[billo-ollib]

Just adding to your point to define what exactly data science is these days. I've been interviewing intermittently for the last few weeks and different companies mean different things when they mean data scientist. It's a catchall-term which includes some of the following: data analyst, data engineer, business analyst, machine learning engineer, product/growth analyst etc. For all of these, I would say that a PhD is not required.

Another thing I've observed is that even when a PhD is required, companies usually add "or equivalent work experience" (4+ YOE) in their requirements.