We had this argument today at work regarding which one of those two is more correct. Neither of us is a native English speaker. A simple Google research would reveal that most Wikipedia articles use the bachelor of format.
For example:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Science
- Bachelor of Laws
- Bachelor of Commerce
The particular case we are having is to describe a person’s education within the contact information of a company's website.
Here’s a partial example:
John Smith
Professional experience
- …
- …
Education
- Bachelor [in/of] Accounting and Control
Which one is more correct? Or are they equally suitable?
Best Answer
I don't know what language or culture you're trying to translate from. It's certainly possible that degrees are named differently. But in the United States, there is a pretty rigid format for the name of a degree. (I really don't know if the form is the same in other English-speaking countries.)
[degree level] of [broad category] in [specialty]
[degree level] is Associate, Bachelor, Master, or Doctor. That list is in increasing order of how many years of schooling each involves.
[broad category] is Arts, Science, Law, Business Administration, and occasionally Divinity. A Law degree is, well, about law. Business Administration is related to running a business. Science is a degree involving a physical science, like chemistry or physics. Divinity is a degree in theology or otherwise related to a profession like being a minister or a missionary, though many schools of theology today call their degrees Arts instead of Divinity. Art is pretty much anything else, like history, literature, philosophy, etc. Sometimes you see a degree in Fine Arts meaning music, theater, painting, or the like, to distinguish it from "ordinary" Arts. (Business Administration is mostly used in "Master of Business Administration": I don't recall ever hearing someone say they have an Associates in Business Administration, etc, though there may be colleges out there that give such degrees.)
[specialty] could be almost anything, whatever the college teaches.
So you could have degrees like, "Associate of Arts in Literature", "Master of Science in Physics", "Doctor of Fine Arts in Icelandic Poetry", etc. My degree is "Bachelor of Science in Business Computer Science". My ex-wife has "Master of Arts in History and Museum Management". And so on.
So you wouldn't say you have a "Bachelor of Accounting"; you would say you have a "Bachelor of Arts in Accounting". The broad cateogry is often omitted and the level turned into a possessive, i.e. someone will say, "I have a Bachelor's degree", or "I have a Master's in history".
If you are trying to translate the name of your degree from a country that has a different system to put on a resume or the like, I think your best bet would be to try to conform it to the system of the country where you're applying for the job. When someone is reading your resume, if it looks wrong they're going to think that you don't know what you're talking about and maybe dismiss your resume as uninformed or even fraudulent. You may well not have an opportunity to explain. It doesn't help to be technically correct if the person "grading the test" knows less than you do.