Online Engineering Management Bachelor’s Degree
Pursuing an online engineering management bachelor's degree can open up exciting professional opportunities with strong salary and employment potential. While finding the right school and program may seem daunting at first, you can ease the process by considering a range of factors before diving into your degree search. For example, ask yourself the following questions: What industry do you want to work in? What kind of career appeals most to you? What do you ultimately want to do with your degree?
This page explores how to choose an accredited online engineering management bachelor's degree suitable for your unique needs as a learner. It includes advice about career options, skills and knowledge gained, and salary expectations.
What is Engineering Management?
Engineering management combines the technical expertise of engineering with the administrative and management skills of business. Studying engineering management equips you with the skills to lead complex engineering and technical projects.
Professionals with this specialized knowledge and experience can work in different industries and contexts. For instance, they can manage construction workers on a commercial construction, housing, or large infrastructure project; ensuring that it reaches completion safely and within appropriate legal parameters. They can also work as consultants for companies dealing with information technology, machinery, or logistics. Again, this field allows for a range of career possibilities.
Since engineering management is such a broad discipline, a bachelor's in engineering management is one of the most versatile engineering-related degrees you can earn. After earning your bachelor's, you could directly transition to a conventional career in construction or manufacturing, or you could pursue a more unconventional career in a field such as IT and computer services or healthcare.
Online education can make the process easier for working and returning learners. An online engineering management degree offers convenience to working learners through flexible scheduling; you can earn your degree at the school you want to without needing to move and while holding your current position.
What Can I Do with an Online Engineering Management Bachelor's Degree?
You can expect the format and curriculum of an online engineering bachelor's degree to vary according to program or school. Most accredited schools and programs prepare students for the following careers and instill in them the skills below.
Skills and Knowledge Gained
An online engineering management bachelor's degree -- which covers business, basic engineering, and information technology or packaging -- imparts a wide skill set and, therefore, offers you many advantages.
First, you learn about important business skills, such as leadership, organizational behavior, and business communication, all of which allow you to work with large groups of people to complete projects efficiently, on-time, and with reduced issues.
Second, the technical knowledge you gain qualifies you to understand and eliminate potential concerns over projects you may oversee. For instance, in order to guide a construction project from beginning to end, you need to understand the basic engineering principles that apply to this field, which involves coursework in topics such as materials mechanics, civil engineering analysis, and codes and provisions. To this end, you not only know how to communicate with those who report to you, but what to communicate to them about these potentially complex issues.
With this particular degree, consider how to hone your skills for the career that interests you most. For starters, work closely with an advisor to tailor your degree to a certain career path or to arrange to earn your degree while completing an internship. Many online engineering management degrees feature optional concentrations in construction management, data analytics, and packaging, all of which prepare you for a specific industry or career path.
Careers and Salary Potential
Generally speaking, engineering management graduates can expect above-average wages in industries related to business and technical services. The following section explains how an online engineering management degree can apply to a range of industries and careers in terms of your role and responsibilities.
- Manufacturing: An engineering management bachelor's comes in handy in the manufacturing industry, where your job duties expect you to manage the process of manufacturing functions in a factory or other industrial setting safely and efficiently.
- Construction: Many engineering management graduates work in construction, where they supervise projects for commercial businesses, housing, and larger infrastructure projects. They work from a central office but often visit construction sites for inspections and monitoring progress.
- IT/Computer Services: An engineering management bachelor's can come in handy in the IT/computer services industry, where technical knowledge can apply to an administrative role as a programmer or as a technical consultant for a computer services-related company.
- Healthcare/Medical Services: In healthcare and medical services, engineering management majors can work as consultants, helping hospitals plan their technology needs, allocate resources, and train staff to use special technical equipment.
Architectural and Engineering Managers
Annual Median Salary: $140,760
Architectural and engineering managers plan, direct, and manage projects developed by architecture and engineering companies. They create plans for different products and designs and often spend time at building sites monitoring the progress of projects.
Industrial Engineers
Annual Median Salary: $87,040
These engineers work in industrial settings to plan and oversee efficient production processes. A bachelor's in engineering management can supplement another engineering degree or prepare you for a specialized area such as operations management.
Project Engineer
Annual Median Salary: $67,763
Project engineers manage, plan, and direct engineering projects for companies in a range of industries. Strong business communication and leadership skills can help them rise to a directorial role.
Software Engineer
Annual Median Salary: $83,389
Software engineers develop software for a variety of companies. The leadership skills you earn from the business component of this degree can help you communicate effectively with programmers and designers.
Construction Managers
Annual Median Salary: $93,370
Construction managers oversee different infrastructure projects while complying with codes and provisions. They may, for instance, oversee infrastructure construction projects, sometimes visiting building sites to conduct inspections and monitor progress.
Source: BLS/PayScale
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