The Broad Application of Data Science and Analytics: Essential Tools for the Liberal Arts Graduate.

New technologies and emerging fields, notably data science, are transforming public, private and non-profit organizations into analytics-intensive enterprises. Despite rapidly increasing demand for graduates with experience in the application of analytics, which is relevant to many disciplines, higher education, especially at the undergraduate level, has been slow to react. The academic and policy communities have engaged in a decade-long conversation about the need for—and more effective means of—boosting the number of students graduating with degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). However, this broader transformation will require many more college graduates, including those with non-STEM degrees, to be proficient in the application of analytics in their field, which provides an opportunity to take a fresh look at the skills of liberal arts graduates and the value of liberal arts degrees.