“Inspiring and Career Defining” Reflections from June’s Women in Data Science Course
From 6-9th June, Equate Scotland in collaboration with The DataLab and Codeclan delivered another successful Women in Data Science online experiential learning event. Learners from all over Scotland joined us for the 3.5 day course, each eager to upskill or reskill in the field of data science.
Day 1 of the event was delivered by Sam Rhynas and Jo Watts on behalf of The Datalab who covered driving value from Data & AI, giving participants an introduction to the business world of data.
Day 2 and 3, encompassed a fully interactive, virtual live learning experience led by CodeClan instructors Chris Proudfoot and Neringa Šiugždinytė who over the two days taught the participants the basics of Python and writing code. The women also experienced working with Jupyter notebooks, using pandas to manipulate and analyse data and making plots with Seaborn.
The final wrap up session on day 4 was delivered by Equate Scotland and included several fantastic presentations from inspirational women working in data science covering their own career paths to data science. Speakers included Delphine Rabiller, Data Scientist at FreeAgent, Sam Rhynas, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Data at Effini, and Eleanor Mitchell, Data Analyst at Effini. Hearing about their diverse backgrounds and range of experiences made for a fascinating morning and participants had time to ask questions about forging a career in the world of data science which was appreciated: ‘[I] really gained insight into the many career paths into data science from the wide range of inspirational speakers.’
Participants reported very positive experiences of the course: ‘I have learned so much in four days, it has been inspiring and career defining! I am ending this course with renewed confidence and motivation. Brilliant!’ Another commented that the course gave her a ‘good kick to move forward’ in her career plans. All participants highly rated the trainers who worked with them and said they would be very likely to attend another Equate course in the future.
Currently, women make up just 23% of the ICT workforce. We are currently in the midst of a data revolution and the UK Government has invested £270m, alongside partners, in an ambitious £661m programme that seeks to establish Edinburgh as the Data Capital of Europe.
Scotland is investing significantly in data skills, ensuring that we have a talent pool with right mix of skills required for the data revolution. Many opportunities are arising for individuals to upskill and reskill in data-related skills through the likes of The DataLab and Codeclan. As more and more companies become data-driven, the demand for data talent will only continue to grow. This presents a significant opportunity for women to enter and progress their career in data science.
With this in mind, Equate shall be partnering for further Women and Non-Binary People in Data Science courses with CodeClan and the DataLab in August and November this year.
Please see the following link for August’s event aimed at neurodiverse women and non-binary people: Neurodiverse Women and Non-Binary Persons in Data Science – Equate Scotland and keep an eye out for future information in the near future for our November cohort!
