In my previous article, “Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B” several of my readers pointed out the staleness of the NYT article that I cited along with its citation of a joint NSF/Census Bureau study* indicating a high dropout rate for software developers. Further, the original study utilized some questionable sampling methods by focusing on programmers with a CS degree, which is not a prerequisite for a programming career.
* [Citation Needed] If anyone can find a copy of this study on-line, please send me a link.
Although I don’t claim to be a journalist, it doesn’t excuse my sloppy journalism. As an act of penance, I am going to attempt to collect some fresh data to test whether this theory still holds and investigate the causes of attrition in our business by polling my readers. Please help me maintain at least a modicum of scientific rigor and only respond on the polls that are relevant to your specific situation.
I’ll post the results and discuss them in an upcoming article, but the impatient among you can see the results by clicking on the link at the bottom of the poll.
BTW: Sorry the Polls are formatted so wonky. I’ve gotto find a better poll widget provider than PollDaddy.
Filed under: Careers in Software Development | Tagged: careers, poll, programming |
Improving Software 
Age discrimination is no farse. I was told I wouldn’t get a raise, because younger people needed it more.