Is This Why Every Content Creator Is Going Back To School And Getting Their MBA?
Never To Late To Learn...
Now that things have somewhat stabilized in the tech industry and layoffs have cooled and slowed, even though many are rightfully still cautious, more people have started to turn their attention elsewhere. One popular topic of conversation is going back to school. School has always offered a safe haven for some, especially if you are an academically inclined or gifted person.
Many people who graduated college before the pandemic or during the pandemic and have seen lackluster days at their job, or are rightfully worried and burned out from the impact of all these mass layoffs might be looking for a break or a way out of the workforce. School is a popular exit plan because it is a safe and structured environment. It is an environment well known to both Millennials and Gen Z alike.
It provides an environment where you get to sit back and relax and not worry just about studying or learning. You don’t have to be the one in charge or the one responsible for putting out fires. You get to engage in critical thinking in an environment cultivated by someone else. You don’t have to worry as much about impressing your boss or upper management. You can skip worrying about end-of-year promotions and performance reviews. Just show up, study, learn, and take a test or piece of paper.
When looking at it from that vantage point, it is no wonder so many people are finally saying enough is enough to the workplace and saying hello to the classroom. And the popular program of choice is a master's program in business administration, or a little-known thing called the MBA. The pursuit of the MBA has always produced discourse and conversation. Some people look at MBAs as a stepping stone to starting their entrepreneurial career or as a way to level up in their current career. The MBA is also called the professional ‘dicking around’ degree or, to some, a degree that is not serious or a degree that is only good for networking and not much else.
How did this come about?
Well, many people working in business or in a business-related role know someone or have someone in their circle who has an MBA, and some make the most of it, but many don’t. It seemed like the right degree to get if you wanted a management position, but didn’t want to do much work. This led to a souring of the opinion of the degree because it seemed that people with this degree didn’t know much more than the person who was said to be underneath them.
But lately, the degree program and the PR around it have had somewhat of a renaissance. The tide has been changing, and people are starting to look at it with new eyes. This might be fueled by the fact that more programs are trying to become more entrepreneurial in spirit and practice. There is more interest than ever before in fields like advertising and marketing, popular disciplines within business administration. And also, it's a content gold mine. Lately, more content creators on sites like TikTok and Youtubers are a bit different from your traditional influencers, who have this as their entire career. More people who have a traditional 9-to-5 job have turned to content creation and influence as almost a second part-time job or a very involved side hustle.
This seemed like a good deal, especially as they can have stability in their main job and showcase their work online, generating views, sponsorships, and brand deals out of the content they produce. But 9-5 videos aren’t the only popular niche content out there. School content has always had waves of popularity. Some of the first YouTube videos I watched revolved around what’s in my school bag or what I’m going to bring to college. I watched plenty of university videos when I was younger simply because I wanted to know what it was like to be a college student and prepare myself, and also because I wanted to know what it would be like on different campuses.
That college content has morphed into work-week content in my life, which might be morphing back to my week as a graduate student. Now there is already a space online where people showcase themselves while in graduate school, but it hasn't proliferated or taken off yet like other trending video topics or is surely but slowly taking off. With the majority of techtok and work-related content being done by the mid- to late-20s, this particular niche is primed to be the next big thing. And it is a double benefit for people who are looking to pursue this option. For one, the content potential is both endless and elevated.
There are so many video ideas that can come from going to graduate school. For example, you can interview your colleagues and classmates. You can interview professors. You can interview graduating students. You can interview admissions representatives or officers. You can watch a video about what’s in your graduation bag. You can have a video showcasing your weekend as a graduate student. You can have in-depth subject videos about the topics you are studying and have those relate to the channel or brand you are building. If you are feeling extra entrepreneurial, you can showcase videos of you building a startup from scratch while in grad school and showcase the pitfalls, challenges, and opportunities that come with that. And these are just a few ideas that can be iterated on and implemented.
The second reason an MBA might be helpful to a content creator or influencer is that it can actually help you learn about business and how to expand yourself outside of the personal brand you have developed on the internet. Many creators online come to a halt when they realize that they want to expand their brand, or at least turn their personal brand into a longstanding, viable business but do not always have the people or structure to make that happen. They might see school as the way to get that structure that they are missing in their daily lives or as a way to learn things in a conducive environment for them to experiment and play with brand expansion with lower stakes or risks to their identity.
A third reason is because of the networking. Networking is the bread and butter of business school and the main reason that drives a lot of current students to attend. Not only do you get to network with like-minded peers who can offer to help your business or have talents that may not come naturally to you, but it could also lead to a successful partnership in the future. Another pro of networking is having access to professionals and professors who have been in their industries for decades and can help you see things in a new light and with the wisdom that only comes from working and studying together.
With all the pros listed, it may seem like there are no cons. But there are, of course, cons to consider when going back to school, especially one with the intensity of an MBA. The first con is the cost. Creators who have bootstrapped their brands may be shocked at the sticker price of some of these business school programs. Some business programs, such as those at Harvard, MIT, and UCLA, can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Tuition only represents a fraction of the cost. Because you are busy with school, you might have to take a break or change your relationship with work because it can be impossible to work and do school at the same time.
Also, imposter syndrome is real. Creators may experience imposter syndrome as they enter a new space that might seem foreign to them. A lot of their peers in this new setting may be people who have had several years of professional work experience and have worked at Fortune 500 companies, innovative startups, military operations, nonprofits, and more. Plus, grad schools, especially MBA programs, require having high admissions scores, including test scores and GPA, and that can be intimidating, especially if one was historically not good at school.
It might also seem daunting if a creator is using this as a launching pad to build a business, change fields, or even elevate their brand. They might feel like they have a lot of catching up to do in the professional realm. But one thing to note is that grad school does put everyone on an equal playing field of sorts. Everyone has something to offer, and everyone is coming in fresh-eyed, re-entering the space of being in school and learning new material that was not taught to them before. Plus, content creators are in a unique position as well because they can help their classmates elevate their social media presence and bring positive attention to their chosen grad school.
Grad school, ultimately, can be incredibly rewarding- at least in the long run. And learning for the sake of gaining personal fulfillment and knowledge will never go out of style. So bring on the grad school content; we’ll all be watching.