'C-Suite' report: The university degrees most likely to land you a top executive job - including CEO

• A new report has analysed the most common degrees held by executives at top UK companies
• Chief executives hold an eclectic mix, but tend to favour economics
• As might be expected, CFOs and CTOs favour business or tech-oriented degrees
• But the study notes a growing acceptance of more diverse studies in top people or brand-focused jobs

Studying psychology, history, or software engineering could help land this year’s secondary school leavers a top job someday.

In its new ‘C-Suite Churn Report’ - released earlier this month - UK-based company equity management platform Vestd analysed employment trends for five of the top executive positions across Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index (FTSE100) companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The research showed that overall, companies were open to talented people from a broad range of backgrounds. But there were still issues when it came to diversity, especially around gender. Women made up just 37.5% of executive positions overall, the report found, but female CEOs on average received an 83% approval rating - compared to 76% for men.

It also took a deep dive into the academic routes top company executives took back in their university days. While many of the most common degrees studied are to be expected, Vestd chief executive Ifty Nasir said the report showed a surprising mix of more unconventional choices too - showing a growing recognition of transferable skills and non-linear career paths.

“As leadership teams evolve to meet the demands of a rapidly changing market, our ‘C-Suite Churn Report’ reveals that traditional educational pathways to the top are shifting,” he said. “While degrees in economics, engineering and business still dominate, we’re seeing a growing openness to leaders with more diverse academic backgrounds, particularly in people and brand-focused roles.”

At the end of the day, this suggests today’s university-bound school leavers may as well follow their passions, even if they’re aiming for a job in the C-Suite one day. But in some positions, certain lines of study still dominate - and for good reason. Here were the top three degrees held across each of the five major ‘C-Suite’ roles:

Chief executive officer

Chief executives - or CEOs - are the executives at the top of the company food chain, responsible for the overall direction of the business. While CEOs held an eclectic collection of degrees between them - including veterinary medicine, town and country planning, and modern and medieval languages - three came out on top when it came to the overall percentage who had studied them. According to the report, these are (in order):

• Economics (17%)
• Engineering (16%)
• Accounting (10%)

Chief technology officer

CTOs are responsible for a company’s strategy when it comes to technology, from making sure it is using the most innovative and up-to-date services, to making sure its systems are safe from cyberattacks. It likely comes as no surprise then, that executives who hold this position specialised in more tech-oriented degrees in their university days - with the top three degrees being:

• Computer science (17%)
• Engineering (9%)
• Software engineering (7%)

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Chief financial officer

Keeping a company in good financial health is no easy task. CFOs are generally responsible for this, overseeing budgeting, planning, and accounting. Again, the most popular degrees studied by CFOs very much tend towards those that would build a strong understanding of the financial world. The top three were:

• Economics (13%)
• Business (12%)
• Accounting (10%)

Chief people officer

Managing HR and making sure the company is only hiring the top talent fall to the CPO. People in this position overall have collected a more diverse array of degrees, with the top three being:

• Business (14%)
• Psychology (11%)
• Economics (8%)

Chief marketing officer

CMOs - responsible for brand awareness, customer engagement, and oftentimes public relations when something goes wrong - were another group with a broader academic variety. Their top three degrees were:

• History (9%)
• Marketing (7%)
• Law (6%)

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