Best reasons I can think of is projection and pride. If I couldn't do this job without a PhD and 10 years of experience then of course NO ONE else could possibly do it without those credentials.
Then there's the, if I HAD to have all these credentials to get a decent paying job, then everyone else should have to jump through those same hoops to or it won't be fair to me.
It might be, but it is also a shared culture. People like to work with people who have a shared background and understanding.
The natural sciences are similar in that you have to have a PhD to be taken at all seriously even though most of the time there is really no difference between a person with a BSc and 5 years of experience and someone with a PhD.
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Best reasons I can think of is projection and pride. If I couldn't do this job without a PhD and 10 years of experience then of course NO ONE else could possibly do it without those credentials.
Then there's the, if I HAD to have all these credentials to get a decent paying job, then everyone else should have to jump through those same hoops to or it won't be fair to me.
It depend on the problem. Some problems really do require you have a lot of knowledge depth to be able to solve.
You can tell from the tone of some other comments that pride is a pretty big factor.
It might be, but it is also a shared culture. People like to work with people who have a shared background and understanding.
The natural sciences are similar in that you have to have a PhD to be taken at all seriously even though most of the time there is really no difference between a person with a BSc and 5 years of experience and someone with a PhD.
This is clearly the case for many people, judging from the complete lack of diversity at many tech companies.
For a "meritocracy" Silicon Valley sure loves credentialing.