An MBA degree is a standard in most positions. Over 50% of the respondents were MBA’s (or had an international equivalent post-graduate degree) and 82% in total have an advanced degree of some sort. It turns out the pay difference is not all that significant. The survey indicates that MBA’s earn a base salary 19% higher than non-MBA’s. This gap is narrowed by the difference in bonus payout, where MBA’s receive a 6% smaller bonus. The vacation benefits for both MBA’s and non-MBA’s were found to be similar.

Most MBA’s are not satisfied with their earnings as only 21% of the MBA respondents stated they were happy with their compensation package. This is not surprising considering their 10% pay advantage over non-MBA’s with a comparable level of vacation benefit. The small differentiation is surprising given the fact that 50% these MBA’s have more than 5 years of industry experience, while only 45% of the non-MBA’s reported having more than 5 years.
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