Why industry professionals are taking up a Master’s in IT alongside an MBA

The Master’s in IT – information technology, for short – has seen nothing less of a surge in demand. 

In the US, where one-third of the global IT market can be found, the US Bureau of Labour Statistics projects that IT job openings will grow 15% between 2021 and 2031. With an average starting salary of US$78,683, it’s no surprise that even those without a Master’s in IT are drawn to the potential of an occupation in the field.

Certain programmes, such as Murdoch University’s Master’s in IT, even highlight emerging and trending areas like Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Data Science in its curriculum.

For some, a programme like this is a means to pivot their career; for others, it’s an effective way to enhance crucial business and industry knowledge to climb the ladder quickly.

Glen Goh’s work centres heavily on the research industry. With a Master’s in IT, he’s en route to optimising his work by the spades. Source: Kaplan / Murdoch University.

Looking towards the future with a Master’s in IT

In Glen Goh’s case, taking up this programme of study was simply a natural progression. 

Goh’s 15-year work experience centres heavily on the research industry.

Between his Diploma in Mechatronics, which focused on Mechatronics, Robotics, and Automation Engineering, and his Bachelor’s in Engineering, with a focus on Mechatronics, Goh’s early career is summed up simply as: “A technical person doing the actual research.”

Now, however, Goh specialises in project management at Singapore’s National Metrology Centre. He’s also a consultant with the centre’s Digitalisation & Automation Taskforce.

He knew a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) and a Master’s in IT could go hand in hand to help him excel in his role. Luckily enough, Singapore’s Kaplan, together with Australia’s Murdoch University, were offering such a programme. 

“I wanted to do an MBA because I felt like that was the part missing in my career,” says Goh. “I wanted to go beyond the research and operations; I felt that understanding business motivations and the likes was important for me to get a holistic view of what the research business is about.”

Venturing into IT and the vast depths of AI was an equally obvious choice.

“AI seems like a subject matter on its own, but at the same time, it sort of infiltrates into all the different industries,” he says. “So I felt it was important to arm myself with this toolkit and knowledge to apply it to my work.”

Indeed, just as IT currently plays a part in every field, AI will soon follow.

The noise in the echo chamber might imply that AI will replace human capital, but that’s hardly the case.

“I explained this to my older superior, likening AI to what it was like during the industrial age when machines were introduced,” says Goh. “There will always be a need for one person to press the button – so we need to be that person.”

One way to be that person is to be well-educated in what AI is bringing to the table, and there’s no better approach than to face it with a Master’s in IT.

“I feel that AI, in essence, requires context,” says Goh. “It’s like using the computer with your content, knowledge, and experience, and adding AI as a layer on top of it to bring you a bit further.”

Klaire Quiming was initially going for just an MBA, but opted for a double master’s instead when she realised that it aligned better with her career goals. Source: Kaplan / Murdoch University.

How a postgraduate degree can supplement your career

Like Goh, Klaire Quiming enrolled in Murdoch University’s MBA and Master’s in IT programme.

Quiming’s career has always revolved strongly in IT in the education sector. Her postgraduate degree, therefore, simply “made sense.”

But, in Quiming’s words, “It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in – there’s always going to be a business aspect of things, so the MBA and Master’s in IT can kind of support each other.”

The best news? Most of what you learn from these comprehensive programmes can be applied almost immediately.

“A lot of people think that you’ll only be learning about the theories that are never really applied in industry, but I can say that I’ve been in projects where what I learned was indeed applied to real-life situations,” says Quiming.

From implementing a university-wide project for the National University of Singapore to working on a customer relationship management project with Salesforce, Quiming could bridge her expertise as a business leader and her knowledge of the IT industry on the spot.

So, it suffices to say that enrolling into this double major has been a fantastic return on investment on Quiming’s part.

“You’ll be better off than someone who doesn’t know any of it or doesn’t have the experience from the work,” she says. “Even if what you learn is just theory, you can still be supported and supplemented in your work with it.”