going back to school, that's good, if it's something that you definitely want to pursue... But most people decide that they'd rather just keep working than go back to school once they've entered the work force, so that plan falls through for a LOT of people. It's hard... REALLY hard... to walk away from a delightfully steady paycheck.</p>
<p>That might surprise you, but I believe the overwhelming majority of engineering PhDs actually work in industry (mosty R&D) as opposed to academia. Moreover, average annual earnings for PhDs are higher than the corresponding figures for engineers who have only MS or BS degrees. Nowadays I'd say an MS is a must and a PhD is a plus. If you have what it takes to become a doctor (not everybody has!) and if you want to pursue a life-long career in research (be it in industry or academia), I'd say go for it. Otherwise, there are many other career options out there.</p>
<p>BTW, the figures below are from the 2006 post-graduation survey conducted by Carnegie Mellon University's Career Center. They show respectively the high, low, mean and median annual earnings (in US dollars) for B.S, M.S and Ph.D graduates in Electrical and Computer Engineering. The number in parentheses is the number of graduates who were surveyed (keep in mind the sample is relatively small, so I don't know how statistically significant the means are).</p>
<p>Electrical & Computer Engineering</p>
<p>B.S. (34)</p>
<p>High $80,000</p>
<p>Low $40,000</p>
<p>Mean $61,903</p>
<h2>Median $60,000</h2>
<p>M.S. (52) </p>
<p>High $91,000</p>
<p>Low $55,000</p>
<p>Mean $72,219</p>
<h2>Median $72,000</h2>
<p>Ph.D. (9)</p>
<p>High $120,000</p>
<p>Low $80,000</p>
<p>Mean $92,111</p>
<p>Median $92,000</p>
<p>But how does that gap look 10 years out?</p>
<p>;)</p>