Brian Fitzgerald of BHEF delivers opening plenary at SSI 2015.

Webinar of the Week: STEM Skills for All

During the 15th annual SENCER Summer Institute, SENCER Co-PI and SCI-MidAtlantic co-director Monica Devanas and her assistant Yuxi Chen captured film footage of various talks and presentations. This series highlights the collection, packaged as webinars, to spark ideas and inspiration, share knowledge and strategies, and celebrate the wide-ranging and deep-reaching work performed by our SENCER community.

Liberal arts majors have plenty of skills that industries prize, such as communications, problem solving, and critical thinking. What if liberal arts majors were also equipped with data literacy?

In his webinar, Brian Fitzgerald discusses the increased demand for STEM skills in today’s job market, and how that affects liberal arts majors. Brian is the CEO of the Business Higher Education Forum (BHEF), a membership organization of Fortune 500 CEOs, college and university presidents, and other leaders who collaborate to promote innovation and enhance the United State’s global competitiveness. BHEF fosters academic and business partnerships by researching and analyzing workforce needs and curricular gaps, and promoting the co-design of new programs and courses that meet the needs of both industry and academia.

According to BHEF’s research, data analytics is the most-desired skill set in New York City’s financial services sector. Yet, BHEF also found that nearly all data science education is targeted at graduate students. Since approximately half of the job postings from BHEF’s study required a baccalaureate degree, this suggests that programs helping undergraduates become data literate would meet industry needs and equip students with in-demand skills, making them more attractive to potential employers.

Brian explored this topic and others during his plenary presentation at the 2015 SENCER Summer Institute. For more information about his organization’s work, you can access slides from his plenary.

To learn more about BHEF’s research, partnerships, and future plans, watch the webinar.

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