Data Analytics: Capitalizing on Creative Disruption
Carla Hickman, Vice President, Research
The 21st century economy is entering an era wherein data-driven decision making will be embedded in all organizations and business processes. As analytics evolves from a competitive advantage to a competitive necessity for all industries, today’s white collar professionals face new career advancement and lifelong learning imperatives—to add some proficiency in analytics to further their careers and adapt to the ongoing disruption that automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are creating within workplaces.
These technological disruptions create unparalleled opportunity for COE units. Buoyant employment opportunities for analytics talent combined with substantial compensation have fueled steady enrollment growth in new and longstanding analytics degree programs. Now is the time for institutions without an analytics offering to capitalize on this opportunity; time is running out to establish a market presence.
This study contains analyses of real-time labor market data and interviews with industry thought leaders, COE deans, and program directors. You can explore individual sections or download the full study.
The demand for data analytics credentials is evident in the 20-fold increase in data analytics master’s programs in the last five years. There has also been significant growth in nontraditional providers’ offerings—MOOCs, nanodegrees, and bootcamps. Competition to enroll analytics students will only escalate.
Simultaneously, AI and other automation technologies continuously evolve and will continue to encroach on highly-skilled professions, including data analytics. There is no steady state in analytics and deans and program directors must take steps to ensure their analytics programs remain market-relevant and attuned to changes in employers’ skill requirements.
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20x
Increase in data analytics master’s programs from 2011-2017
Prepare programs for emerging competitive and automation threats
As there are many ways to provide analytics credentials to core audiences (career starters, advancers, changers) a “one size fits all” credential strategy is inadvisable. EAB’s recommendation is to develop a portfolio of analytics credentials that enables COE units to serve these audiences. This portfolio must be adaptive to keep pace with a field where no steady state is foreseeable given technological disruption, greater credential competition, and fluctuations in the skills sought by employers.
Build an adaptive portfolio of analytics credentials
The adaptive analytics portfolio is built on three imperatives:
- Maximize credential applicability: Ensure the portfolio supports a range of student audiences with disparate career and skill acquisition objectives. Universities should allow specialists to customize their data analytics degrees through core skill-, function- and industry-specific electives. Programs can test the viability of customization options swiftly through rotating electives within analytics masters’ programs. Additionally, programs should accommodate applications from liberal arts graduates through alternative admissions and onboarding processes. Finally, universities should appeal to current or aspiring citizen data scientists via short-form credentials and analytics tracks embedded in existing masters’ programs.
- Track the technological edge: Develop an ongoing understanding of the competitive threats, technological trends, and emerging employer preferences within the field. Schools can track bootcamps’ market performance as a leading indicator of market and technological disruption within analytics. Institutions should also compare program curriculum with leading bootcamps regularly to acquire insight on emerging skillsets and employer requirements. Finally, program directors should supplement market insight gleaned from regional employers and program advisory boards with perspectives from working analytics professionals and leading edge companies.
- Realign the practicum to career priorities: Embed experiential learning to teach students to apply analytics to business problems and translate analytic insights into actionable business information. Analytics program directors can elevate employers’ role in assigning student projects to enhance a student’s client problem identification and scoping skills. Schools should consider providing provide a dedicated project management advisor to instill client and project management skills among students. Finally, program directors should structure a practicum to demonstrate the importance of communicating project advice effectively to clients.
Launch a data analytics program
Analytics’ transformative impact on industry has led to strong demand for analytics talent. The field’s rapid evolution creates opportunities for COE units to support upskilling by current and aspiring analytics specialists as well as working professionals seeking to keep abreast of technological advances. For universities yet to capitalize on the growing demand for analytics credentials, this four-step process distills key new program development lessons.
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