INFORMS Open Forum

  • 1.  Promoting analytics careers

    Posted 08-01-2023 13:38

    When I interview members for the What's Your StORy? series, a question I sometimes ask is "How could we promote OR/MS and analytics careers to high school students - or younger?" I'd like to open that question here to the whole community. More specifically, how could INFORMS help with this promotion, or how could individuals or organizations help high school students consider this career choice?

    The upcoming Summer issue of OR/MS Today touches on this subject as well, so don't miss it :)



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    Kara Tucker
    Editor
    Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
    Catonsville MD
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  • 2.  RE: Promoting analytics careers

    Posted 08-02-2023 02:36

    That's a great idea Kara. I think it would be important to arouse their curiosity as techniques are secondary, even so with so many smart tools around. We have just presented in the INFORMS Healthcare conference last week and we found that when the AI answers are elaborated in the YA (Young Adult) language, they will be more likely to follow the machine's suggestions. We plan to write it up as an article and please let me know if this fits into your issue.

    Cheers,

    Aaron



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    Aaron Lai
    Director of Data and Analytics
    Manifest Medex
    Emeryville CA
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Promoting analytics careers

    Posted 08-02-2023 09:56

    This is likely way more than what you're looking for, but here goes. Many states are updating standards for secondary schools to include data science. In some cases data science is becoming a math pathway (or at least part of one) as an alternative (or addition) to traditional college algebra/trig/calculus.  Getting elements of OR in that data science course or pathway would embed it in the high school curriculum that more and more students will take. This is a big lift as it requires working and having influence with state departments of education. 



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    Betty Love
    Professor
    University of Nebraska at Omaha
    Omaha NE
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Promoting analytics careers

    Posted 08-02-2023 12:38

    You can start really early!  When my daughter was in first (maybe second or third) grade, I did the following exercise with her class.  For each member of the class, I printed out from Mapquest (Google Maps didn't exist yet) the route from each child's home to the elementary school, which gave them the distance from their house to the school.  I then gave a short introduction to shortest path problems and how they are solved, and even had them solve by hand a simple problem with 6 nodes. 

    Then I had them all sort themselves by the distance from their house to the school.  So they got some sense of how math has some real world applications.

    Whether that had any impact on their future careers is unknown.  But my real goal was to get more of them to walk instead of drive!  That's because some parents would drive their kids two blocks to school.



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    -Irv Lustig
    Optimization Principal
    Princeton Consultants
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Promoting analytics careers

    Posted 08-04-2023 08:18

    Ideally high schools would have a class in how to make decisions considering uncertainty.   However, changing the curriculum is very difficult.   We were successful in Eugene Oregon through the Decision Education Foundation ( The Decision Education Foundation | DEF )that promotes the use of Decision Quality in High School.   For a number of years prior to Covid they were given an opportunity to teach high school students from around the world during the summer about uncertainty and making good decisions at Stanford.

    Another organization that is talking about what they can do is the Society of Decision Professionals to educate youth.   (Society of Decision Professionals).   SDP is starting to work with Alliance for Decision Education (Alliance For Decision Education | Improving Decision Making)

    At one time I started to write with others a Scout Merit Badge on making good decisions, but the group lost energy.   New merit badges require a lengthy process and are difficult to have approved by National.   I have given presentations to Scout Units and to groups of adults.   Sent links to my YouTube channel to older scouts who are interested in math or probability.  

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQe6h4QIHvQ1Yje0SolEZCQ) 

    We try to promote the subject whenever there is an opportunity.     

                              Brian Putt



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    BRIAN PUTT
    Decision Scientist Consultant
    retired
    Fremont CA
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Promoting analytics careers

    Posted 08-05-2023 10:06

    At a high school parents' open house, I had a conversation with a math (geometry? algebra?) teacher that went something like this...

    Teacher: your daughter is an excellent artist

    Me:  uh, you teach math, right?

    Teacher: Yes. She creates wonderful drawings while I'm teaching.

    .....

    Me: would you like me to come to class some day? to explain how knowing math can be helpful?

    Teacher: Yes. maybe it would motivate (inspire?) the students. help them see the connections between learning math and something useful.

    Kara: I can't say my spiel with the students was a tremendous success. I did not prepare any slides, nor coordinate/integrate with the topics the math teacher was teaching at the time, and instead talked for maybe 5-10 minutes.

    One can imagine analytics professionals as guest speakers in high school classes, using visuals like Irv did with grade schoolers. If the OR topics could integrate with topics the high school teacher is covering that may lead to a lasting relationship, or even the high school teacher knowing enough so that he/she can teach the OR. For example, it may have been high school when i learned to solve with a set of multiple equations. That may flow naturally into the simplex method (not so much the algorithm perhaps, but rather applications of it to practice problems). If a handful (dozen?) INFORMS professionals tried this at their nearby high school, maybe a best practice (or two) would emerge, with materials shared with other INFORMS members for them to do the same.



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    John Milne
    Clarkson University
    Potsdam, NY
    jmilne@clarkson.edu
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Promoting analytics careers

    Posted 08-05-2023 13:18

    That's a disturbing story John. I'm a fan of the arts, but it's helpful if math teachers are passionate about math. I was the engineer at my local school years ago during a career day. My memory is the students were comparing professions and I got more questions about how much money an engineer makes rather than about the nature of the work.

    I like the concept of encouraging INFORMS members to reach out to the local schools to show the practical uses of math, and then sharing best practices within our community. Irv's example is wonderful. I have a copy of the Ken Chelst and Tom Edwards book "Does This Line Ever Move" which introduces OR to high school students through problems like speedy delivery services (shortest path), manufacturing sports shoes (LP), being stuck in a line (queuing), selling hotdogs at a high school (simulation), and choosing a college (decision analysis).

    The examples are the easy part. Where we need to share best practices is in how to direct students if they are interested. We can show up for 15 minutes and try to spark an interest, but then we leave and the teacher has to return to the curriculum. For students that really have an interest, how can we best direct them to on-line material, mentors, and other resources so they have an opportunity to build on that spark. There are resources out there, but would be good if we are prepared with them before walking into a math class.



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    David Hunt
    Vice President
    Oliver Wyman
    Princeton NJ
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Promoting analytics careers

    Posted 08-08-2023 13:25

    I read this thread with great interest. Why? From January 2021 to May 2022 I served as a volunteer assistant leader for a local middle school mathematics club. And since December 2017 I have served as an elected member of my local school board. A couple thoughts:

    1. We should remember that the COVID-19 pandemic changed the universe of K-12 education - especially public education - in the U.S (and, I imagine, in the rest of the world - but I can't speak to that).
    2. Partly due to the pandemic, but mostly (in my opinion) due to widespread and prolonged involvement of young people with social media, there is a major mental health crisis among our young people.
    3. Having been confined (sort of) for the whole of the pandemic, young people are now making the most of their (newfound) abilities to be out and about, sometimes with not-so-positive outcomes (https://www.phila.gov/2023-06-02-curfew-reform-in-philadelphia-and-other-cities/).
    4. OR/MS/Analytics professionals have been doing cool stuff with technology for decades. Wouldn't it be great is we, as a group, could redirect some of our young people's current interest in technology into interest(s) that provide rewarding and well-paying careers?

    It turns out that the folks in the K-12 subcommittee of the Education Outreach Committee have been thinking about these things. We have scheduled a panel session at the Annual Meeting in Phoenix and would like to invite anyone interested in making better futures for our young people to join us:

    October 15, 2023, 2:15 PM - 3:30 PM

    CC-ECC 212B

    Description

    In March 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic brought a sea change to K-12 education in the U.S. Every school district was forced into virtual learning overnight. Now that the pandemic is fading into the rear-view mirror, those who value the success of K-12 students have the opportunity to begin anew K-12 education outreach projects. Successful, sustained programs will simultaneously work within longstanding constraints facing public education in this country and leverage new opportunities resulting from pandemic response. Lessons learned from first-hand experience will be discussed.

    https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/?__hstc=194041586.7c95eda546a883014ae5c99a44646bb5.1691510973043.1691510973043.1691510973043.1&__hssc=194041586.15.1691510973043&__hsfp=1777561390&hsCtaTracking=8f511889-324a-41b3-a438-37ad295392e9%7C0c80c5d7-cc8d-4989-9b70-52de4c44b90b#!/10856/session/1185



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    Neil Desnoyers
    ndesnoye@sju.edu
    Adjunct Professor
    Saint Joseph's University
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    Original Message


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