In my experience, the dominant source of people I've seen come through admin channels on IRC are those who arrived there through running e.g. their own game ser

In my experience, the dominant source of people I've seen come through admin channels on IRC are those who arrived there through running e.g. their own game servers. In my experience, the degree/certs you mention are chiefly offered through the business schools where they're offered and are indeed the domain of middle managers. There can be electrical engineering in neteng, but really only at the upper levels.