MEM vs. MBA: What Are The Differences?

Associate Director Steve Tilley breaks down what he thinks sets Northwestern's MEM program apart from a traditional MBA experience.

MEM Associate Director Steve Tilley talks about the differences between the MEM program and a traditional MBA.MEM Associate Director Steve Tilley talks about the differences between the MEM program and a traditional MBA.

In 2018, more of the top 100 CEOs around the world have an engineering degree than an MBA. In fact, this is the second consecutive year that the Harvard Business Review, which recently released the statistic, found it more likely that a CEO has an engineering background.

Why would this be?

Jena McGregor, who reported on the story for The Washington Post last month, gave several possible reasons:

  • The number of technology CEOs on the list has expanded as the industry has seen exponential growth in recent years
  • HBR changed its evaluation methods in 2015 in a way that resulted in more European CEOs making the list; European CEOs tend to have more engineering degrees while more U.S.-based CEOs have MBAs

Steve Tilley, the associate director of Northwestern University's Master of Engineering Management (MEM) program, took time to talk about the report and what he thinks differentiates the Northwestern MEM experience from that of a traditional MBA.

What was your reaction to hearing the HBR report that more of the top CEOs in the world have an engineering degree than an MBA?

It makes sense in comparison to the growth of technology-based organizations. I recently saw a separate news article that showed the largest companies in the world based on market capitalization over time. Around the year 2000, oil, healthcare, and financial companies dominated the top 10; however, more recently, technology companies (Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, etc.) have replaced them. This doesn't mean someone with an MBA cannot lead these companies, but I think it will become more common for a technical/engineering degreed individual to be in a leadership role —  a person with that right balance of engineering and business acumen.

What do you think differentiates MEM from a traditional MBA?

One thing we've learned is that our students tend to have a passion for engineering or technology at their core, and they want to stay in that profession or vertical. MEM will allow them to build on that engineering strength and then give a broad horizon of ways to expand on that expertise. We like to think of our students as "T-shaped engineers". We're going to broaden their engineering experience with our management curriculum and strengthen that core.

A lot of times, I think MBA students are looking for a change, or they specifically want a career in consulting, marketing, finance or investment banking. MEM is focused on that technology or engineering area.

How do you think the classroom experience differs?

About 50% of our curriculum is business or management focused and the other 50% is technically focused. Additionally, our students come in with a STEM background, so everyone has either engineering or technical expertise. The case studies our students do, or the topics that are covered in class, always come back to building on that STEM background. So we have an accounting class, but it's Accounting for Engineers. We have a finance class, but it's Finance for Engineers. Our students always keep that engineering mindset. The MBA classroom sometimes features a broader topic or discussion that may not be applicable to the careers of our students.

How do you think a MEM degree helps differentiate someone in the job market?

I recently spoke with an alum who is a recruiter at a top tech company, and he explained that they often have jobs for business people and jobs for technical people. What he loves about the MEM program is that our students are qualified for both sets of jobs. Our students understand the technical world with a business tilt.

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