Building Data Literacy through Tableau: Launching a Workshop Series for Graduate Business Students

Abstract

Business librarians are increasingly being asked to engage in co-curricular partnerships, supporting students outside of the classroom as they prepare for their professional futures. Collaborating with colleagues in Career Management can help librarians identify learning opportunities for students to learn new skillsets and engage with new technologies. At the Walker Management Library, which serves the Owen Graduate School at Vanderbilt University, we are increasingly hearing students requesting opportunities to learn more about working with data, including programming languages and data visualization software programs. We explored the demand for and feasibility of creating a multi-session data visualization workshop for graduate business students and launched our first program in the spring of 2020. I will highlight the rationale for this programming, as well as the lessons we have learned from offering this workshop four times, including key partnerships, design elements, and valuable student feedback.According to Gartner, a technological research and consulting firm, "By 2023, data literacy will become an explicit and necessary driver of business value, demonstrated by its formal inclusion in over 80% of data and analytics strategies and change management programs" (Duncan, 2020, p. 2). The demand for data literacy skills in the workplace requires deliberate placement of these skillsets to be embedded deeper in academic curriculums. A 2022 LinkedIn report "A Skills-First blueprint for Better Job Outcomes," argues that "the pandemic pulled the future forward, and digital skills are accelerating across all sectors" (p. 4). Data drawn from aggregated information from LinkedIn's global membership examined skill sets listed as requirements for jobs from 2015-2022 and found a 25% change. Analysts project a 50% change in skillsets for roles in 2027. Helping students build a foundation of digital literacy empowers them to gain confidence to enhance their skillsets as they continue lifelong upskilling in the professional world.