How Big Data Is Leading a Greater Demand for STEM Students
Did you know that in 2015, there were 9 million STEM workers in the US only? ( Oxford Physics ) According to the data published by Economics & Statistics Administration, this was nearly 6.1 percent of all US workers – and the number is probably even more impressive by now.
This statistics clearly show how much the job market is changing. The technological progress caused the demand for completely new specialists – the ones, who are able to handle new tasks that appear each year. That’s what caused the creation and the development of STEM education programs.
What is STEM education?
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The purpose of such education is to teach students to be flexible and effective in problem-solving, to learn how to react to challenges quickly, how to switch fields, and so on. STEM education is focused on developing students’ creativity and critical thinking, helping them to become the kind of employees the future needs – skilled in technology and science and able to take new jobs.
According to Forbes, the most highly paid jobs in the STEM field currently are engineering-related once and analytics-related ones – including the ones that require data analysis.
The importance of Big Data in the modern world
Big Data is the massive volume of information collected from various daily business operations. Its impact on the modern business world is massive. By analyzing these data we are able to understand better how businesses work, analyze the risks and the profits more effectively, predict trends, and so on. Analyzing Big Data can even help you hire new employees more effectively – but only when you know how to use it right.
The importance of Big Data was quickly realized by both big and small businesses. Each and every company, from Apple to EssayWriterSite is able to benefit from analyzing such data – and, obviously, it requires specialists able to work with it.
The good news is there already are such specialists. According to the Fortune website, the number of undergraduates who have chosen statistics as their major increased nearly twice during the past four years. The bad news is there still aren’t enough of them – most likely because the importance of choosing a career in statistics isn’t emphasized enough.
But choosing to work with Big Data isn’t simply important – it could also benefit the students in many ways.
Why it’s good for the students to learn how to work with Big Data?
The first and the most obvious reason is that such career is very important. Just like Big Data is used in the business industry these days, it is also used in other industries as well – in science, in medicine, etc. For students who do want to change the world and make an important impact, choosing a career in statistics is a great way to do so. Data science could help them discover new, important things that haven’t been discovered before.
Also, data science and data analysis are one of the most rewarding fields for those, who don’t want to stop learning. Of course, there are plenty of careers that require sharpening your skills all the time – but not all of them are as challenging, huge, and interesting as statistics is. The technologies change incredibly quickly – and learning how to react to those changes is simply crucial for the professionals working in data science. Students will need to not only strengthen their research skills but also improve in data classification and verification.
Moreover, there are also obvious benefits like high demand and good pay. Students majoring in statistics and data science can come work with major US companies for the pretty impressive salaries. According to the data published by InfoWorld in 2015, an average pay to people having at least Big Data skills was over $120,000 a year – and you can surely assume that the number is bigger by now. And, of course, the number of companies students could work with is pretty impressive as well – they could easily work in the Silicon Valley if they want to.
Summing this up, the future is already here. The technological progress changed the job market already, building a high demand for professionals who could handle completely new challenges. Moreover, the students these days have even more career options than before – and could easily pursue a STEM career, receiving all the perks of it.
Kevin is a professional educator and a private tutor with over 8 years of experience. He is also a content writer for various blogs about higher education, entertainment, social media & blogging. During his off time, Kevin enjoys traveling and cooking. Feel free to connect with him on Twitter, Linkedin & Google+.