Why Data Skills Are Vital For MBA Students

Worried you don’t have enough coding experience? Don’t be, you’re not alone. Around half of candidates report little to no existing computer programming experience. Yet the majority (60 percent) noted learning to code during their programs is either very or extremely important, slightly higher for those interested in Business Analytics (69 percent) and slightly lower for MBA candidates (52 percent). SQL, R, and Python are the top languages that prospective students want exposure to within the business school experience.

The survey found candidates want to develop business intelligence dashboarding and visualization techniques first and foremost. And further down the list come more advanced techniques such as regression analysis, predictive analytics, and machine/deep learning.

Candidates are seeking opportunities to pick up these skills by leveraging cross-campus resources. Around 50 percent of the prospective business school students spoken to - both MBA and Business Analytics focused - expect to take courses in statistics and computer science departments. This multi-disciplinary approach was echoed throughout the survey results. In fact, business school candidates believe the best data minds of tomorrow must develop their analytical toolkit across multiple schools and departments.

Employers are increasingly targeting new hires who are data literate. Business schools have responded to this demand by incorporating more analytics training into MBA programs and building new, standalone Business Analytics programs to help address the talent shortage.

Do you want to be indispensable to your organization and lead data driven change? Check out the nearly 50 programs that we included in the QS World University Rankings: Masters in Business Analytics Rankings 2018 and stay tuned for our 2019 edition coming this September.