Is a master's in public policy going to still be valuable with the rise
January 20, 2020 5:28 PM Subscribe
I have been contemplating on doing a master's in economics or public policy (or one first and the other second). Will public policy still be valuable with the rise of computer science/STEM?
I feel like public policy might not be as valuable in ten years because a lot of jobs value computer programming and the rise of AI will slash a lot of jobs. Would I be better off studying economics with a computational programming focus and maybe data science instead of public policy? I have been thinking about Stanford's MA in International Policy, which is heavily econ focused (econometrics and statistics and machine learning as well). Yet I am worried a lot of government jobs will require programming of some sort in the future, which I am willing to learn. Does anyone have advice on what to do? I have also always wanted to work for a tech company as well, but I would only have the Economics/Policy side if I go that route.
I feel like public policy might not be as valuable in ten years because a lot of jobs value computer programming and the rise of AI will slash a lot of jobs. Would I be better off studying economics with a computational programming focus and maybe data science instead of public policy? I have been thinking about Stanford's MA in International Policy, which is heavily econ focused (econometrics and statistics and machine learning as well). Yet I am worried a lot of government jobs will require programming of some sort in the future, which I am willing to learn. Does anyone have advice on what to do? I have also always wanted to work for a tech company as well, but I would only have the Economics/Policy side if I go that route.
Your worry is an important sense correct. For any serious job where you are supposed to draw conclusions or make decisions from data, coding and relational database skills are becoming essential — laying out data on 2D spreadsheets and throwing Excel functions at it simply won’t cut it before long.
This won’t devalue top MPP or MIR programs as much as it will make the subset of their graduates who lack real data skills less valuable/employable, absent their ability and willingness to get soft jobs and bullshit their way through things their colleagues do that require this sophistication.
posted by MattD at 6:17 PM on January 20, 2020 [3 favorites]
This won’t devalue top MPP or MIR programs as much as it will make the subset of their graduates who lack real data skills less valuable/employable, absent their ability and willingness to get soft jobs and bullshit their way through things their colleagues do that require this sophistication.
posted by MattD at 6:17 PM on January 20, 2020 [3 favorites]
Maybe it's because I work in a demographic research institute, but the MPP programs I know of are all preparing students to have data analyst skills. Have you looked at the specifics of the programs? Data analysis is part of the core skills in public policy work these days.
posted by advicepig at 7:03 AM on January 21, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by advicepig at 7:03 AM on January 21, 2020 [4 favorites]
Hello! I do not exactly have a MPP but my graduate degree and chosen field are PP-adjacent.
Posts above all make good points. I think you're setting up PP/IR as completely orthogonal to data science or maths or econ when this is very much no longer the case. My degree included healthy doses of all of these, and it was not a particularly "technical" program.
Without intending to be snarky, the "rise" of CS began when I was in elementary school, i.e. nearly 25 years ago now. PP and IR jobs aren't what they used to be, but it's not as if they're going extinct because Amazon and Google somehow Disrupted them out of existence. Yes, data is increasingly important part of these sorts of jobs, and it will make you vastly more marketable as a candidate. However, in my 7+ years of experience "soft" skills (barf) are absolutely indispensable for the success of projects, initiatives, whathaveyou, and that's one thing AI is not imminently set to replace. (I say this as someone whose "soft" repertoire needs work.) Neither skillset is sufficient entirely on its own, but by the same token neither is disposable.
Yeah, critical thinking and effective communication may be "bullshit" in our current STEM-über-alles job market, but people are mostly fuelled by weird annoying bullshit, and policy, ultimately, aims to affect...people. Stats, econ, and DA are fundamental, and MattD is correct that you don't want to accidentally end up in a job where your skills don't match the environment, but I don't think you should shy away from the field because you're afraid every think tank is going to be staffed exclusively with programmers in 2035.
I mean, n=anecdote here, but the aspect of the job employers in my field are currently trying to automate out of existence (or at least down to a bare minimum number of folks) is...data collection and analysis. No shit, I have a company trying to recruit me for this literally as I type. The coders and data scientists at my current and former companies are specifically tasked with "optimizing processes" and "creating new tools" that will allow companies to employ as few of them as possible. It's not going to be rolled out tomorrow or maybe even in the next few years, but it's very much a goal. Even coders aren't safe from the dread spectre of Automation, so you might as well specialize in what lights your fire.
TL;DR: you need data skills to understand a lot of WTF is going on, might happen, what you're going to argue might or should happen, but the distinguishing positive traits and skills for PP/IR go way beyond just being a genius data analyst, and aren't in danger of being automated anytime in the near future. Make sure your program has solid quant, stats etc. components and find opportunities to use and hone those skills so you have as many options as possible when you hit the job market. Yay public policy!
posted by peakes at 1:20 PM on January 21, 2020 [4 favorites]
Posts above all make good points. I think you're setting up PP/IR as completely orthogonal to data science or maths or econ when this is very much no longer the case. My degree included healthy doses of all of these, and it was not a particularly "technical" program.
Without intending to be snarky, the "rise" of CS began when I was in elementary school, i.e. nearly 25 years ago now. PP and IR jobs aren't what they used to be, but it's not as if they're going extinct because Amazon and Google somehow Disrupted them out of existence. Yes, data is increasingly important part of these sorts of jobs, and it will make you vastly more marketable as a candidate. However, in my 7+ years of experience "soft" skills (barf) are absolutely indispensable for the success of projects, initiatives, whathaveyou, and that's one thing AI is not imminently set to replace. (I say this as someone whose "soft" repertoire needs work.) Neither skillset is sufficient entirely on its own, but by the same token neither is disposable.
Yeah, critical thinking and effective communication may be "bullshit" in our current STEM-über-alles job market, but people are mostly fuelled by weird annoying bullshit, and policy, ultimately, aims to affect...people. Stats, econ, and DA are fundamental, and MattD is correct that you don't want to accidentally end up in a job where your skills don't match the environment, but I don't think you should shy away from the field because you're afraid every think tank is going to be staffed exclusively with programmers in 2035.
I mean, n=anecdote here, but the aspect of the job employers in my field are currently trying to automate out of existence (or at least down to a bare minimum number of folks) is...data collection and analysis. No shit, I have a company trying to recruit me for this literally as I type. The coders and data scientists at my current and former companies are specifically tasked with "optimizing processes" and "creating new tools" that will allow companies to employ as few of them as possible. It's not going to be rolled out tomorrow or maybe even in the next few years, but it's very much a goal. Even coders aren't safe from the dread spectre of Automation, so you might as well specialize in what lights your fire.
TL;DR: you need data skills to understand a lot of WTF is going on, might happen, what you're going to argue might or should happen, but the distinguishing positive traits and skills for PP/IR go way beyond just being a genius data analyst, and aren't in danger of being automated anytime in the near future. Make sure your program has solid quant, stats etc. components and find opportunities to use and hone those skills so you have as many options as possible when you hit the job market. Yay public policy!
posted by peakes at 1:20 PM on January 21, 2020 [4 favorites]
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What is absolutely true is that there is a rise in the importance of economics and analytics when it comes to policy analysis, vs more theoretical approaches. I would predict it will be important for you to collaborate closely with data analysts (who do some programming but aren't usually full coders) so it's important to pick a program like Stanford that teaches that, or just orient your classes towards more analytical subjects. You need to decide if you want to focus on low level analysis and implementation or higher level policy, but both will be needed and need to work together
posted by JZig at 5:44 PM on January 20, 2020 [4 favorites]