Over the last decade, many academic libraries have hired data professionals in order to offer research data services. As these positions often require different types of experience than traditional librarian positions, there is an increased interest in hiring professionals from outside  the typical library and information science (LIS) pipeline. There has also been an increased interest in academic libraries and higher education more broadly to incorporate the principles and practices of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEI&A) into their work. These phenomena allow an opportunity to examine the growing area of data professionals and library hiring practices through the lens of DEI&A. We present data collected from 180 data professional job positions -- including the education, experiences, and skills -- to better understand the evolving and complex landscape of data professionals and provide evidence-based recommendations on what we, as a profession, can do to enact meaningful and lasting change in the areas of DEI&A.

This research study used deductive thematic analysis to examine data professional job postings that were posted from January 1, 2013 to June 30, 2018. We gathered these job postings from the following electronic mailing lists: 1) Code4Lib jobs list (n.d.), 2) International Association of Social Science Information Services & Technology jobs portal (n.d.), 3) Digital Library Federation Job Board (n.d.), 4) DataCure (n.d.), 5) Research Data Access and Preservation Association (n.d.), and 6) ACRL Science & Technology Section (n.d.). These data sources were chosen because they are known nationally, attract job postings from a diverse pool of academic libraries, and provide access to job postings during the chosen time frame.