I studied HCI in undergrad and took a fairly tracked path in UXR. I was extremely fortunate, in that I had a great HCI focused program in my hometown university and received mentorship via UXR tech internships while still studying.

But I also recognise my privilege in that I was lucky enough to be in the right location early, had access to affordable higher-ed, and in most instances while starting out working in Jr roles, people had the notion of assumed competence even though I was still figuring things out at the time (this might be because I fit the mold of white tech bro, but that’s out of my control).

I've been thinking about the educational space in UX/UR a lot lately as well. Lectures and reading can help in building a foundation of knowledge, but at it's core practitioners gain competence and hone their craft through mentorship and real-world application of their skill-set with a great team working on real projects, which is something that many folks that take alternative learning paths like MooCs or bootcamps often miss out on.

Top universities offer work placements/co-ops to great firms, but tuition costs have become prohibitively expensive and it's out of reach for most people.

I think work placement models like the ones Government Digital Service and Facebook's Research Associate Program (RAP) offer are taking the right approach in terms of diversifying the pipeline™ for people from non-traditional backgrounds. But there is still a ton of work to be done.

Due to the sheer volume of people looking to break into this field, we are seeing a bit of a credential arms-race, which isn't good for people that don't have access to resources that others don't. But I think persistence, growing a network, and being a bit of a hustler is the best path for folks starting out from non-traditional backgrounds. Luckily this profession is full of helpful and kind people (for the most part) that are happy to help those starting out.

I wish something like uxcoffeehours.com existed when I was starting out lol