Guides: Data Science Minor Study & Career Guide: Training Resources

Training Resources

The data science career track is highly in demand. These resources can help you transition from the classroom to the industry.

Pepperdine Data Science Minor Curriculum

The Data Science Minor is open to all undergraduates at Seaver College and offers two distinct tracks. The curriculum emphasizes computational methods, machine learning, and statistical foundations.

Essential Data Science Roles

Career Path	Primary Focus	Key Skills to Master
Data Analyst	Generating insights, reporting, business intelligence.	Python/R, SQL, Tableau/Power BI, Excel, Foundational Statistics.
Data Scientist	Predictive modeling, developing machine learning solutions.	Python/R, Advanced ML/Deep Learning, Statistics, Cloud Services (AWS/Azure).
Data Engineer	Building and maintaining data infrastructure/pipelines.	SQL (NoSQL/MySQL), ETL tools, Distributed Computing (Spark), Programming (Java/Python).
ML Engineer	Scaling and deploying ML models into production systems.	Python/C++, TensorFlow/PyTorch, MLOps, Software Engineering principles.

Professional Training & Portfolio Development

Use your student status to access or explore these widely-used platforms to earn certifications and build a portfolio.

Platform	Recommended Focus	Benefit for Students
Coursera & edX	Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate, IBM AI Engineering Specializations, and university-level courses in Machine Learning.	Earn professional, employer-recognized credentials and build projects to showcase your skills.
DataCamp	Interactive courses and projects in Python, R, SQL, and data visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI).	Hands-on, practical skill-building in the most in-demand data science technologies.
IBM SkillsBuild	Free courses and digital badges in Data Science, AI, and professional job readiness skills.	A valuable, no-cost way to gain foundational knowledge and industry badges.