Statistics graduates increasing nationwide, though by not enough to meet demand

The number of students entering the field of statistics is increasing, but not enough to fill the increasing demand, according to a report released by the American Statistical Association Thursday.

The report compared data released in two studies: one run by the National Center for Education Statistics, which showed the number of graduates with statistics degrees, and one run by McKinsey Global Institute, which showed the growing demand for statisticians.

The number of undergraduates in statistics has increased by over 300 percent since the 1990s, while the demand is projected to outpace this amount by 140,000 to 190,000 employees, the report stated.

David Morganstein, president of the ASA, said the demand for statistics workers has increased in a drastic way due to the increasing availability of data and a desire to make better decisions.

“You put them together, and what do you make better decisions on? Better data,” he said. “[With] the Internet, the whole big data world, there’s a great deal more information. Information can be tied together and connected in ways it couldn’t before, also leading to a desire to utilize that bigger network of information.”

Morganstein said this information increases the desire for statisticians in a variety of areas, including health care, government, education and business. He said the ASA was happy to see increased opportunities in the field of statistics and is optimistic that the supply of graduates in statistics will continue to increase.

“Some of our members are students, and knowing that there are great opportunities out there for students is a good thing. What we feel about this is we’ve got a job to do to make sure that [our student members] are aware of the opportunities,” Morganstein said.

The ASA is working to accomplish this by holding conferences with university department heads and industry representatives to assess what skills are needed from statistics graduates in hopes of improving statistics education, Morganstein said.

More colleges and universities are creating and expanding majors in statistics in response to these data, the press release stated.

“The number of universities granting degrees in statistics also has grown, increasing by 50% for bachelor’s degrees and 20% for master’s degrees from 2003 to 2014,” the report stated.

Several Boston University statistics students said they were enthusiastic about the growing opportunities in the field and said that these opportunities were a big part of why they chose statistics as a major.

Brigid Falvey, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said that taking a high school statistics class was another big contributor to her interest in statistics, and thinks that everyone should be required to take the course in high school.

“It’s one of the most useful things out there right now [and] I think everybody should have a basic knowledge of stats because we encounter it on a daily basis,” she said. “There’s just so many applications that when I do go into the workforce, I will have a lot of options, which will be nice.”

Ramya Ravindrababu, a junior majoring in statistics in CAS, said she agrees that as time goes on, everyone will need to have some level of understanding of statistics.

“I think that we really need data in a lot of things that we do these days,” she said. “I think, you know, a lot of the companies like Google and things like that that are prevalent, they use data in such a huge way to drive their decision making processes. I think that not being able to fill demand with skilled statisticians would really just result in lots of poor decision making.”

Morganstein said the current need for data is exactly why associations such as the ASA are working to spread interest in statistics.

“I’m very certain we can increase [the supply],” Morganstein said. “The bigger question is can we meet it? And that’s a challenge. I don’t know the answer to that. But we’re up for the challenge.”