Only 50 Percent of University Data Science Degrees Require Ethics Coursework
With predictable consequences professionally. JL
Jeffrey Oliver reports in The Next Web:
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projectsa 15% growth in data science careers over the period of 2019-2029, corresponding with an increased demand for data science training. The number of undergraduate data science programs in the U.S. jumped from13 in 2014toat least 50as of September 2020. Only 50% of degree programs require any coursework in ethics.
Undergraduate training for data scientists – dubbed thesexiest job of the 21st centuryby Harvard Business Review – falls short in preparing students for the ethical use of data science, our new study found.
Data science lies at the nexus of statistics and computer science applied to a particular field such as astronomy, linguistics, medicine, psychology or sociology. The idea behind this data crunching is to use big data to address otherwise unsolvable problems, such as how health care providers can createpersonalized medicine based on a patient’s genesand how businesses can makepurchase predictions based on customers’ behavior.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projectsa 15% growth in data science careers over the period of 2019-2029, corresponding with an increased demand for data science training. Universities and colleges have responded to the demand by creating new programs or revamping existing ones. The number of undergraduate data science programs in the U.S. jumped from13 in 2014toat least 50as of September 2020.
As educators and practitioners indata science, we were prompted by the growth in programs to investigate what is covered, and what is not covered, in data science undergraduate education.
Inour study, we compared undergraduate data science curricula with the expectations forundergraduate data science trainingput forth by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Those expectations include training in ethics. We found most programs dedicated considerable coursework to mathematics, statistics and computer science, but little training in ethical considerations such as privacy and systemic bias. Only 50% of the degree programs we investigated required any coursework in ethics.
Why it matters
As with any powerful tool, the responsible application of data science requires training in how to use data science and to understand its impacts. Our results align withprior workthat found little attention is paid to ethics in data science degree programs. This suggests that undergraduate data science degree programs may produce a workforce without the training and judgment to apply data science methods responsibly.
We believe explicit training in ethical practices would better prepare a socially responsible data science workforce.
What still isn’t known
While data science is a relatively new field – still being defined as a discipline – guidelines exist for training undergraduate students in data science. These guidelines prompt the question: How much training can we expect in an undergraduate degree?
The National Academies recommendtraining in 10 areas, including ethical problem solving, communication and data management.
Our work focused on undergraduate data science degrees at schoolsclassified as R1, meaning they engage in high levels of research activity. Further research could examine the amount of training and preparation in various aspects of data science at the Masters and Ph.D. levels and the nature of undergraduate data science training at schools of different research levels.
Given that many data science programs are new, there is considerable opportunity to compare the training that students receive with the expectations of employers.
What’s next
We plan to expand on our findings by investigating the pressures that might be driving curriculum development for degrees in other disciplines that are seeing similar job market growth.
As a Partner and Co-Founder of Predictiv and PredictivAsia, Jon specializes in management performance and organizational effectiveness for both domestic and international clients. He is an editor and author whose works include Invisible Advantage: How Intangilbles are Driving Business Performance. Learn more...
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