Masters in Engineering or Management?

I graduated in Electronic Engineering in 2005 , then started work as Broadcasting Engineer in a Radio Station , performed there operation and maintenance duties for one year , then switched to another contracting company abroad , where I was appointed as Instruments and Control Engineer in their Head office , My main responsibilities were material proposals , material approvals and the documentations.
Then I was assigned work of Cost Control Engineer to calculate profit share of our newly opened department for Mechanical and Electrical works.
I had some financial problems so I could not deny , however I successfully completed that project in one year and calculated the profit share of our department since its Establishment of 8 years.
I thought that time and now also , that I have been distracted badly from my field , Also I have strong enthusiasm for higher education , that is why I want to go for masters studies , but , what hesitates me is that , that I have Cost control experience and have worked at head office of my recent employer on the other hand I think I should be stuck with my own field i.e Engineering and should get specialization in it , in this regards I am looking for expert consultation at yahoo answers that should I go for Postgraduate studies in Engineering or Management?

I am actually on the same boat. I graduated back in 2004, working in the Maintenance & Reliability Management field. I have been looking for higher education lately, seeking for something that helps my career, and what I found is that unless you want to advance your focus to high level ‘stuff’, otherwise, pursuing a Master Degree in Engineering probably wouldn’t help. Companies look for Engineers to solve their practical problems, so high level things might not help. Unless you need to get chartered (i.e. Britain, Hong Kong and etc), then you need a Master Degree.

I would say, to advance at an Engineering career, experience is always #1, and 2nd is knowledge, agree? However, to answer your question, which is the part I hate about being an Engineer, is that if you want to advance, you need to gain the aforementioned at the job, so there are no educational shortcuts, unless you want to switch industry / function to work with high level stuff. To get into management, you may need to leave your current career path (i.e from being an Engineer to a Supervisor, Production Manager or even Project Manager), and sometimes all you need is an opportunity.

The perfect example would be Ursula Burns, she is the CEO of Xerox.
Please see attached weblink for information on her career path.

Again, neither Master in Management (assume MBA) OR Master in Engineering would guarantee you a prosperous career, it can be part of the equation but again, experience + knowledge are the keys…..Of course, Hard Work and Due diligence too..

I hope it helps….I am sort of in the same dilemma, I want to pursue an MBA, but is it going to be helpful? I would like to advance or switch career, BUT it’s always a gamble…