Women in Data Science event

This event highlighted opportunities for women in the field while fostering an open discussion on the challenges and experiences of being a woman in data science.

Speakers included Fem Alonge, Data Analyst, Octopus Energy, Hannah Berry, Analyst Developer at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Professor Jennifer Hudson,Vice-Provost (Faculties), University College London, and Professor of Political Behaviour and Julia de Romémont,Lecturer in Quantitative Research Methods and Political Science in the Department of Political Science at UCL and Deputy Director of SODA.

During the panel discussion we asked the speakers the following questions:

How did you enter the field you are currently working in and what sparked your interest in data science?

Hannah Berry:
I didn't really begin with any knowledge about statistics or maths, but I did some political statistics during my undergraduate degree. I started to learn more about data, relational databases and began teaching myself  SQL (Structured Query Language). I then I found a coding bootcamp called code first girls, which assists women at any point in their career journey.  Attending the bootcamp were both recent graduates as well as women who were coming back into work after having children or nearing retirement and looking for a different career. Through the bootcamp I learnt Python, strengthened my SQL skills and learnt a bit of JavaScript too. I had an interview with an investment bank, which I had thought of as an unfriendly environment for women. However, there's been a big movement in a lot of technology companies and in finance to get more women into technology-based roles, so I seized the opportunity. I started working as an analyst developer and began working with massive data sets. I now work in middleware as a software developer and develop bits of financial software. My career all started from an initial interest in statistics, but my story shows this kind of squiggly career narrative that you don't have to go in a linear direction to get where you want to go. It's good to be flexible and leverage your skills whilst also look for opportunities.

Fem Alonge:
I completed one of the Q Step programmes at UCL and therefore my formal introduction to coding was during my social sciences quantitative methods degree. I've always quite liked science and maths and I enjoyed doing something very hard and then getting the reward at the end when you figure out a problem. I became more and more interested in coding during my degree and did some extra extracurricular activities and extra courses too. My first proper job was in the civil service where I worked as a data analyst and then after that as a data scientist. I did a lot of projects which had more and more of a data science focus as well as software development. In my current role I do less data science and a bit more data engineering, so working with databases and building data pipelines.

Jennifer Hudson:
I’m an academic and currently Vice-Provost (Faculties) and Director of the Development Engagement Lab at UCL but came to UCL in 2003. I was recruited to teach methods classes and specifically qualitative and quantitative methods. I taught methods at UCL for around 10 years and particularly enjoyed teaching the Quantitative Methods module. It was the best part of my teaching experience.  As I progressed the opportunity arose to set up the Q Step centre, which is now the UCL Social Data Institute. Support was provided by UK funding agencies and the Nuffield Foundation who were interested in investing in quantitative methods in the social sciences to upskill a generation of UK students so that they had the type of skills employers needed. When I look back on my career I'm incredibly proud of setting up the Q Step Centre and pleased that it's still going today in it’s new formation of the Social Data Institute. The thing I loved about both my job in teaching quantitative methods and working with outside partners is the ‘so what’ question, what does it mean? What's the intervention? What's the ask? what's the upshot? What's the insight? It's that kind of curiosity of ‘what do I learn from this’? How do I either engage people differently or come up with a new model, or build a better system? That is the really enjoyable part of working in in data science, if you can really get into the so what does this mean and what can I do with it?

Julia de Romémont:
I’m a Lecturer in Quantitative Research Methods and Political Science in the Department of Political Science and Deputy Director of the Social Data Institute at UCL. I mostly teach quantitative methods courses, including the Q step programmes. I'm also currently the only woman teaching on any of the Q step modules. I first got interested in quantitative methods during my undergraduate degree, and the applied statistics courses, which I really enjoyed. I liked the fact that when you have a problem to solve there's a slightly more clear-cut answer when you have a number at the end. Although I've retracted my view on that as having a number doesn't mean anything is clear cut! I started teaching the quantitative methods courses quite early in my career, and there I really noticed the underrepresentation of women teaching in this field. Having diversity, in terms of gender, class and ethnicity (and more intersectionalities) in the teaching space is really important as it can lead to more diversity in data science more generally. I find it very rewarding to see that more and more women studying quantitative methods. I would like to echo Jennifer's point that it’s communicating what these methods can and cannot do and what insights they can bring us which is important. The way to go about it is not confidence about what you know but curiosity about what can be known next.
 

Have you experienced any challenges as a woman working in data science or have you observed any challenges relating to gender differences?

Jennifer Hudson:
The short answer is no and partly because when I worked as an academic at UCL the colleagues that I worked with were (male) allies who thought that what we were trying to do with the Q Step centre was really important. What I've also seen over the course of my time at UCL is that the classrooms are starting to look more female. We also know that women are now enrolling in university at a higher rate than men these days. Hopefully when you're going into classrooms or professional environments, you're going in there looking around and seeing there are women occupying these spaces now too. In addition to this in terms of applying for jobs, I would say don't wait until you have the perfect skill set but apply for the job and learn on the job. Rather than having the perfect set of skills, employers are more interested in whether you have the ability to learn and if you are willing to learn. There is lots available of data that indicates men will apply for a role if they think they meet 50% of the criteria, whereas women tend not to apply unless they meet all the essential criteria. However, if you've got that willingness to learn new things and you've got that curiosity, take the plunge and apply because I think you will be surprised at how successful you are.

Fem Alonge:
Luckily I haven't really experienced very many challenges although I work in technology in the energy industry, which is typically very male dominated, and usually means that when I've been on teams for projects there's usually not many women. I've had to get used to being one of the few women in the room, but I wouldn't say it's really brought me any kind of difficulties. My employers have been very open and they do increasingly push for diversity, showing a willingness to listen to everyone’s voice around the table. I agree that curiosity is very important and what is valued more than someone who has a knowledge of everything is someone who will say ‘I don't know this’ and ‘I'm going to do research into this’. In doing this they can show on a project that they've learnt new things and can still produce really great work, showing that you can learn as you do.

Hannah Berry:
It’s interesting that women are, like Jennifer said, more reluctant to apply for jobs where they feel that they can’t do 100% of what is required. Frequently in banking, everyone will sit in meetings and nod to acknowledge their understanding whereas they often don't really know what's going on. There are lot of acronyms in banking and no one can possibly know all of them.  I asked my manager and some of my male colleagues why they don't like to ask for help, or why they won't admit that they don't know certain things. They said that that's just what you do and one person earnestly said it's because he feels that it’s a gender stereotype for men that they feel they can't. Their whole identities are built around how good they are at work. I never thought about it that way, but I think people should always ask for help if they need to do so.

I have faced some prejudices and micro aggressions working in the banking industry, which I don’t think are intrinsically sexist or misogynistic. I'm often the only woman in a meeting and male colleagues will often look at each other and talk between themselves. You do however find lovely people who are strong male allies. For example, somebody said ‘oh, Hannah won't know that’ and a male colleague responded by saying ‘yes, she will’.  You do have to have a bit of a thick skin and acknowledge that people aren't being overtly prejudiced, but they might have never experienced working with a woman within their particular line of work. That is what it is like working in banking and in the area technology, but things are changing. On occasions it can be a bit demoralising, such as when I was moved on to UI (user interface) development because it was more “creative” and less technical. I tried to stay positive and use it as another opportunity to upskill,as I was curious to learn more about this area of work and show you can be technical and creative at the same time! You do however find your tribe at work and push forward with things together.

Julia de Romémont:
What is also important is the skills the employer is interested in and how you can use your skills to adapt to a new project. That goes back to this idea of showing that you're curious and showing that you have transferrable and adaptable skills. Linking what you have done to what you are going to do next is a really important narrative to create in both your applications and interviews.