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I've observed this myself and it's creating a weird dynamic in data science. More often, companies are requiring PhDs for their entry level data science positions. (Because there's a surplus of people who want to enter the field and it's difficult to tell who will ultimately be successful. Possessing a PhD is a good predictor of success.)

But there are very few American-born students going on to get PhDs who are interested in industry because, well, why would they waste another 5 years in school when they can get software engineering jobs with only a BS or MS? According to this study [1], 38% of all data scientists are non-US citizens and nearly half of early-career data scientist are non-US citizens. It's weird that we're pushing US citizens out of data science.

[1] http://burtchworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Burtch-Wor...




When you say "data science" does that encompass traditionally educated statisticians and business intelligence folks? If you only count the practitioners out there who self-identify as data scientists you get a pretty incomplete sample of what the field actually is.




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