This is r/engineering so I'll try to keep it short and to the point.

I am currently a recent undergrad with an entry level admin position in my firm. I am the office assistant, but as you can probably assume, there are only about 3 admin positions in my firm so we juggle ALL of the non-project related duties. I mean I am basically the personal assistant for 50 engineers + principals.

My father is a principal at his own engineering firm in my home state (600 miles away) so I've been raised and surrounded by engineers my whole life. This is why I think I'm right to question my supervisor. He is a Mechanical Project Engineer/Project Manager/Office Manager. I can tell that, while he takes on office responsibilities when he has too, his heart lies with the engineering side. While he and all of the other engineers are appreciative, I know they don't realize how much the non-engineers in the firm do. This being said, I approached my supervisor about my wanting to get an MBA in Project Management and possible reimbursement from the company. I like the company and I want to stay on with it. I figured this would be a great way to work with the company still and it seems like a natural progression from the position I'm in currently.

He said no. Apparently, our company really only focuses on promoting engineers from within to positions like PM because, I'm assuming, engineers would have the best idea about how to manage a project with other engineers. He basically said that there was really no advancement from my current position unless I received an Engineering degree along with an MBA in Project Management.

My question is basically whether or not this is common practice most engineering firms? I see it as my employer telling me that I have no useful skills in the firm without having an engineering degree but I couldn't disagree more!

tl;dr want to advance in my company but I'm being discouraged because only Engineers hold any management positions.