Debate: Management education is an employment creator over Technical education
Side: Good

Apparently you have never been in management, and definitely not in project management.It is never critical for one human being to hold power over another human being. Management positions are there for those people who want to dominate and control other human beings.Anyone who wants to "dominate and control" will be very disappointed by being in management. Most of us have very little real authority.Most hiring and firing decisions, and all raises go through HR functionaries according to company policies. Managers just document issues and make recommendations regarding the other human beings.The real power lies with the company's customer or the project sponsor.They are there as a (mild) form of force when logic and reason cannot be used to validate the role of subordinates. We have to reason and negotiate with people in order to get folks to work together in the same direction. We orchestrate efforts, set up processes and plans, and then ask people to cooperate in accordance with the plans. Managers do have to negotiate and convince by logic and reason to get buy-in and cooperation from the people doing the various tasks.Management is not about authority, or forcing/coercing people to do the actual work of the project or enterprise. Most of it is about ensuring people have what they need to be able to do their jobs. A Project Manager (PM) is the project’s administrative assistant.Consider, the following example, applicable broadly to any project or enterprise, whether engineering, IT, service, production, etc..The PM on a bridge project does not usually know the technical aspects of how to build a bridge, and has very little say in how it is done. That is determined by the requirements of the project, and by the industry and legal standards and regulations. This is why expertise in bridge-building does nothing to qualify (or disqualify) a civil engineer as a PM on a bridge project.Sure, the bridge-builders may deal with requirements and some aspects of project scope, quality, and maybe even a little risk management, but they do not muck about with a budget, the details of assigning and leveling resources, managing the schedule, or managing communications. They definitely do not spend time brokering agreements with powerful stakeholders or navigating procurement processes. Most of them are not prepared to do any of these things. They are only prepared to design a bridge and build it.They need someone dedicated to making sure all the other necessary things happen in order for them to be able to build the bridge. That is what the manager does.Managers do the following: - Organize things so that when they need materials or tools or personnel, that is available. - Arrange and track funding and budget. - Coordinate and track activity schedules to make sure tasks are completed appropriately without expensive rework or gaps in production. - Track requirements and monitor scope. - Monitor risks, and ensure that proactive steps are in place to prevent or address possible problems. - Ensure processes for monitoring and maintaining quality are in place and followed. - Ensure that people can communicate with each other effectively, and that information is distributed and archived effectively and usefully.Most of all, management is about integrating all these (and other) things so that nothing slips through the cracks.None of this is an outgrowth of narcissism.