A career in IT might be one of the few employment specializations that don't require a specific degree or certification. Among our survey respondents, 31 percent hold a bachelor's degree, 23.9 percent have some college coursework under their belts, 13.5 percent hold an associate degree, 12.3 percent have a bachelor's degree with some graduate studies, and 11.8 percent hold a master's degree. Only 1.3 percent hold a doctoral degree, and 3.8 percent have a high school diploma or less. Many respondents commented that they are either currently working on obtaining a college degree, have a diploma from a technical institution, or hold multiple degrees.
When it comes to technical and professional training, a resounding 87 percent of survey respondents are currently participating or have participated in some technical or professional training. Only 3.5 percent have no current plans to engage in professional training.
Approximately 66 percent of our survey respondents belong to at least one professional organization. The range of organizations covers the expected, the unusual, and the downright delightful. Among the professional organizations that you'd expect IT pros to belong to are the IEEE Computer Society, the Alberta Society of Engineering Technologists, various user groups, the British Computer Society, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the New Zealand Computer Society, and Women in Technology International (WITI). Spanning the somewhat-unusual-to-delightful range are memberships in the American Red Cross, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Armed Forces Communication and Electronics Association, the World Organization of Webmasters, the Athens Stock Exchange, the Committee for Democracy in Information Technology, the Curacao Information and Communication Association ITIL Club, Mensa, Professional Engineers of Ontario, the Society of Physics Students, Toastmasters, and the American Library Association.
