| As a self taught dev, I can confirm that observation. I did not spend six years of my life studying all those details that, though not crucial to my day job building a JS Frontend, might sometimes help with the big picture decisions. And I am fully aware of all the things I don’t know. Would I like to study those details? You bet. But I came to that realization in my late thirties, after having changed careers twice, kids, marriage, the whole nine yards. I have responsibilities and am lacking the time and free headspace to sit down and study. So a course on coursera or Udemy or whatever it is. And little by little I am patching my CS knowledge. Will it ever be as complete as that of someone who started programming in their teens and went straight for the degree? Definitely not. So I agree, if you have the luck and the opportunity to be in the situation to have a chance for a degree and take it, it’s a good thing. At the same time, I think that it is a good thing that software development/ working with computers in some shape or form is open to people from many backgrounds, similar to the creative fields, because kn the end it is important that you can do your job, not necessarily how you acquired those skills. Because it enriches the industry. Bringing all kinds of life experiences to the table is a good thing. It is a team sport after all. And T-shaped isn’t limited to software skills. E.g. I might not have studied CS, but having taught adults in foreign languages for years gives me presentational and pedagogical skills that help me explain the things I do know to our junior devs, because I know how learning processes work. So I would encourage a more optimistic view on the situation. Not asking what are your colleagues lacking, but asking what else do they know? What did they do, while you were studying CS. |