Some of my bosses and managers are pushing my supervisor into getting a master's degree. They are also after me to go back to school, though less insistently. Since I walked in the door three years ago right out of college, my managers have wanted me to get a master's degree. The problem is, they want me to get a degree for the degree's sake.

From what I can tell, the primary reason to get a master's degree is so HR can check off that box next to your name when they are considering promotions and raises. A master's is a filter that HR applies to determine how qualified a person is. Someone with a master's is considered better than someone without a master's.

Except that all the coworkers I've talked to agree that a master's degree doesn't teach you anything you couldn't learn quicker and cheaper on the job. Nobody actually expects me to be a better engineer or manager when I'm done with the degree. It's possible I could be, but I expect it would be a better use of my time to actually go do engineering rather than watch a lecture online explaining how to do it. Especially under an experienced engineer.

This brings up an interesting question. Do the senior managers actually want me to get a master's degree, or are they telling me to get one so it's easier to work me through HR? They've all said it's a good idea, but the only reason I ever got was that it would help me in the long run. Nothing about actually learning how to do a thing. In fact the company offers training and mentoring programs for learning how to do stuff.

I wonder if I would get in trouble if I just asked straight out if I'm supposed to learn something or if it's only to help me deal with HR. I wonder if I would get an honest answer.