A Model for Integrating Data Science with the Liberal Arts: Responding to Workforce Demands Brian Fitzgerald, CEO January 6, 2016 2015 BHEF
About the Business Higher Education Forum The Business Higher Education Forum (BHEF) is a membership organization of Fortune 500 CEOs, college/university presidents, and other leaders who collaborate to promote innovation and enhance US global competitiveness through its National Higher Education and Workforce Initiative. BHEF Mission BHEF members collaborate to increase baccalaureate attainment and improve alignment between higher education and the workforce by creating undergraduate pathways to produce a diverse, highly skilled talent pool to meet demand in emerging fields. BHEF convenes business and academic leaders, promotes effective undergraduate program design and development to create workforce solutions, and offers guidance to increase the impact on baccalaureate outcomes. BHEF facilitates peer to peer engagement by its members and inspires peer leaders to act. Shapes the National Agenda for Business & Higher Education Collaboration through Convenings Influences Practice & Policy through Research & Thought Leadership Addresses Workforce Needs through Programmatic Initiatives 2015 BHEF 2
BHEF s National Higher Education and Workforce Initiative (HEWI): Strategy What are the supply challenges? Innovation and competition increasingly rely on new and emerging fields There is an increase in competition for talent Increased need to recruit and retain a diverse workforce What is BHEF s strategy? Deploy a model of strategic business engagement with higher education to shift from transactional relationships to strategic partnerships to develop talent ecosystems Create undergraduate career pathways that satisfy employer demand for a high skilled workforce, especially for women, minorities, and veterans Why does this strategy work? BHEF has conducted extensive research to understand the interventions and strategies that work best to support the success of undergraduate students BHEF has successfully implemented this strategy, beginning with cybersecurity at the University of Maryland 2015 BHEF 3
HEWI Highlights BHEF s regional and national networks support business and higher education activities that equip students with the skills and competencies to meet employers emerging talent needs. Facilitating launch of ~12 business higher education partnerships producing 20 new academic programs and a nationally recognized process for strategic business engagement Coordinating Undergraduate STEM Interventions with Industry (USI 2 ) Consortium, supporting five lead business/higher education partnerships, funded by the National Science Foundation Developing new undergraduate pathways for students in cybersecurity in Maryland, DC, and Virginia, funded by the Office of Naval Research and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Leading Financial Services Industry Workforce Project bringing together CEOs to address critical workforce needs, beginning with data science and analytics at Baruch s Zicklin School of Business Launching NYC Data Science Task Force, supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which develops business higher education partnerships to build undergraduate pathways in DSA across a broad swathe of sectors with a focus on women and minorities. 2015 BHEF 4
BHEF Serving as Thought Leaders for DSA Education BHEF is uniquely positioned to serve as the nation s thought leaders for data science and analytics (DSA) education and workforce and build a vibrant community of engaged leaders to shape the education offerings linked with this emerging field. Host the only Dedicated National DSA Education and Workforce Event Developed competency map for the DSA enabled undergraduate by bringing together over 25 public and private sector companies Serve as the hub for national industry / higher education collaborations National competency map(s) Industry validated courses and experiential learning opportunities Leadership forum with leaders from business and higher ed Support regional hubs Support NYC through the Sloan grant Work with partners in North Carolina, Ohio, and Florida to explore the creation of data science programs Explore DSA as it relates to the liberal arts degree Create a deeper understanding of DSA literacy and enabled graduate 2015 BHEF 5
BHEF Article in Change Magazine Published July/August 2015 BHEF article on data science in the liberal arts 2015 BHEF 6
DSA is a Critical Compentency Pervasiveness of data has created a genuinely new method of inquiry The ability to digitize so much material changes the way we ask questions DSA is a way of engaging with the world that opens up new questions that were not imaginable before There was a real explosion in DSA around 2010 Explosion occurred as a result in a drop of the technological barrier easier and cheaper to do very powerful statistical analyses very quickly Explosion democratized access to excellent computation and data science tools: open source software became available, allowing everyone to work with these massive data sets 2015 BHEF 7
Elements of Undergraduate DSA Literacy Functional literacy: the ability to use a computer/programs Critical literacy: the ability to interrogate and think beyond the information you are given, to question the assumptions and values Requires an understanding of the tools and processes in DSA, the statistical models, the biases, and the data Rhetorical literacy: the ability to use computers to tell a narrative or make a persuasive argument using a computational interface Do you know how data output is useful to you in making some sort of persuasive narrative Communication: ability to communicate This is the primary DSA skill DSA requires communication and a shared narrative, particular the ability to work with someone from a different discipline 2015 BHEF 8
DSA Educational Offerings at Selected Liberal Arts Institutions Developed a list of 14 liberal arts colleges Collected data on degree programs, departments, centers, and courses supporting DSA Searched for terms data science, data analytics, data mining, and informatics for each college Searched through relevant program curricula and courses for each college Searched for business partners in developing programs 2015 BHEF 9
All Institutions Offer DSA Curriculum Nearly all the DSA coursework lives in science and mathematics departments Most colleges offer core data science curriculum in areas such as data mining and database systems Many colleges also offer discipline specific courses in DSA, such as bioinformatics or geographic information systems (GIS) A few colleges have developed DSA courses in humanities Examples include: programming in the humanities; advanced journalism: new media; and computing in context 2015 BHEF 10
Students Have Limited Access to DSA Courses Few Courses Available at an Introductory Level Nearly all DSA undergraduate education is intended for upper level students Most DSA courses have 1 2 prerequisites, often in mathematics or statistics Minor/concentration is primary degree model for DSA Concentrations are only available to students already majoring in science or mathematics Minors require upper level courses in science or mathematics which limit access to students majoring in science or mathematics 2015 BHEF 11
DSA Co and Extracurricular Activities at Institutions Private and public sector employer led activities Tours and visits to employers Internships Student participation in faculty research e.g., Spanish Flu research or sports analytics Peer to peer learning DSA clubs or other student led groups Activities and Events Conferences Competitions 2015 BHEF 12
Opportunities for Liberal Arts Colleges Explicitly align existing DSA courses Align courses into a minor or concentration for students seeking DSA expertise Broadly disseminate information about DSA minors to students Develop broadly accessible DSA courses Introductory DSA courses are well suited to meet quantitative literacy requirements Offer discipline specific sections with relevant topics Incorporate applied DSA into classroom Integrate DSA into existing courses Develop discipline specific modules to integrate into introductory courses across a variety of departments Offer students access to DSA expertise for their capstone projects Collaborate with institutes and centers at nearby universities to build DSA capacity Provides students access to DSA experts for their research Provides access to adjunct faculty and guests lecturers 2015 BHEF 13
Discussion 2015 BHEF 14