Is it true that the best data scientists are self-taught?

It’s true that the best data scientists are self-taught. They just happen to have advanced degrees as well. Most of them anyway.

While a master’s degree or PhD is almost always relevant to data science, it’s just an added bonus. But data scientists are curious and knowledge-hungry people, and most of them have at least a master’s degree.

The thing is, you can’t learn everything you need to know as a data scientist in a graduate program. You can’t even learn everything on the job. Some form of self-study is imperative.

You’ll see this with the best software engineers as well. They’re so dedicated to their profession that they’ve learned most of what they know through self-study, regardless of whether or not they have a degree.

                   -Håkon Hapnes