{"id":59273,"date":"2021-09-09T05:07:08","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T09:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=59273"},"modified":"2021-09-09T05:07:08","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T09:07:08","slug":"data-science-education-lacks-a-much-needed-focus-on-ethics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/data-science-education-lacks-a-much-needed-focus-on-ethics\/","title":{"rendered":"Data science education lacks a much-needed focus on ethics"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nUndergraduate training for data scientists – dubbed the\u00a0sexiest job of the 21st century<\/a>\u00a0by Harvard Business Review – falls short in preparing students for the ethical use of data science, our new study found.<\/p>\n

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 create\u00a0personalized medicine based on a patient\u2019s genes<\/a>\u00a0and how businesses can make\u00a0purchase predictions based on customers\u2019 behavior<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects\u00a0a 15% growth in data science careers over the period of 2019-2029<\/a>, 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 from\u00a013 in 2014<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0at least 50<\/a>\u00a0as of September 2020.<\/p>\n

As educators and practitioners in\u00a0data science<\/a>, we were prompted by the growth in programs to investigate what is covered, and what is not covered, in data science undergraduate education.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0our study<\/a>, we compared undergraduate data science curricula with the expectations for\u00a0undergraduate data science training<\/a>\u00a0put 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.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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 with\u00a0prior work<\/a>\u00a0that 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.
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