Once you have decided to pursue an MBA, there are additional choices you can make to maximize your degree’s functionality. An MBA degree is impressive; however, choosing to pursue an MBA concentration can help you establish unique and thorough business knowledge and give you an edge over your competition.
According to Senior Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies at ÍâÍøÁÔÆæ Dolan, Leanne De Los Santos, “whether the focus is finance, marketing, management, or another area, an MBA concentration equips you with the strategic insight to drive innovation and advance your career.”
What Are MBA Concentrations and Why Do They Matter?
An MBA concentration allows students to designate a field of interest and gain discipline-specific knowledge. Instead of following a general MBA curriculum that offers equal time and focus to every aspect of business, an MBA concentration allows you to choose a specific path and develop expertise in your desired field.
Choosing a concentration will provide focused knowledge and targeted skills for specific industries or roles. These graduate-level programs offer the choice to eliminate information that may be unhelpful to your unique professional interests and goals. Since you may have gained a foundational business knowledge during your undergraduate degree, choosing a concentration will earn you specialized MBA skills that will lend themselves to your career goals.
Overview of Common MBA Specializations
The MBA concentrations offered at different universities will vary; however, below are a few popular choices you might consider.
Finance
A finance concentration is commonly sought after thanks to its foundational teachings and the growing popularity of the finance and investment industries. MBA graduates with a concentration in finance often pursue careers in banking or the stock market, putting their detailed knowledge of the economy to use in a growing field.
The knowledge required to earn an MBA with a concentration in finance translates well to roles that require high earning potential in finance-related professions, including financial analysis, financial management, investment banking, and more.
Marketing
A marketing concentration is popular within MBA programs because of its versatility within several industries. While other concentrations are more limited in the types of jobs and fields in which graduates are prepared, a marketing concentration can translate well to almost any business. MBA students who undertake a concentration in marketing will learn to analyze and anticipate consumer behavior, a skill that is valuable across industries.
The increased reliance on marketing in a business’s overall success makes a marketing concentration invaluable to professionals looking to make themselves indispensable. Graduates will be well-equipped for careers in market research, social media, and more.
Business Analytics
A business analytics concentration is unique in its focus on both business management skills and an understanding of data analysis and modeling. This concentration is popular thanks to its intersectional nature and its ability to prepare graduates for a wide variety of career paths.
In the rapidly growing field of business analytics, seasoned professionals with a background in both data analysis and business decisions are in high demand. MBA graduates with a concentration in business analytics will be well-prepared for careers in business analysis, marketing analysis, data science, and more.
Management
A management concentration strengthens students’ leadership capabilities within the business sector. Instead of focusing on a specific sector of business, this concentration more generally aims to help strengthen the understanding of how to lead and maximize a team’s efficiency. Possible career paths include general management, project management, consulting, or entrepreneurship.
Less Common Concentration, Highly Specialized Skills
The concentrations provided by different institutions vary from program to program. While many will offer more common specializations, such as the ones listed above, there will often be unique options for you to choose from.
Less common options offer you an opportunity to hone your unique skills and interests with a degree that will specifically set you up for success in a specialized field.
Examples of specialized MBA concentrations are truly limitless. Business schools might offer specializations in subjects like human resources, healthcare management, and other more specialized areas that will help students with specific career goals create a career-focused MBA that is applicable to their field. ÍâÍøÁÔÆæ offers Cybersecurity and Economics options, but this will vary from school to school.
Cybersecurity
A is perfect for students with a desire to not only work but also manage in fields that require cybersecurity knowledge. Some schools offer a healthcare administration specialization, which provides students with a direct understanding of how best to conduct business in a healthcare setting, an increasingly sought-after skill. Programs that offer an entrepreneurship concentration will set students up to succeed with the innovation and adaptability required by the creation and management of new businesses.
Economics
An economics concentration equips students with a fundamental understanding of how economic theory translates into business decision-making. Students who pursue an MBA with a concentration in economics will better understand consumer behavior, pricing strategies, and the reasoning behind economic trends. This concentration prepares students for careers in finance, consulting, investing, and more.
Combining Core Business Knowledge with Specialized Skills
While most MBA programs offer students a choice of concentration, some even allow students to further establish their unique skill set through a dual concentration. The choice to pursue a dual concentration can help you focus on specific professional experiences through a highly specialized education. A dual concentration can also diversify your classroom experiences and give you a more nuanced perspective of business.
Sohina Khan chose to pursue a dual MBA concentration in finance and analytics at ÍâÍøÁÔÆæ. Her undergraduate program in India was highly specialized and focused more on her major, computer science, than on more general topics. By combining her dual concentrations with courses from all areas through core curriculum requirements, Khan is confident her degree will help her “grow into a well-rounded and socially responsible leader in the future.”
Khan said that before starting her MBA program, she “had no formal background of basics of finance and accounting,” but the holistic nature of ÍâÍøÁÔÆæ’s program has allowed her to gain fundamental business knowledge that will aid her in the business world, in addition to the specialized knowledge she gained from her concentrations.
Khan says her “overall understanding of the economy, market, organizations, and then to the smallest level of individual projects is much more vivid now.”
Choosing the Best MBA Concentration for You
Deciding which MBA concentration would best suit your professional experience and goals depends on a variety of factors. While it can be helpful to choose an ideal institution and consequently research which concentrations it offers, you might instead choose to pursue a specific concentration.
Different concentrations offer varying opportunities for long-term industry growth, in addition to job security and demand. A more general concentration, such as finance or business analytics, might best suit you if you’re not confined to a single industry, however, a more specific concentration can set you up for success within an existing career.
Maintaining the balance between your skills, your existing career and future aspirations, and the anticipated market demand is important when choosing an MBA concentration. Your decision should be equally based on your personal interests and your expectations for the job market.
Be sure to conduct thorough research and employ thoughtful reflection when considering which concentration will be the best fit. At the end of the day, your MBA concentration will be an asset to you and your career, so it is not a decision to be taken lightly.
