The Impact of Receiving a Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Management on Graduates’ Professional Lives

This article reports on a study of the outcomes of receiving a specialized master’s degree in nonprofit management as perceived by graduates of three such programs in the United States. A literature search was conducted to identify outcomes that nonprofit management education should provide, and a q...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nonprofit and voluntary sector quarterly 2005-12, Vol.34 (4), p.433-447
Main Author: Fletcher, Kathleen M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic degrees
Education
Graduate studies
Graduates
Higher education
Literature searches
Management
Management training
Masters degrees
Nonprofit making organizations
Nonprofit organizations
Perception
Professional wellbeing
Questionnaires
Receiving
Sociology
Sociology of organizations and enterprises. Bureaucracy and administration
Sociology of work and sociology of organizations
Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article reports on a study of the outcomes of receiving a specialized master’s degree in nonprofit management as perceived by graduates of three such programs in the United States. A literature search was conducted to identify outcomes that nonprofit management education should provide, and a questionnaire based on the literature was developed. The questionnaire was mailed to 645 graduates of three master’s degree programs in nonprofit management; total response rate was 65%. Results indicated an overall positive perception of the outcomes of the program. This was true regardless of the length of time since respondents had graduated and the number of years they had worked in the nonprofit sector. Responses to an open-ended question regarding graduates’ satisfaction with the degree were predominantly positive, but negative comments suggest areas where programs could be improved. The implications of the study’s findings for the field of nonprofit management education are discussed.
ISSN:0899-7640
1552-7395
0899-7640
DOI:10.1177/0899764005279762