A Conversation with Minerva Graduate Student Seito

This is part of a series of profiles introducing Minerva’s Master in Decision Analysis (MDA) students from the Class of 2023. If you would like to learn more about the MDA program, please visit minerva.edu/graduate-programs.

“Until I joined Minerva, I had the misconception that data science was a noble ability that only a select few could acquire. It’s definitely not an easy discipline, but I have a feeling that if you know how to do it, you don’t need to be a professional data scientist to be able to get valuable insights from a set of numbers,” shares Seito Horiguchi, a Class of 2023 Master in Decision Analysis student at Minerva.

Currently, Seito runs several businesses in SNS (social network services) marketing, technical consulting, and web development. He also manages a YouTube channel, where he shares insights about the tech industry and his career management experience. As part of his work, Seito recently became part of the management of an IT engineering team in his company’s Japan and Philippines branches, where he started learning about human resource development and cross-functional teamwork. This sparked his interest in uncovering what motivates employees to upskill and how we can help members of global teams acquire necessary knowledge in the most efficient and effective way. The experience led Seito to discover and apply to Minerva — a university that focuses on nurturing critical skills in a global context.

Reflecting on the value of the MDA Program, Seito identifies the institution’s vision as one of the primary value drivers — Minerva’s vision of revolutionizing education by challenging and questioning current learning approaches. Seito shares that in Japanese universities, education quality tends to be proportional to family income, faculty prioritize their own research rather than educating students, and the introduction of information and communications technology is slower than in other countries. He believes that these trends can likely be observed to some extent in other parts of the world too but Minerva’s ideology aims to transcend such ties and achieve quality education accessible to anyone who truly strives to learn.

“Minerva is not just a university in the US that teaches a few hundred students. It is an institution that focuses on making the most out of education and ensuring students learn effectively. I think this is one of the most salient features differentiating Minerva from other universities,” shares Seito.

Seito plans to apply the knowledge obtained during his time at Minerva’s MDA program in the field of human resource development. At his previous job, he was responsible for creating employee training programs and project management plans, which gave him a deep understanding of the industry. Combined with his experience studying at Minerva using an active learning approach, Seito plans to further develop his understanding of how people learn better, so that he can provide the most relevant resources and tools for his global teams.