Data Science Research Fellow, Higher Education Finance (JFI)

Jain Family Institute; New York (NY); On-site; USD 24,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

The Jain Family Institute invites a Data Science Research Fellow in Higher Education Finance (HEF) to join a small, interdisciplinary team and contribute to analyses of student debt affordability and access.

The fellowship offers a monthly stipend of $2,500 for about 20–25 hours per week over six months, with potential extension; responsibilities include data cleaning, visualization, and documenting findings for non-econometrics readers.

Qualifications

• Experience with data wrangling and visualization.
• Proficiency in R or Python; Stata a plus.
• Strong interest in higher education research (access, affordability, accountability, financing).
• Good time-management and presentation skills.
• Knowledge of econometrics, experimental/quasi-experimental design and causal inference is a plus.
• Familiarity with ETL processes.

Responsibilities

• Cleaning, wrangling, and analyzing confidential data pertaining to the student debt crisis
• Creating visualizations and summary statistics
• Writing/summarizing/documenting data capabilities or conclusions for non-econometrics readers

Skills

Data manipulations and visualizations

R or Python (Stata a plus)

HE research interest

Time management

Econometrics/experimental design

ETL familiarity

Job description

Data Science Research Fellow, Higher Education Finance (JFI)

Posted on December 09, 2019

Overview

The Higher Education Finance (HEF) research team at JFI is examining the supply side of the higher education market and looking at new ways to quantify access and cost. JFI will utilize these new research tools to inform the student debt dialogue.

JFI is an applied social science research organization. Our work investigates and influences the structural forces of society. Our interdisciplinary team collaborates with industry, government, and academia to pilot scalable, high-impact interventions. The research fellow will join a small team of practitioners with backgrounds in normative ethics, economics, decision theory, public policy, data science, education policy, finance, and philosophy and will work closely with JFI’s HEF Project Lead and team.

The fellowship carries a monthly stipend of $2,500 for approximately 20–25 hours of work per week over six months.

Responsibilities

The fellow's tasks will include:

• Cleaning, wrangling, and analyzing confidential data pertaining to the student debt crisis
• Creating visualizations and summary statistics
• Writing/summarizing/documenting data capabilities or conclusions for non-econometrics readers

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Expertise in data manipulations and visualizations
• Expertise in statistical programming using R or Python; Stata a plus.
• Expertise and interest in higher education research - access, affordability, accountability, and financing aspects.
• Time-management and presentation skills
• Knowledge in finance, econometrics, experimental and quasi-experimental design and causal inference a plus
• Familiarity with ETL.

Helpful Skills and Qualifications

• Familiarity with the supply side of the HEF market
• Strong background in econometrics and data manipulation
• Demonstrated experience as a research assistant or comparable experience in applied research
• Monthly stipend of $2,500 paid in semi-monthly installments of $1,250
• Opportunities to meet with leading scholars, policy experts, and business leaders
• Dependent upon the success of the project, the fellowship may be extended a further six months.

About JFI

The Jain Family Institute is a research incubator that builds promising ideas into real-world pilots. Our work investigates and influences the structural forces that affect the way people live, work, and learn. Our team collaborates with industry, government, and academia to pilot scalable, high-impact interventions.

For details about our staff and current projects, see http://www.jainfamilyinstitute.org/.