The main aim of this work was to explore how online training events, outside of traditional academic courses, can support Social Science, Arts and Humanities (SHAPE) students to develop data skills. There is international demand for data skills in the workplace, and Governments are increasingly concerned with how quantitative data skills are acquired for 21st Century jobs. If SHAPE students are trained in data skills they can enter into statistical professions and data careers. Online learning has risen significantly in the last decade, and even more so since the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the field of social research methods, online learning has grown rapidly and there is an emerging literature on the pedagogy. Data skills are vital for research and there is acknowledgement that online learning can play a role in data skills training. The data collection contains anonymised transcripts from 8 qualitative semi-structured individual interviews with SHAPE students who attended UK Data Service online training events. The interviews explored why the student had attended the UKDS event, what they learnt from it, how it has supported the development of data skills and how this will help their career. Ten students participated in the original study – we have consent from eight of ten the students to share their anonymised data in this repository.

The studied population were SHAPE students (postgraduate and undergraduate) who had attended UKDS foundational-level online training events. A sampling frame of attendees at UKDS online training events was used. A purposive sample was then drawn using the following eligibility criteria: attendees at foundational level online events between May 2021-March 2022 who self-identified as students (undergraduates or postgraduates undertaking taught or research degrees) from SHAPE disciplines and who had consented to be contacted for further research. Those identifying as STEM students and/or who had only attended events with a more advanced methods focus were excluded. This resulted in a final sample of 67 students, each of which was sent a personalised email asking them if they would like to participate in the research. This resulted in a final achieved sample of 10 students (9 postgraduates and 1 undergraduate at the time they attended the training event). Participating students came from a range of SHAPE disciplines including political science, criminology, sociology, economics, social policy, health and finance. Each student had attended at least one UKDS online training event and they had collectively attended 10 events, with some attending more than one event. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the 10 students in July 2022, using a flexible interview protocol. Each interview lasted 30-40 minutes and was conducted online using Microsoft Teams. Interviews were recorded and consent was obtained both in writing and verbally. The interview involved questions on the participant’s experience of the event(s), why they attended, what they had learnt, whether they were using what they had learnt and if it had influenced their future work. Eight out of the ten students who were interviewed agreed for their data to be shared in a data repository.