Kids

What We Need To Know If Our Kids Want a Master’s Degree

by Kevyn Gohu
October 22, 2021

For some courses and to increase their value in the job market, some of our kids opted to take a Master’s Degree. But, there’s more to that.

Years ago, having a Master’s Degree wasn’t required to get a good-paying job. Now, a lot of our kids think that a Master’s Degree is the only way to make more money. But not everybody’s cut out or required to take a Master’s Degree. So, if your kids start thinking about pursuing post-graduate, here’s a little story from us to help you and your college kids decide if they should take a Master’s Degree.

Not all courses need a Master’s Degree

As a Psych graduate, it’s mandatory for me to take a Master’s Degree to become a lecturer in my alma mater or to become a licensed psychologist or counselor. But other courses don’t need that. Business Admin may have an MBA but not many business people take it. Some business people don’t even want to get an MBA because they believe it’s a “waste of money and time” when they could be on the road to getting their first million.

So unless one’s planning to enter the academe or pursue community work, post-graduate studies aren’t really a requirement.

It’s not an escape from #FUNemployment

The idea of working may scare some college graduates so, your kids may be trying to pursue a Master’s Degree to dodge it. Last 2014, I spoke to my professor who was a member of the Graduate Studies Admission Committee at that time, and told her about my desire to pursue post-grad right after college. But she told me straight up, “No. Get a job first. Work as anything. A teacher, a tutor, a coach — trust me, you’ll appreciate the lessons more when you have some work experience.”

She was right. After a year of working, I entered post-grad and discovered how my work experiences shaped my understanding of people especially parents and kids which led me to start writing here.

Juggling Work and Studies: A logistical nightmare

As a former part-time Master’s Degree student, juggling your job and school deliverables especially during the pandemic is a logistical nightmare waiting to happen. Regardless of the Master’s Degree being a thesis or non-thesis track, the requirements will pile up. Papers galore, exams, the terrifying comprehensive exam that can get you kicked out of the program if you fail twice, then, the final stretch of thesis — that’s stress people don’t come out from unscathed.

To cope, your kids might even adopt some unhealthy coping mechanisms like getting a large cold brew coffee from Bo’s, CBTL, or Starbucks with 2 extra espresso shots daily or going on a crazed online shopping spree just to prevent themselves from having a mental breakdown.

Interesting people to meet

Your kids must be crazy if they want to take a Master's Degree — Master’s Degree Class For Psych Practicum
Photography by Kim Lim

But pursuing a Master’s Degree isn’t all stressful. There’s fun in meeting new people. Some of my classmates were parents already, pursuing Developmental Psychology like I was. They’d share their stories about being parents to teens, babies, and even show how the theories appeared in real life. The variety of people you’d get to meet in Master’s Degree is a lot more distinct than in college wherein everybody’s your age.

Should your college graduate kids pursue a Master’s Degree?

Although it’s still their choice, we also need to know why our kids want to pursue it. A Master’s Degree doesn’t guarantee a higher salary; trainability and experience do. Besides, the extra tens of thousands spent to get a Master’s Degree may end up being wasted if that’s not what they want to do in life. They may be legal adults but we’re still their parents. Although we can’t impose, we can at least clear the air to help them really decide if they want to take a Master’s Degree or not.