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In Part 1 of our interview we have with Liudmila about her further education in the IT sector and her entry into the data industry. In part 2, we want to find out from her what makes the industry so exciting for her and what role lifelong learning plays in today's professional life.
Liudmila's interview
In addition to your own achieved career goals, you are also active in Inclusive Tech and advocate for more diversity in the tech industry. Why do you think women are especially suited for data jobs?
The data industry urgently needs more female talent. The percentage of women in the data industry is very low, consequently their expertise and perspective is not taken into account in any way when making business decisions and developing new products and services.
Algorithms are trained based on information available in the database, which by default includes men and is then evaluated and interpreted by men. This leads to simplified machine learning and ultimately discriminatory results.
If certain groups are not included, then things can get life-threatening. For example, the rise* in serious injuries to women in the workplace is due to a lack of gender-specific data. Most research on workplace injuries has been conducted in male-dominated fields. For example, in the early 2020s, unions spoke out about the problem of a lack of personal protective equipment designed for women's anatomy.
Women were also included to a much lesser extent in areas such as health care. When analyzing diseases, researchers mostly focused on the macro level, while disregarding the breakdown of data by gender, ethnicity, and so on.
The absence of women and diverse ethnicities from the decision-making process can not only significantly exacerbate existing inequalities of opportunity, but also pose risks in the form of medication or procedures for women. People who face discrimination and social inequality on a daily basis are doubly vulnerable. This is exactly why women and people of different ethnicities need to be more empowered by companies and data teams. Continuing education in IT and data is a good place to start.
What role do you think lifelong learning and professional development play in professional life today?
Life is changing so fast and we need to be able to adapt. There are many new technologies and therefore new job roles. Also, the lack of data literacy is a very big problem of our time. I notice this when I work with stakeholders. Some have a hard time reading data or drawing the right conclusions from it. This is a broad problem in our society.
It is a consequence of the Dunning-Kruger effect that we overestimate our own abilities and competence when we know little about a subject area. For example, I once thought that I would know and be able to do everything in my field after I graduated. In reality, however, it is essential that we constantly challenge ourselves and acquire new knowledge. We either need to regularly expand our horizons to stay in our field of work or learn something completely new. And if my experience with StackFuel has shown one thing, it's that it's never too late for a fresh start.
After completing our Data Analyst training, you became a StackFuel tester and were one of the first to test our soon-to-be-released new training in IT, SQL and Python, has tried out. How was your learning experience in the new courses and to whom would you recommend them?
I was thrilled when I was invited to try both courses. I was impressed by my already completed Data Analyst Training very impressed and was accordingly pleased to be able to further expand my knowledge.
Many think that SQL is very easy to learn by yourself and that everyone can write his/her first queries in the first hour of training. However, many underestimate the real power of SQL. Advanced techniques are an extremely important tool, a must for every:n analyst:in. The SQL training is very attractively written, offers many practical exercises and is suitable for any level. I can recommend it with a clear conscience!
The Python training seamlessly followed on from my previous further training in the IT field. Here I was able to deepen my knowledge once again and learn good new tricks. A popular approach to solving a programming problem is to create objects. This is called object-oriented programming (OOP) and is the main aspect of this course.
I now see programming with different eyes and have a new mindset. I got to discover so many new concepts and ended up being able to write very complex code. I wouldn't have even dreamed of that a few months ago. This course is suitable for people who have basic knowledge of Python and want to improve their technique further. But again, I can recommend the course 100%!
Do you have a personal tip for anyone who is interested in professional development in 2022 but is not yet sure which skills will really help their career?
I think it's important to think first and foremost about what drives your work, what impact you want professional development to have on your career, and how it can support your story.
My personal advice is: don't spend too much time thinking about it. Wishes don't come true, in the end it's pure intentions and whether you get into action that count. If you are unsure, try different options and learn from the experience of others. Here StackFuel is my personal recommendation, where you will be coached by experts throughout your learning path. I've rarely seen courses of such high quality with so much heart and energy put into them.
I hope that my experience will inspire other women as well as men and that the world will see many new outstanding Data Analyst:in or Scientists.
We thank Liudmila for the interview and for taking the time to talk to us.
Are you also interested in further education in the IT sector? Learn at the leading German online learning platform for data and IT training.
Sources
Caroline Criado-Perez (2020): "Invisible Women - How a world dominated by data is ignoring half the population"; btb publishing house
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