A Masters in GIS? is it needed

[ZavierWilliams1906]

I'm looking for some advice from anyone who have either considered or obtained a masters in GIS.

For those who have received their MSGIS, I'm wondering whether you have found your masters of be of great use in your roles and how so? 

For those who decided against a MSGIS degree, did you do any other trainings or preparations that helped you get into your role without a degree?

For those with other industry-specific masters degree, how difficult did you find it to incorporate GIS into the coursework, if at all? 

I'm about 6 years into GIS career and I'm really trying to figure out whether my next course of action should be a masters in GIS, I want to pursue more senior/lead roles in GIS on the technical side.

my current role is a Geospatial Specialist 

[CodyPatterson]

Hey @ZavierWilliams1906 

Your years of experience and desire to jump into a senior role definitely fit well into the realm of someone who I'd imagine would like a Master's degree. I'm in a slightly different side, I'm currently in my Masters for Computer Science, but I'm currently employed as GIS Administrator, so I do the programming and research involved with this position. Computer Science integrates extremely well into GIS, especially with ArcPy, APIs, along with Deep Learning and Machine Learning. My Master's degree has helped tremendously in terms of my understanding of the deeper levels of not only CS but also GIS, a Master's in GIS would double this knowledge surely.

With your desire to pursue positions with higher seniority, I think that a Master's degree would suit very well with your YoE and goals, I've heard Master's degrees even sometimes count for additional YoE, which is even better! If your company sponsors any tuition assistance, I would take that offer up surely.

Cody

[Natdiasc]

As someone who had the same question a few years ago, I’ll tell you what I think now that I’ve completed my master’s. I finished my master’s in oceanography, and it was pretty simple to integrate GIS since oceanography is very broad, and almost all of my analyses were done through GIS. I decided to pursue my master's right after completing my undergraduate degree because, at that point, I hadn’t decided whether I would stay in academia or not. A master's degree gives me a significant edge in this area, and I believe it was worth it.

On the other hand, if I had been sure that I wanted to stay in the technical or private sector, I believe I would have opted for at most a professional master's or a course more focused on the technical side and data management. Not necessarily an academic degree, you know? I hope I’ve helped in some way!

[JeffreyThompson2]

As a counterpoint to what @CodyPatterson is saying many GIS professionals have switched careers at some point and many have no formal education or certification. It is absolutely possible to obtain a senior role without a Master's Degree. At six years work experience, you are well established in your career. I strongly feel it would be a mistake to leave work to go back to school, so if you do peruse a Master's make sure it is one you can do while staying at work. You may find a more focused, less traditional training like ae ESRI certification course would better fit your interests in less time and for less money than a full Master's program. 

[ZavierWilliams1906]

Thank you everyone for your insight! over the last month I've been researching programs and training classes, and I have found my preferred route.