Retail Management

Types of Degrees Retail Management Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many retail management graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	560
Bachelor’s Degree	159
Undergraduate Certificate	140
Master’s Degree	72
Associate Degree	54

What Retail Management Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, retail management majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Retail Management Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in retail management should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Skills for Retail Management Majors

A major in retail management prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Retail Management Majors

A major in retail management will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Retail Management Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with retail management:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Business Professors	18.0%	$83,960
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers	3.8%	$39,630
General and Operations Managers	9.1%	$100,930

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Retail Management?

This major is dominated by women with about 77% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of retail management majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	6
Black or African American	17
Hispanic or Latino	32
White	93
International Students	3
Other Races/Ethnicities	8

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Retail Management. About 1.9% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Retail Management

Some careers associated with retail management require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to retail management have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	3.5%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	20.0%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	6.4%
Some College Courses	10.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	8.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	15.2%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	6.9%
Master’s Degree	6.5%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.7%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.2%
Doctoral Degree	22.0%

Online Retail Management Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	59	7
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	34	5
Bachelor’s Degree	1	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	4	2
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Retail Management

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to retail management.

Major	Number of Grads
General Business Administration and Management	336,268
Organizational Leadership	15,303
Interior Design Management	13,070
Supply Chain Management	10,445
Operations Management	5,884
Project Management	4,363
Office Administration	3,252
Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management	2,481
Purchasing, Procurement/Acquisitions and Contracts Management	1,102
Transportation/Mobility Management	592
E-Commerce	415
Science/Technology Management	321
Research and Development Management	287
Customer Service Management	282
Risk Management	177

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.