Have senior-level experience
Unsurprisingly, the role of chief executive officer isn't exactly an entry-level position.
Slightly over one out of ten CEOs came into the job with past experience as a chief executive officer (10.54%).
Consultants trailed behind (0.33%), followed by directors (0.3%), presidents (0.27%), and executive directors (0.23%).
Major in something pertaining to business
Business-related majors dominated when it came to CEOs.
The clear winner was business administration — management and operations, which 17.92% of CEOs studied.
The similarly-focused business, management, marketing, and related support services degree trailed behind (3.58%).
Finance and financial management services, marketing, and business/commerce rounded out the rest of the top five (3.46%, 2.97%, and 2.75%, respectively).
Attend a top school — but don't worry about whether it's private or public
In terms of schooling, CEOs were pretty evenly distributed across the board. The takeaway? There's no one definitive college that will necessarily boost your chances of becoming a CEO.
Harvard came out on top, with 0.88% of CEOs saying they graduated from the Ivy League school. New York University took the second spot (0.64%), followed closely by the University of Southern California (0.59%).
Two schools tied for fourth, with 0.57% of CEOs hailing from Michigan State University and George Washington University.
Earn some sort of degree
Almost a third of CEOs have bachelor's degrees — a total of 30.13%. CEOs with master's degrees came in a close second (28.94%). Then, 16.91% of CEOs selected "other" when it came to their degree, while only 5.98% and 3.56% of chief executive officers reported they had doctorates or associate's degrees, respectively.
