33%OfCEOsMajoredIn EngineeringAndOtherSurprising FactsAboutYourBoss

JUDITHAQUINO

Chief executive officers are the rock stars of their company. As a companys leader, how a CEO spends his or her time defines the company and determines how profitable it will be.

Unsurprisingly, the behavior of a CEO is often scrutinized by investors and the public.

Researchers at SpencerStuart took a close look at the educational background of S&P 500 CEOs. We've collected some of these stats and others determined by IBM andHarvard Business School .

33%oftheS&P500CEOs'undergraduatedegreesarein engineeringandonly11%areinbusinessadministration.
Source: SpencerStuart

Lessthan10%oftopS&P500CEOsreceiveddegrees fromIvyLeagueschools.
Source: SpencerStuart

AlltheCEOsofutilityS&P500companiespossessed bachelordegrees,makingthemthemosthighlyeducated group.

Source: SpencerStuart

ThefunctionalrolethatledtobecomingaCEOwasmost commonlyfinanceat15%,followedbygeneral managementat9%.

Source: SpencerStuart

Printingandpublishingcompanieshadtheleast educatedS&P500CEOs.Only91%heldbachelor degrees.

Source: SpencerStuart

60%oftheCEOsinthisIBMstudycitedcreativityasthe mostimportantleadershipquality.
Source: IBM 2010 Global CEO Study

Fairnessandhumilitycameinlastat12%.

Source: IBM 2010 Global CEO Study

About60%ofaCEOstimeisspentinmeetings.
Source: Harvard Business School

CEOsspent25%oftheirtimeonphonecallsandat publicevents.
Source: Harvard Business School

Andonly15%oftheirtimewasspentworkingalone.

Source: Harvard Business School

CEOsspent42%oftheirtimewithotheremployees.
Source: Harvard Business School

Amongoutsiders,CEOsspendabout4.7hoursperweek withconsultantsandonlyabout1.3hourswithsuppliers.
Source: Harvard Business School