Database Reference
In-Depth Information
strong social mission in addition to supplying talent to startups and companies
such as Facebook and Google.
I believe we'll see these topics get pushed earlier and earlier in a students'
education. What was once the province of PhDs is now being taught to
Masters students, Masters curriculum is being offered to undergrads, then to
high schoolers and so on. So instead of just math, it will be math and stats.
It will be not just taking Spanish or French, but taking Spanish or French and
scripting. Whether it's CodeNow or any one of the fantastic initiatives that
have emerged, we are seeing these topics brought into schools earlier and
earlier in the lifecycle of students, which is something I find super exciting. A
greater emphasis on data literacy will happen. It just depends on how fast and
how soon. In New York City, you're seeing it happen on an experimental basis
in many schools, both public and private. I think it will rapidly become more
prevalent. The question is when will it be everywhere, not just in the intense
tech centers of New York, San Francisco, and Boston.
Gutierrez:
What is something you believe is already here but just not evenly
distributed in regards to data?
Ehrenberg:
I think its education and the knowledge of how to teach these
topics. The foundations of programming and data analysis are well-known and
understood. There's a relatively small group of people that are benefiting from
this knowledge. How this becomes a core part of the curriculum across the
country is a challenge. We need more dynamic and fluid measures of achieve-
ment that take into account abstract problem solving, statistics, and inter-
pretation of data—the stuff you actually need in the real world. I think that's
what's going to raise the entire country's standard of living and recreate the
middle that's been kind of squeezed out and pushed to the ends, which isn't
at all healthy for our country or society. The rise of data literacy will happen,
and it will be tremendous for society.
