Just as colleges and universities find themselves in the middle of a digital transformation, so does the world of work. As emerging technologies become more integrated into today’s work environments, the more necessary it is for college and university students to be data literate when they graduate.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report lists critical thinking and problem-solving at the top of the list of skills that future employees will require to be successful. Other skills employers think will grow in importance are self-management, active learning, resilience, stress tolerance, and flexibility. Now, data literacy joins the roster as an essential skill, not just something nice to have.
In a new report, 85 percent of C-suite executives reveal their belief that being data-literate will be as vital in the future as the ability to use a computer is today. The amount of data that employees have read and analyzed in the last twelve months has doubled as data is part of every function in businesses today.US workers who have data literacy skills are expected to earn 20 percent more than non-data literate colleagues.
Data literacy skills drive successful business outcomes
There is a considerable gap between how employees and C-suite executives view the level of data literacy in their companies. Only 11 percent of employees are confident in their ability to manipulate and analyze data, whereas executives estimate that more than half (55 percent) of their employees feel qualified to do so. The report estimates that 45 percent of global employees would change jobs if they felt they could get better preparation for the future workplace elsewhere. 35 percent have done this over the last year. The value of data skills is clear as US workers with these skills are expected to earn 20 percent more according to the report’s findings.
Corporate leaders are increasing their investment in data literacy training and upskilling their workforce by 49 percent over the coming twelve months. By boosting the performance and prosperity of their employees and teams across the company, leaders will ensure steady growth for their companies. They will also empower people with the skills to move into newly created roles in an increasingly data-driven world. Investing in data management and analytics results in increased revenue and profit, customer satisfaction, and employee productivity.
“Ultimately, data literacy will mean using the intelligence from analytic data pipelines to make decisions that only humans can make,” said Gerd Leonhard, Futurist and Author. “It will be understanding the context, using judgment and doing a reality check on what the data actually means.”
Data literacy changes the decisions that employees will make
Increasingly, the ability to understand and analyze the data will be essential in any employee’s tool kit. It’s important that colleges and universities help students acquire data literacy skills while in school. Institutions need to invest in data literacy training for their own institution’s management, but also so that their graduates are prepared for their first professional jobs when they graduate.
Data is already making an impact in the C-suite. 84 percent of executives report they frequently find new insights in the data to help solve problems, make decisions more quickly (85 percent), and more confidently (86 percent). More than half of them (58 percent) believe that data literacy will help them stay relevant in their roles with the growing adoption of artificial intelligence. More than three-quarters of them believe that if they don’t keep up their data skills, their own jobs could be at risk.
Colleges and universities must help their students understand that to have a successful career, they will need to be lifelong learners. As emerging technology and automation change the type of work we do, we know that workers who are data literate will make better, quicker decisions powered by AI-powered data.