Data science is a major that focuses on utilizing computer skills and inferential reasoning to interpret data and draw conclusions about larger populations. The degree incorporates many skills, such as computer science, mathematics, statistics, coding and social science. These skills are valuable on their own but will be utilized mainly to collect, clean and visualize data while identifying and attempting to explain trends.
“If you have good math skills, and you feel like you’re not putting them to use enough and would like to get more into the technology field,” said Grant Jones, a senior data science major.
“I think it’s a really great major.”
Essential skills within the data science major are math skills, technical skills, programming skills and, of course, workplace skills. Statistics and algorithms are a big part of gathering data as well as utilizing and sometimes building machine learning models.
Technical skills, such as artificial intelligence, or AI, data manipulation and data mining are important within the major as well, and jobs around AI have been expanding recently with further developments in programs such as ChatGPT.
Programming skills are both extremely useful and profitable. Knowing a coding language is a skill that is sought after by many employers outside of just the data science job field.
Common workplace skills, such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration and project management or presentation are still valuable, and building these skills will increase your value in any field you consider.
“I like how the mathematics is applied to the computer science because I’m not a theoretical math person, so it feels like it’s more practical to me,” Jones said. “And I feel like I’m a fairly social person, especially for being a technology major, so I’d like to somehow leverage my people skills in my career as well as my knowledge of computer science and math.”
The marketplace for data science majors allows for growth and collaboration between different professions. Some jobs that are in demand for students graduating with data science degrees are data scientist, data analyst, data engineer, data architect, machine learning engineer and business intelligence engineer.
The average data scientist determines which questions their teams should be asking and how to answer those questions with the data they have access to, often producing predictive models to theorize outcomes.
Data analysts collect, analyze and evaluate data sets as well as review and organize past data to perform statistical calculations and find trends for clients, typically businesses. Data engineers build systems that collect and store data for data analyzers to utilize later, and data architects create the plans for storage and organization for the data engineers to build.
Machine learning engineers design the architecture used in AI programming. They work with other data scientists and programmers to automate AI to detect patterns, filter data and perform calculations. Business intelligence engineers design, install and maintain data systems that analyze large data chunks for financial and business purposes.
All these careers use skills developed throughout earning a data science degree. The different jobs offer different focuses and interests within the major and can be maximized by having a concentration within your data science major.
