A Project Management degree teaches students about the main stages of conducting a project and develops their technical and soft skills in order to prepare them to manage a project team, supervise projects and ensure they are completed successfully. Institutions that offer Project Management courses make sure that students have a perfect understanding of the importance of managing quality, setting goals, scheduling and coordinating tasks, team-working and assessing potential investment returns. Therefore, they help students in gaining budgeting, planning, negotiation, communication and conflict resolution skills through their Project Management programs. Students also learn how to control costs, manage all possible risks that might occur as a result of conducting a particular project, deal with contracts and manage/stimulate performance. Throughout a Project Management course, students are familiarized with different strategies that aid the successful management and completion of projects. This degree develops students’ ability to handle and resolve other issues that occur over the course of a project as well.
Project Management courses develop a wide variety of skills, which students could use in different industries and occupations. The possession of multiple professional skills allows them to easily switch careers if they want to pursue opportunities outside the project management field. For example, students studying project management usually acquire very good organizational skills, such as coordinating activities and managing resources, which can be transferred to other occupations easily.
Acquiring the skills that a Project Management degree develops would allow students to take advantage of the increasing need for project managers in the contemporary business world. Project Management is a very competitive field and any additional qualifications, such as a degree or a certificate, increase an individual’s chances of securing a well-paid position as a project manager.
Apart from the promising career prospects, Project Management degrees could offer a lot of flexibility when it comes to academics. There are numerous online opportunities, offered by different Higher Education Institutions globally, to study Project Management. Online courses are suitable for individuals who have already started their professional careers and are unable to dedicate their time and effort to full-time studies. Online courses usually offer the same quality as on-campus courses and provide students with access to online resources to support their studies. However, what sets them apart from regular Project Management courses is the flexibility that students are provided with, which allows them to do the required work whenever and wherever they like.
Project Management is predominantly offered as a Master’s or a PhD degree course and is not so popular at Bachelor’s level.
The duration of a Project Management degree varies depending on the country, mode of study (full-time or part-time) and degree level. Below are listed the approximate durations of Project Management degrees at some of the most popular Higher Education locations:
What I like about the programme I am studying at the University of Huddersfield was that the programme – MSc Project and Operations Management – combines two unique academic programmes with tremendous career prospects together. Most UK universities run Project Management and Operations Management as individual programmes. I also like the blended approach being used for the classes. Lectures are delivered online while workshops and seminars and done on campus. The teachers are all PhD holders and spread across the different cultural backgrounds, thus, giving the university a truly international outlook. The School of Management also has Data Centre and Research Building which are adequately equipped to provide real-world business experience to the students. The school also have Learning Development Modules that provide guidance for the students on how to approach academic writing. I also like the decision to make the library available to the students on 24 hours basis on most days of the week. The only area I think the school needs to improve is the student accommodation. Most international students usually struggle to get accommodation when they arrive for their studies. The student life at the University of Huddersfield is very interesting because there are various social activities and support programmes put in place by the school and the student union. I have already been recommending the school to my friends who are interested in studying Project Management and I’ll continue to do that because I believe the University of Huddersfield is one of the best universities to study in the UK. A look at the distribution of students and lecturers population in the school shows that they are well distributed across the various cultural and racial backgrounds. There is a large population of students from Africa and Asia continents. I believe that with a master’s degree in Project Management and Operations Management from the University of Huddersfield, I have great career prospects ahead of me.
View more