WOMEN IN DATA® ARTICLES

“Don’t let self-doubt hold you back – curiosity and commitment matter more than perfection.” These are the empowering words of Karishma Patel, Business Data Analyst at Asda, who is not only shaping the future of data governance but also inspiring the next generation of women in data. As a proud advocate for Women in Data® and the Girls in Data™ lead at Asda, Karishma has delivered engaging, hands-on lessons in over 20 schools across Yorkshire. These sessions, developed by Girls in Data™ and adapted by Asda, offer a full day of discovery designed to spark curiosity and confidence in girls from Year 9 and upwards. From interactive workshops to real-world insights, students are introduced to the exciting possibilities of a career in data – guided by professionals who’ve walked the path themselves. For Karishma, the initiative has been more than just outreach – it’s been a transformative journey. From building confidence in public speaking to representing Asda in the community, she’s found purpose in paving the way for others. I recently sat down with Karishma to learn more about her journey into data, what drives her passion for outreach, and how she’s helping shape a more inclusive future for the industry. Can you tell us about your transition into working in data? “I first developed an interest in SQL through hands-on experience. After a stint in IT support at a pharmaceutical company, I quickly realised I wanted to be more challenged and work more directly with data. This led me to transition into a pure Data Analyst role, where I had the opportunity to deepen my expertise in SQL even further. I also used Power BI to support strategic decision-making. In my role at Asda, I continue to build on my data knowledge and contribute to the Data Governance Team. Throughout my career, I’ve consistently sought opportunities to grow and learn. My curiosity and enthusiasm for data have only strengthened over time, and that’s why I love supporting our partnership with Women in Data® – ensuring the team remains informed and engaged with the latest activities and events.” What inspired you and your organisation to get involved in promoting STEM education for girls? “At Asda, we’re passionate about inspiring the next generation, and we recognise that introducing girls to STEM opportunities during secondary school can have a lasting impact on their confidence, aspirations, and career choices. Our involvement in Girls in Data™ stems from a desire to bridge the gender gap early – starting in education. By showcasing the breadth of roles available in the data and technology space, we’re helping shape their futures. Their enthusiasm and commitment during curriculum activities, particularly when working with tools like Power BI, which is widely used in real-world business environments, reaffirm the importance of this initiative. For me personally, it has been amazing to help empower girls to see themselves as future STEM leaders. It’s also challenged me to translate often complex technical language into more accessible terms for diverse audiences.” Tell me more

ExecConnect, 18 September 2024 ExecConnect, 20 August 2024   Before hitting the glass ceiling, women are being tripped up by The Broken First Rung Abstract Organisations are failing to meet their own targets for female senior leadership and today 50% of women are still leaving the data and technology sector by the mid-point in their career.  The case has already been proven: more senior female leaders are crucial to sparking innovation, driving business performance, fostering inclusion, and attracting top talent. So why are women still tripping over the so-called ‘Broken Rung’ before they even get the chance to shatter that infamous glass ceiling? We have all heard of the glass ceiling, but fewer understand the crippling impact of The Broken Rung. While men are promoted into leadership positions, women are left clinging to the bottom rung of the ladder. For every 100 men promoted into their first managerial roles only 81 women make it. The result? Women fall behind and simply can’t catch up. With significantly fewer women joining the industry (stubbornly fixed at 4:1), significant barriers to getting on the leadership ladder and women continuing to leave the industry at an alarming rate, is it any surprise that we see fewer female leaders and an obstinate gender pay gap! So, how do we break these barriers and accelerate female leadership? Executive Summary The persistent underrepresentation of women in senior leadership roles within the data and technology sectors is not just a problem for women.  Despite organisational commitments, women are overlooked for promotion right from the beginning of their career journey. The phenomenon, known as ‘The Broken Rung’, means that for every 100 men promoted, only 81 women move up, perpetuating the gender pay gap and stalling female leadership. Women in Data® has now convened over 60 senior leaders to dissect this issue and push for actionable solutions. Discussions centred on the need for businesses to overhaul their cultures, adopting transparent, merit-based promotion practices and embracing inclusive leadership models. Structural changes, like flexible working conditions and robust family policies, are crucial to support women at all career stages. Additionally, tailored leadership programs should focus on providing women with clear pathways to senior roles, not just be token gestures. The leaders emphasised that this is not a problem for women to fix – men must step up as allies, and organisations like Women in Data® have a critical role in driving systemic change. The government must also act, tightening gender equity measures and reshaping education to dismantle stereotypes early. In summary, addressing The Broken Rung is not just about equity. It is about creating a more innovative, effective industry where women can thrive, and everyone reaps the benefits. Introduction As part of its ExecConnect series, Women in Data® brought together over 60 senior data leaders from across the public and private sectors, to examine the leadership landscape and explore the options to improve female representation at every level. The term ‘The Broken Rung’ was new to many, but the phenomenon wasn’t.

Author: Fiona Sweeney, Partnerships Director at Women in Data® Women in Data® works with our community, our partners, organisations, and legislators to achieve gender parity in the Data and Tech industries. As part of our mission, we review and evaluate the opportunities and barriers that exist, and we work tirelessly to attract and retain more women to the industry.  In the UK, the number of individuals employed in STEM (excluding medicine) is 9.7 million of which only 25% are women. Statistics from the most recent government workforce data indicates that the STEM sector is continuing to grow at a rapid rate, with more than 1 million additional STEM jobs created over the last 7 years. However, the representation of women is persistently low. For every 4 men that join the data science and AI professions there is .68 of a woman. Whilst there has been a gradual increase in female representation, at the current pace of change we will not see equal representation in STEM until the year 2070. In the occupations most relevant to what are known as critical technologies (AI, Machine Learning, Blockchain, Cybersecurity) this percentage is even less. The demand for these skills is obviously increasing and yet women still do not see themselves as part of this vibrant, future proofed and well-paid ecosystem. It is not just a matter of attraction. In Tech, over 50% of women leave the industry by the midpoint of their career, more than double the rate of men. They are not necessarily leaving the workforce but are choosing to move to sectors where they feel valued, have career progression and the flexibility to manage their disproportionate caring responsibilities. Women are not joining the industry and women are not staying in an industry that is growing quickly –one which already has a problematic skills gap.   Addressing this imbalance is the right thing to do on many levels and this is not just an issue of ethics, it is a business imperative. If we do not fix this inequality, individuals, industry, and society will not optimise the benefits from the new digital and AI economy. The UK is already falling behind in world rankings in the percentage of STEM graduates with 26%, compared to countries like Malaysia at 43.5% and Tunisia at 40% according to the World Economic Forum.  Attracting more women into data and analytics requires a multifaceted approach that addresses several different aspects, from education and training to workplace culture. The most common pathway to a career in Data is through degree level qualifications in primarily STEM subjects. Our annual State of the Nation (SOTN) report shows that almost 90% of individuals working in Data and Technology have an academic degree (Primary, Masters or PhD).  Percentage of women v men in STEM degrees  Source: STEM Women 2024   We are seeing more entry level opportunities opening up through apprenticeships—driven primarily through the introduction of apprenticeship levy. In 2022, there were 98,000 STEM based apprenticeships available. However, to be eligible for many of

Bravery Analysis from the Women in Data® Flagship 2023 Event If you were one of the women in data that came to our stand or workshop on 9 March, chances are very high that you want to find a way that enables you to Be Braver personally and professionally. 92% of the women who filled in our Bravery Index want to Be Braver professionally. 89% to Be Braver personally. That is a hell of a lot of frustrated courage, change, growth and innovation waiting to be unleashed. 64% reported keeping their attention focused on failures. The things that often we aren’t solely responsible for. 78% said they discount their success and don’t spend time learning from them. The very practice which builds our competency in choosing courage and being braver. Add to this that :- 74% have no clear pathway for thinking about their personal and professional growth 62% aren’t engaged with the networks, stakeholders or influencers that will accelerate their futures 52% don’t like taking risks.  You can see why many of us have a need to learn a better way to live less fearfully and lead more courageously. Prioritising creating space, forming a practice and understanding a pathway and framework for professional growth, by building a Be Braver mindset, will increase your personal growth too. We know from research that courage inspires courage. That 55% of those wanting to Be Braver professionally, are also responsible for inspiring bold, courageous brave behaviours in their teams. Imagine what happens when you give the Be Braver mindset to leaders. Who then have the tools, language and framework, not only to build and practice courage themselves, but also to be able to build courage in teams. Whether you, or your teams, need to be advocating for their successes, ask and ideas more. Want to be representing their function, specialism and expertise by challenging decisions and speaking up more in meetings. Or, you personally want to be building your profile with more authority. Creating stronger connections, exploring the next steps to setting up your business, pushing for your next role or getting better boundaries in place so you can live more… the Be Braver mindset will provide you with framework to build your own mindset and plan. A how you, not a how to. How you find clarity, know confidence, create connection and choose courage. For those who work better one to one we offer coaching and you can also book workshops, coaching, programmes and more if you want to bring a Be Braver mindset inhouse. If you want to assess whether you are nearer to a limiting mindset or a Be Braver mindset-try our bravery index here and see where your courage potential lays. Links: Workshops https://www.be-braver.com/workshopsfororganisations Mindset: https://www.be-braver.com/mindset Programme: https://www.be-braver.com/mindsetprogramme Bravery Index: https://www.be-braver.com/index   Caroline Pankhurst is the Founder of Be Braver, a business coaching consultant and psychology doctoral researcher. A former board director in the commercial sector working on global brands across multiple sectors, she now straddles academia, entrepreneurship, unlearning &

We are proud to have worked in partnership to tackle the issue of gender inequality in healthcare. We gathered some exceptional minds from the data and health sectors to focus on the gender health gap.

from businesswire.com Bright Initiative by Bright Data Commits Support to Data-driven Action to Enhance Women’s Safety Bright Initiative to partner with influential Women in Data network to develop recommendations to better utilise data in tackling violence against women and girls; Partnership begins with summit bringing together data leaders from government departments, public agencies and the private sector to discuss issues and set path towards policy recommendations in line with the UK’s National Data Strategy (NDS) LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Bright Initiative, a global programme and organisation by Bright Data that uses public web data to drive positive change, is embarking upon a major new programme of work that will help use the power of data to tackle violence against women and girls. Working with the Women in Data network of over 25,000 data professionals, the programme is set to draw on research and high-level discussions in developing recommendations. The Bright Initiative is instigating this programme in recognition of the role that data can play in tackling a major social issue, with women facing threats to their safety every day. Whilst there is growing recognition of the issue, there is much more that can be done to ensure that effective data collection, sharing and application, enables society to address threats to women’s safety on and offline. This programme will build on a flagship Women in Data Week 2021 event that brought together a group of individuals with a range of perspectives to consider the role that data can play in improving women’s safety in society. To begin the process of developing recommendations, the Bright Initiative by Bright Data will next week host a summit of data leaders in Government departments, public agencies and major businesses. The event will provide an opportunity for some of the UK’s foremost data experts to debate the role of data in women’s safety, examine the issues and challenges and take the first step to creating a network of changemakers. In particular, the discussion will focus on: How data can be better captured and shared across multiple agencies to identify and enable action on threats to women’s safety The opportunities there are to collect and utilise unstructured public data to identify and act on threats to women’s safety The protections and safeguards that are needed to ensure that reformed data-protection regime does not cause inadvertent threats to women’s safety Keren Pakes, General Manager of Bright Initiative by Bright Data – the industry leading web data collection platform that powers the Bright Initiative, said: “The Bright Initiative exists to put data to work in improving the world, and helping to make society safer for women is a clear part of this mission. The fact that women and girls continue to live in fear is shocking, particularly when there is so much that data can do to identify potential threats and enhance protective measures. As the UK Government pushes forward with its Data Reform Bill and the wider NDS it is a real moment of opportunity to make change, so we’re

Read more about TheThrivingAnalyst.com The day I realised accuracy wasn’t enough I used to think that to be a good analyst, all you needed to do was to deliver quality work on time. I took pride in the way I was double-checking my work to reduce the number of mistakes, and in the fact that I would deliver just before the deadline, no matter how many extra hours I had to work. Then one day, I joined a call where account managers and sales directors were discussing challenges they were facing at work. No one noticed I was there – that’s one for a different blog post – and at some point, someone said that although my work was great, they didn’t feel comfortable taking me to client meetings and therefore were missing on some analytics support when presenting insights.  After a whole weekend thinking about it, it struck me! No wonder why I wasn’t getting promoted! I was in a client-facing role and stakeholders thought I was only good at producing numbers. They didn’t trust me to advise on analytics-related matters or to present my work. On Monday, I went to the person who addressed this on the call and asked them to elaborate. I have to say that it was quite satisfying to see their reaction when they realised that I had heard what they said 😀  This event marked a turning point in my career. It was the moment I realised the importance of good communication. There is a lot to say on communication, and I won’t pretend I am an expert in the area. All I can share is what I learnt from past mistakes and how it helped me grow into the professional I am today. In this blog post, I will aim to provide you with a method to help you become a trusted and dependable data analyst or data scientist through communication.  Before I get to that, I believe it’s important to look into the consequences of the lack of a good communication system.  Consequences of poor communication  Over the years, I have witnessed the impact of poor communication on my career and that of others. The main ones were:  Stagnation  Not being trusted with bigger pieces/more impactful of work  Your contribution isn’t acknowledged  Not being perceived as a high performer  Not having one’s opinion heard  In the next part, I focus on what I believe is an ideal way to communicate throughout analytics projects.  A guide to becoming a trusted and dependable analytics professional  Scenario: You are a hands-on data scientist who works with various teams.  Project delivery will very likely be split into various parts, but here, I will split it into 3 parts to illustrate my point: Briefing, Work in progress, and Delivery.     Briefing  The work of a data scientist or that of a data analyst starts before a piece of work is briefed. Too often analytics requests are briefed in without the input of the individual that will work on the task

Women in Data® are honoured to have attended the launch event for this ground-breaking report at the National Gallery on 11th March 2022.  Women’s health is one of the most political issues of our time. Much like the rest of society, health systems have been created by men for men – and women have been left to fit around the edges. Despite incredible medical advances across the world for women, they remain infantilised and controlled by patriarchal health systems. PPP’s international report, chaired by Dame Clare Gerada and Dame Lesley Regan, will change this narrative. There was also further discussion on the violence against women and girls in our society and how newly proposed legislation aims to tackle this. Thank you to Dr Helen O’Neill for taking to the stage and talking on behalf of Women in Data at the event. Read the full report here

I graduated from University one month before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which meant jobs for graduates were few and far between. My friend, who at the time worked for Nectar 360, asked me if I wanted a one month temp role to help with workload. Ten years later I was still there! I feel incredibly fortunate to have spent the formative years of my career at Nectar 360. I spent ten years working for a company that obsesses data and their customers. I learnt so much in my time there, above all the power of data to understand the most important thing in business – the customer. To be able to use data to give customers what they want, when they want it, and using that data to unlock growth became a passion of mine. More recently I have been able to use that passion working with Nike. Working with Nike was a pinch me moment for sure, most notably working on the launch of the Nike and Liverpool Football Club partnership. Being married to a Liverpudlian who is a die hard LFC fan this was quite the moment in my house! I joined Kingfisher 7 months ago to lead customer and digital analytics. I was so inspired by their vision for data transformation, and the opportunity to drive substantial, lasting change with data. Kingfisher has so much data and such enormous scale thanks to the iconic brands within their group, and with such strong connections with customers – both emotively and through engagement – I couldn’t resist the opportunity to be part of this journey. Kingfisher is putting data at the heart of its business, with great people who are so motivated by the opportunities this will provide. The excitement and appetite around the business is infectious, and a pleasure to be a part of. I’m so excited to start understanding the Kingfisher customers, their behaviour, the signals they give us across all our brands and all channels. So that we help them get the most out of us by serving them better through our brands. Our “Powered by Kingfisher” strategy will allow us to maximise our capabilities to really help our brands super charge their relationships with their customers. The journey ahead for digital and data at Kingfisher is very exciting, working with market leading brands with enormous scale to help navigate digital transformation. There’s plenty to get stuck into and huge scope to drive and shape change, with a wonderful group of highly motivated people who have a shared vision and passion. If you’re up for the challenge you could be part of a team leading the way on landing genuinely new capabilities.

Elspeth Hackett, Director of Home and Underwriting at esure My Data Career in Insurance After completing a degree in music to become a professional trumpeter it became clear that wasn’t a sustainable career choice (I knew that before, but it was great fun!). Like many young graduates I was looking for a job and my eye was caught by a new insurance company and I thought that it would be an interesting ‘filler’ – but it was the start of my career of more than 30 years in various different roles, currently I’m Director of Home and Underwriting at esure. One of the appeals of insurance is that it’s constantly changing and that’s never as true as now. In recent times customer sentiment has tended to be one of mistrust and insurance products are seen as a grudge purchase with the benefit only being seen at the time of a claim. As a result there has been a lot of focus placed on the cheapest price at the expense of customer journey, product differentiation, flexible benefits and establishing long lasting relationships. There is much talk within the industry of digital first propositions, seamless customer journeys, data-driven decision making at the heart of everything and data being key to strategic decision–making, however the reality can often be a very different story. Being a data driven business involves more than just having data and how you to use it. It involves integrated technology and services, monitoring, scalability, governance, support and security – and importantly it requires talent to enable these things. The insurance market will only be seen as a ‘force for good’ if it can anticipate and react to customers ever-changing lifestyles, expectations and needs. At esure we recognise that the only way to truly disrupt the market and to change the way the industry is perceived is through ‘Data Magic’ – use of data & technology for innovation, which takes great investment in people. Throughout my career, I have more often than not been the only female in many meetings and one of a small number in leadership roles. I’ve had and continue to have the pleasure to work with role models and allies both female and male, who I see supporting others to reach their full potential and I’m passionate about attracting, retaining and developing female talent, both by active membership of I&D initiatives and through every part of my day to day work – it’s critical to our success. My biggest career learning is to keep on learning! Develop yourself and take opportunities that are available. Be enquiring and look to understand and explore wider connections and perspectives. I have found that building a network of people across the business and industry really helps broaden your thinking. There’s always a new challenge, some of my techniques in how to approach them include: Give it your all, be committed and tenacious Fully understand the objectives and deliverables Build a great team around you – learn from everyone and support