provide specialized training in the use of surveys, interviews, and focus groups as sources of data

Transcription

1 Graduate Certificate in Data Collection and Management Market Analysis The Graduate Certificate in Data Collection and Management at Montclair State will provide specialized training in the use of surveys, interviews, and focus groups as sources of data collection and analysis. Data on consumers, services and industries are in high demand among businesses, non-profit organizations, research institutes, government agencies, and those pursuing private enterprise. In order to measure the extent of this demand, we used Burning Glass, a report-generating website that analyzes current and historical data on employment trends, job openings, skills, and credentials. Burning Glass stores information on over 7 million current job openings on the internet, enabling searches at both the national and local levels, and over time. Although we intend to market this program to students from all undergraduate majors, we anticipate that sociology majors will be most attracted since the program will be taught by Sociology Department faculty. For this reason, we began by examining the fields that are of most interest to Sociology students in America. Recent reports from the American Sociological Association (ASA), show that students who majored in sociology are most likely to be found in jobs where they perform counseling, clerical/administrative support, management, education, human and social services, sales, marketing and research (Spalter-Roth & Voreen, 2008). For students who go on to earn a Master's Degree in sociology, careers in research, marketing and sales are more common (Voreen & Spalter-Roth, 2011). Among these fields, the top four job titles in greatest demand in the NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in 2013 were Sales Managers, Management Analysts,

2 Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialist, and Human Resources Managers. See Figure 1 below. Figure 1: Job Titles of Interest to Sociology Students with the Most Postings in the NY-NJ- PA area during Since these positions ranked more highly than many traditional fields of interests to sociology students (e.g. teacher, social service worker, social worker, and counselor), we anticipate that current sociology majors will find more opportunities in private industry than in education or in human or social services. The Data Collection and Management Certificate is intended for college graduates who want to market themselves to employers by demonstrating their ability to collect and analyze data, prepare reports, lead projects, and present information to others. The coursework will provide training on specialized software for survey writing, data analysis, and graphic presentation. These specialized skills will bring the most direct benefit to students intending to become Market Research Analysts, Survey Researchers, and Social Science Assistants, where

3 surveys, survey research, market research, SPSS, SAS, and Data Management are the most commonly requested competencies. See Figures 2 and 3 below. Figure 2: Specialized Skills Requested in 2013 in the NY-NJ-PA MSA by Employers Seeking Market Researchers Figure 3: Specialized Skills Requested in 2013 in the NY-NJ-PA MSA by Employers Seeking Survey Researchers

4 According to Burning Glass, there were 2,974 postings in the NY-NJ-PA MSA area for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists and 1,381 for Marketing Managers in 2013, with 51% of them requesting a professional or graduate degree. According to Economic Development and Employer Planning System (EDEPS) data, which is aggregated from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists will be much faster than average between 2010 and 2020 and about as fast as average for Marketing Managers at both the national level and the NY-NJ-PA MSA. The current national median annual salary for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists is $60,300 and $119,480 for Marketing Managers. In the NY-NJ-PA MSA, the current annual salary for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists is $67,850 and $156,080 for Marketing Managers. See Figure 4 for the top employers in this area. Figure 4: Number of Postings from Top Employers for Market Researchers in the NY-NJ- PA MSA in 2013

5 In 2013, there were 152 postings for the title of Survey Researcher in the NY-NJ-PA with 73% of them requested a professional or graduate degree. EDEPS data project that this position will grow faster than average nationally between 2010 and 2020, but lower than average in the NY-NJ-PA MSA. The current national median annual wage for this position is $45,050 nationally and $70,140 in the NY-NJ-PA MSA. Employers with more than one opening for a Survey Researcher in the area include Guidepoint Global, Brookdale Community College, Consumer Reports, The Census Bureau, The United Nations, Hunter College, The New York Blood Center, Keller & Kitzpatrick, McGraw Hill, Accenture, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Uncommon Schools Incorporated and Consumers Union. Students interested in becoming Social Science Research Assistants will also find a close match between the training in this certificate and the needs of employers. An average of 340 postings were found in each of the last five years for Social Science Research Assistants in the NY-NJ-PA MSA. See Figure 5 below. Figure 5: Number of Job Postings per year for Social Science Research Assistants in the NY-NJ-PA MSA,

6 Among these positions, 68% requested a professional or graduate degree. EDEPS data project that this position will grow about as fast as average nationally between 2010 and 2020, but more slowly than average in the NY-NJ-PA MSA. The current national median annual wage for this position is $37,140 nationally and $29,810 in the NY-NJ-PA MSA. Social Science Research Assistants work in many specialized fields, with Chemical Manufacturing the most common among them. Ranking second and third on this list are two fields that we expect our students will be particularly interested in: Educational Services and Professional, Scientific and Technical Services. Top employers in these areas include IBM, Columbia University, Accenture, Kpmg, Deloitte Development LLC, Pricewaterhousecoopers, SUNY, Automatic Data Processing Incorporated, CUNY, Rutgers University, and New York University. In addition to these specialized fields, the Certificate program will prepare students to compete for a broad array of private sector jobs such as the previously mentioned high demand positions as Sales Managers, Management Analysts, Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialist, and Human Resources Managers. They may also pursue positions such as Operations Research Analyst, Statistician, and Statistical Assistant. In 2013, over 30% of the employers for these positions, and those in sales, management, market research and human resources, requested candidates with a Graduate or Professional Degree. See Figure 6 below.

7 Figure 6: Credentials Requested in 2013 in the NY-NJ-PA MSA by Employers Seeking Sales Managers, Management Analysts, Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialist, and Human Resources Managers, Operations Research Analyst, Statistician, and Statistical Assistants Since we expect to draw many students that did not major in Business, Statistics, or Mathematics, we anticipate that those graduating with other majors (e.g. sociology and related fields) will become better able to compete for these jobs by learning the specialized skills in the Certificate program such as data collection, research project management, and analysis. We also plan to emphasize communication skills, organization skills, writing, Microsoft Excel, leadership, management, and project management. Each of these competencies ranks at the top of the list for baseline skills in these professions. See Figure 7 below.

8 Figure 7: Baseline Skills Requested in 2013 in the NY-NJ-PA MSA by Employers Seeking Sales Managers, Management Analysts, Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialist, and Human Resources Managers, Operations Research Analyst, Statistician, and Statistical Assistants In summary, the Graduate Certificate in Data Collection and Management will offer students from Sociology and many other majors, the opportunity to pursue a career in variety of professional areas. Students interested in becoming Market Research Analysts, Marketing Specialists, Marketing Managers, Survey Researchers or Social Science Research Assistants, will find the best match between the specialized skills the Certificate will offer and the jobs that they seek. For other students, the Certificate will offer relevant baseline training and specialized skill training in data collection and management for jobs as Market Researchers, Managers, Project Managers, Operation Research Analysts, and Statisticians. In addition, the Certificate will be beneficial to students who intend to capitalize on these skills in private enterprises, such as starting a small business. And still other students will benefit from an initiation into post

9 graduate studies, an important stepping stone to a terminal Master's Degree program or an M.A/Ph.D. Program in the social sciences, mathematics, or business.