School of Business Students Selected to Present at Prestigious Conference

Three School of Business (School of Business) students were recently selected to present at the Northeast Decision Sciences Institute (NEDSI) Conference, to be held April 4-6 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Joao Vitor De Alvarenga Ferreira, Julia Costa Severo, and Akshaj Kabthiyal, all master’s in business analytics students in School of Business, will present their research titled, “Predicting Software Developer Salaries in the United States Using Unconventional Variables,” to scholars, leaders, and innovators from fields in accounting, education, finance, operations management, and many others.

The project began as part of the students’ advanced statistics class, Intermediary Statistical Modeling for Analytics. School of Business professor, Dr. Yue Gao served as mentor in the students’ efforts to apply for the presentation slot at NEDSI.

“All three have worked very hard,” Dr. Gao said. “I’m so proud of their efforts and to see them rewarded with the opportunity to present their research.”

Akshaj Kabthiyal said the group’s project stemmed from their own initial salary curiosities in the software development industry. As they delved deeper, the three noted that the additional skills required of software developers not only enhance their professional capabilities but also have a substantial impact on their earning potential. “However, traditional wage estimating platforms such as ‘salary.com’ often don’t take into account the complete range of attributes and skills that software developers possess,” he stated.

After searching for comprehensive industry salary data, the group came upon the 2023 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, which details statistics on software engineers’ career paths and demographics. With this new dataset, the students set out to “uncover new insights through a comprehensive data analysis method and utilizing machine learning techniques.”

“On top of building a predictive model by examining a wide range of attributes and skills,” Kabthiyal added, “we aimed to understand the intricate relationship between these variables and salary levels, providing valuable insights for both professionals and employers in the software development industry.”

The group is thrilled to share their research at NEDSI next month and, in an effort to support these types of student professional development, the School of Business will cover the students’ registration fees and travel expenses.

“This is wonderful,” added School of Business Dean Dr. David Jordan. “We’re obviously extremely proud of these students and grateful to Dr. Gao for guiding and mentoring them to their successful bid to present at NEDSI.”

Keep an eye out on School of Business’s Instagram page as Julia and Akshaj will be reporting “live” from the event on Friday, April 5. If you miss it, the content will be shared on School of Business’s highlights on their IG account.