A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (100) includes: a substrate (10); a laminated body which is provided over the substrate; and a resin layer (70) which is provided on at least a side surface of the laminated body, wherein the laminated body at least includes a first mirror layer (20) provided over the substrate (10), an active layer (30) provided over the first mirror layer, and a second mirror layer (40) provided over the active layer, in a plan view, a length of the laminated body (2) in a first direction is greater than a length of the laminated body in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, and in the plan view, a length of the resin layer in the first direction is greater than a length of the resin layer in the second direction. The non-circular shape of the mesa (2) and lateral oxidation of the mirror layers with high Al content (60,62) being part of the mesa (2) together with the non-circular shape of the resin layer results in a stress induced preferred polarisation of the VCSEL emission.