This paper is from Session 5H: In search of evidence: exploring the relationship between real workplace based data and statistics education

which comes under Topic 5: Statistics education in the disciplines and the workplace

Workplace and official statistics: how can higher education contribute to a better relationship?

Presenter

• Mojca Bavdaž (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)

Co-authors

• Irena Ograjenšek (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)
• Lejla Perviz (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)

Abstract

Official statistics data are needed in the workplace (for benchmarking, market analysis, etc.) but have been largely under-utilized. A study among businesses of five countries in the BLUE-ETS project suggests it might be hard to find relevant data and use them adequately, which might also reflect the lack of search skills and knowledge about how to apply official statistics to the business situation and interpret the results. In this paper we link the origins of this state of affairs to higher education where an important part of future labor force obtains relevant knowledge about, attitudes towards, and skills to find and use, official statistics. Building on a survey among educators from the European EQUIS-accredited business schools, we aim to provide answers to two questions: (1) how can business school educators contribute to the broader use of official statistics, and (2) how can official statistics providers support business school educators.