Data, professional judgment, and decision-making: challenges for manager education in graduate programs
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26439/pjm2026.n004.9168Keywords:
data literacy, evidence-based decision making, professional judgment, graduate education, management education, artificial intelligence, data ethics, organizational managementAbstract
Objectives: to critically examine the challenges facing graduate management education in developing an integrated competency in data, professional judgment, and responsible decision-making, within organizational contexts marked by growing availability of data, analytics, and artificial intelligence. Methodology: narrative review of scientific literature published mainly between 2022 and 2026, drawn from Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Emerald, SAGE, and Wiley, on data literacy, evidence-based/data-driven decision making, and AI literacy as applied to management education. Results: three convergent findings emerge: (a) persistent conceptual fragmentation among data literacy, digital literacy, data science, and AI literacy; (b) data availability does not automatically translate into effective managerial use, even two decades after evidence-based management proposed professional standards for it; and (c) a documented, unresolved gap remains in teaching these competencies in graduate management programs. Originality/value: the article integrates three literatures that have advanced largely in parallel - data literacy, evidence-based decision making, and the ethics of algorithmic support - into a single conceptual framework, and proposes curricular implications specifically for graduate management schools, an angle scarcely explored in the reviewed literature, particularly in the Latin American context. Practical implications: The article provides guidance for the curricular redesign of graduate programs toward the development of data-informed professional judgment, going beyond the mere teaching of analytical tools. Social implications: Management education that integrates data, judgment, and ethics can contribute to more responsible organizational decision-making in both the public and private sectors.
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