The traditional path to a software engineering career usually involves a post-secondary diploma in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field. However, many individuals working as software engineers take a non-traditional path to their careers, starting from other industries or fields of study. This paper explores the barriers that individuals with non-traditional educational and occupational backgrounds face when pursuing a software engineering career and proposes potential strategies to overcome those barriers. A two-stage methodology was used, consisting of an exploratory study followed by a follow-up survey. The exploratory study consisted of a grounded-theory-based qualitative analysis of relevant Reddit data to yield a framework around the barriers and possible mitigation strategies. These findings were then supplemented through a follow-up survey. Understanding these barriers and what strategies could be effective is an important step towards making software engineering more accessible to individuals with non-traditional backgrounds. In addition to fostering functional diversity, this might also serve to tackle labor shortages within the software engineering industry.

翻译：软件工程职业的传统路径通常涉及获得软件工程、计算机科学或相关领域的高等教育文凭。然而，许多在职软件工程师通过非传统路径进入该职业，他们可能来自其他行业或研究领域。本文探讨了具有非传统教育和职业背景的个体在追求软件工程职业时所面临的障碍，并提出了克服这些障碍的潜在策略。研究采用了两阶段方法，包括一项探索性研究及后续问卷调查。探索性研究基于扎根理论，对相关Reddit数据进行了定性分析，构建了一个围绕障碍及可能缓解策略的框架。这些发现随后通过后续问卷得以补充。理解这些障碍以及哪些策略可能有效，是向非传统背景的个体更广泛开放软件工程职业的重要一步。除了促进职能多样性外，此举或许还能缓解软件工程行业内的劳动力短缺问题。