I never considered getting into the industry that way, but here are my thoughts on it…
I only worked in a company once that had a runner. That was at Pinewood studios, and there was a lot of running involved as the whole complex is pretty big and there often was the need to run to the other end of the complex - I think mocap was there. Not sure if the guy had any aspirations, but I saw him sometimes lurking around and talking to the shader guys. But somehow it reminds me of QA people who sometimes come around and lurk, with a few of them trying to get an artist position.
From my own experience I think it’s easier to move into tech art from a regular artist position - e.g. make yourself a name as the technical guy on the team, the guy that makes awesome workflow scripts, the guy that gives the TA team great technical feedback, etc. I’ve seen that happening a few times. I think it is also easier to move up from QA/runner within the same company because people know you already. But moving up and to a different compant at the same time might be challenging.
I think a BSc in math would make more impact on your resume if you were be looking for a coding position. Our riggers don’t have math BSc, but I sure know that for a TA/coder this could be quite useful.
Having QA/tech-runner on the resume may also drag you down in the view of some HR people. They may be wondering that if you were really any good, why didn’t you get a proper job in the first place and then not consider you for an interview. Some people may not see it as something bringing value to the big picture - yes, you’ve been in the industry, but you may or may not have done anything useful helping to your future career choice. For example, somebody who was an artist has at least 1st hand knowledge of workflows, issues, usability, etc. regarding workflows and tools. Which is definitely useful to have.
