How much education do professional developers usually obtain?
That’s a vital question if you’re a new technology professional (or an aspiring one) who’s trying to figure out how much time and resources to devote to formal learning. Fortunately, Stack Overflow’s latest Developer Survey, which queried 89,184 developers from 185 countries, offers some insight into professional developers’ educational attainment. Check out the chart:
Nearly half of all respondents have received a BA or its equivalent; a quarter have a master’s degree. Relatively few have either little education (i.e., primary or secondary school) or maximal education (i.e., a Ph.D).
But do you need a degree to land a job in tech? While many companies’ job postings feature degree requirements (with a bachelor’s degree being the most common), many hiring managers and recruiters will overlook a candidate’s lack of formal education if they possess the necessary skills and experience. Demand for tech professionals over the past few years has only accelerated this trend.
Some of the biggest companies in tech have moved away from formal degree requirements. For example, in February 2020, Elon Musk famously Tweeted that he needed people to work on artificial intelligence (A.I.) applications at Tesla, and he didn’t care “if [applicants] even graduated high school” so long as they had the right knowledge. At Apple, the percentage of postings requiring a bachelor’s degree dipped from 88 percent to 72 percent between 2017 and 2021, according to a 2022 study by Harvard Business School and Lightcast (formerly Emsi Burning Glass), while at Google, it declined from 93 percent to 77 percent.
Other tech giants such as Microsoft and Meta have made a lot of noise about easing degree requirements, although that study hadn’t seen that reflected in those companies’ hiring patterns. “There appears to be a significant opportunity for more companies in the technology sector to follow through on implementing broad policy changes that revise the requirements for specific positions,” the report concluded. Nonetheless, what has begun at the larger companies has every chance of trickling down to smaller ones, especially given the competition to land the best possible talent out there.
For those who obtain a tech-centric degree, there’s also a lot of debate over which ones can translate into the highest career salaries. Earlier this year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York analyzed the labor market for recent college graduates and found that degrees in computer science, engineering, mathematics, and business analytics translated into significant wages by mid-career.
In addition to a degree, certifications and micro-credentials can help establish your bona fides with employers. Whatever your educational background, make sure your skills are polished and up-to-date as you head into the job interview, as you’ll most likely face a technical test designed to evaluate what you know.
