STEM, or science, technology, engineering, and math, has long been a field dominated by men. Currently only about 28% of jobs in these fields are held by women, while even less C-suite level jobs are filled by females in the field. As science-related jobs, especially data science, continue to be some of the highest-paying available, women should look at this field as one full of opportunity, not one that has closed its doors on the female population. Here are four essential skills for women looking to pursue their education in data science, or make a career leap into the field.
Confidence
Whether it’s right or not is another story, but historically and systematically, women have been pushed away from scientific fields since the dawning of the nation. Though the amount of STEM role models is smaller for women, it does certainly exist, and many schools are making conscious efforts to increase female interest in STEM. If you’re a youngster, get involved in these programs at your school, and if you’re someone looking for a career change, reading up on some of the many women who changed science is a great way to thwart any negative thoughts regarding your career path that will certainly have a few obstacles caused by the major male influences.
Programming Skills
Data science jobs will involve a lot of time at a computer, and though on-the-job training is achievable, having a baseline knowledge of a few modern programming languages such as R or Python, and a relative understanding of database languages like SQL will certainly up your odds on landing a job in a new career. An understanding of the methods and algorithms involved with the data collection such as random forests and ensemble methods, is also something worth brushing up on before taking a leap to the data science profession.
Math
If you’re making the career change from a related field like cyber security or database management, your math skills should be pretty well-aligned. Linear algebra and some forms of calculus would certainly be icing on a cake in a situation where a data scientists needs to build a new algorithm, but generally not essential for someone making their first waves in data science.
One place that is essential is being able to understand business analytics. If you’ve taken a look at Google Analytics you’ll already know if the numbers were something that resonated with you or not. If they didn’t, it’s certainly recommended to get a baseline knowledge there before moving forward.
Education
Though a stellar career in a related field can lead some opportunities in the data science field, a legitimate education is your best bet. Many data scientists have master’s degrees, and a decent percentage also hold PhDs. Undergraduate degrees in computer science, physical science, statistics, or mathematics align the best for someone deciding to pursue a master’s in data science. Machine Learning programs are often similar.
Some non-classroom education that would best suit an aspiring data scientist includes increased business acumen and the communication style and skills that accompany that, as well as a penchant for teamwork. If you happen to be a very curious person, there are big bonus points there, as a lot of data science is explaining the Why? when it comes to collection and analysis.
No matter the path you choose to take, there is no longer reason to be intimidated by the male-dominated STEM fields, because the salaries and job satisfaction are great and worth it, even if the climb continues to be a bit steeper for women. Data Science offers security, fun, and a the potential for some really big paychecks.
