Are Product Management Industry Surveys Biased?

They are surprisingly statistically significant

Annual product management industry surveys are always fascinating. They provide a snapshot into the state of product management on a global basis. It is important, however, to put these studies in the proper context. While they provide many interesting factoids (“the average annual salary for senior product managers in the USA is $134,000”) there are often biases that are reported in these surveys (“70% of product managers have one to three professional certifications”). It is important to put these biases into perspective when evaluating the results of product management industry surveys. We’ll explore seven popular product management industry surveys from 2018 and 2019 for statistical significance and potential bias.

The Sample Base

We examined seven surveys that have been published by product management organizations in either late 2018 or 2019. You can click on any of the images and be taken to the survey website where you can access the entire study for free. The studies include: