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Can an Undergraduate Degree in Economics Set Me Up for a Career in Business Analytics
2020violet
12 replies3 threads Junior Member
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Replies to: Can an Undergraduate Degree in Economics Set Me Up for a Career in Business Analytics
Note that the social sciences often share approaches with respect to data analysis. The study of economics would seem appropriate for you, but you might also enjoy exploring similar analytical methods through courses in interesting fields such as psychology and sociology.
https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/shauna-sweet-03-shares-career-path-in-data-science
Data analytics today is dominated by big data, and big data requires an understanding of computer science in addition to statistics. You need to know how to manipulate the data using programming and big data tools like SQL and Hadoop. For that reason, if I was advising a student who knew up front they wanted to be a data scientist, I'd advise them to pursue heavy coursework in both math/statistics and in computer science.
However, I'm a behavioral scientist myself, and I work closely with data scientists. The best and most useful data scientists have some grip on social/behavioral sciences (either formally or through work), because companies often want to know why people are behaving the way they do, not just how they are behaving. The why helps them make decisions about what to do with the behavior. The average or bad data scientists just dump a bunch of information on people and shrug when asked "why?" The good ones come up with reasonable explanations for the data that the company can act on.
Economics, when done correctly, is a highly quantitative field. However, many undergraduate economics programs focus more on the social science and theoretical aspects of the major, and you often have to choose to take the math and statistics on your own (and definitely the CS). Honestly, I would propose thinking about creating your own independent major that is an amalgamation of economics, statistics, and computer science. If that's not appealing or you can't do that, my next recommendation would actually be to major in statistics, minor in economics, and then take lots of courses in computer science (ask an advisor which ones would be most useful for a future data analyst).
If you want to major in economics, that's fine too! But you have to make sure you are getting good, deep exposure to statistics and computer science, so talk to a stats advisor about your career aspirations and get help setting up a program that will take you there.