Kate Sargent: Data is a career in it’s own right

As part of our ongoing celebration of International Women’s Day, we sat down with senior leaders from our community to ask them how they found themselves in the world of data, and what advice they have for others. 

How and Why did you get into the Data industry?          

Accidentally!  Kate tells us that she always enjoyed Maths at school – it was her favourite subject – so she studied it through school and at university.  In her final year at university, she studied a module called Operational Research and its real-life application immediately resonated.  Operational Research (OR) is the application of scientific techniques or analytical methods to business problems and decision-making.  Kate went on to study for a Masters in OR and, shortly after completing it, a family friend spotted an advert in the newspaper (this was 1996) for analysts with OR qualifications.  She applied and was successful.  That was her first analyst role, way before the terms Data Scientist or Machine Learning were common vernacular, and she’s never looked back.              

What advice would you give to a college or Uni leaver considering a career in Data? 

Kate says simply: Do it!  More specifically, it’s a tremendously rewarding (in every sense of the word) career.  Your skills will always be in demand and you’ll have the opportunity to work across the breadth of an organisation – and across a breadth of sectors – in a way that few other careers enable.

Her one piece of advice is that in order to be successful and progress upward (if that’s what you want), it’s essential to understand the way that businesses operate, commercially.  You’ll also need to really hone your communication and story-telling skills – it’s not just all about the technical, the best D&A professionals are very adept at talking the language of the business.

Finally, she adds, be prepared to hit roadblocks occasionally.  Data is still a very new discipline and many are still finding their way.  That can sometimes lead to a lack of understanding and skepticism.  So, build your resilience but, if you like a challenge, she believes (possibly with bias) there’s no better career to pursue!

How has being a female leader impacted your journey within the data industry? 

Since university, Kate tells us she has always been a minority in the room.  She’s been the only woman in, otherwise, all-male teams on several occasions and often the only woman in the meeting.  She tells us that this takes a little getting used to but it’s genuinely not something she notices now.  The men that she’s worked for, alongside, and led throughout her career have been overwhelmingly respectful, supportive, and understanding.

Of course, she adds, there have been more difficult phases.  It’s harder to navigate those maternity and child-care years when you’re the only person on the team who appears to be asking for something different.  But Kate believes that, if you can push through that and continue to believe that you’re adding just as much value as your peers, you’re actually helping the next woman who’s coming up behind you.  And that’s a tremendous privilege, as well as a responsibility.  Kate goes on to say she thinks it’s very much a matter of framing the situation, building your confidence, and trying to see the positives.

Kate is now a mentor to a number of women at the start of their Data careers and it’s great that there are now an increasing number of senior role models available to them in the industry.  She didn’t really have that when she was starting out and that, for me, is progress.

What do you think could be done better in the Data industry to attract more females to a career in Data?  

Grassroots thinking.  Kate has seen through her own children how, from the earliest school years, girls are subconsciously nudged into arts and humanities subjects, and boys into the sciences.  This comes as much from broader, deeply entrenched cultural ‘norms’ as from the schools themselves.  By the time GCSEs come around, subjects such as Computer Science are already heavily male-dominated.

Kate really believes that we have to address these systemic, root-cause challenges, which isn’t easy of course!  That said, she acknowledges, the more that Data is seen as a career for women, as equally as men, the more chance we have of moving forwards on this.

Kate tells us that the education system could do more to recognize and promote Data & Analytics as a specific career choice.  At the moment, we still have somewhat binary options of maths -> accountancy or computer science -> software engineering / IT.  Whilst data analytics is now a module in the maths and computer science curricula (a good start), she’s not sure we’re doing enough to call it out as a career in its own right.

Finally, Kate concludes, communities that bring women in data together are also essential to provide forums for women to feel a true sense of belonging and to share common challenges.  There are more of these forums being established now and that is great to see.

Tahanee is an accomplished principal talent partner with us here at Orbition. With years of experience in the industry, she has developed a reputation as a skilled and trusted advisor to both clients and candidates.

In her role as principal talent partner, Tahanee is responsible for managing key client relationships and ensuring the delivery of high-quality talent solutions. She works closely with clients to understand their business needs and culture, and develops customized strategies that meet their specific requirements Read more.