Celebrating one of our own women in science - Chryzan Fernandes

To celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science we spoke to one of our excellent data scientists, Chryzan Fernandes.

Do you remember how and when you first got interested in data science as a career path?

My introduction into data science happened a little bit by accident. In my first job the department I worked in handled huge amounts of data in Excel with lots of manual processes. Because I was part of a graduate program, I was introduced to Power BI and I quickly realised I could automate a lot of the manual processes we had and I started to save my team’s time, in the end I think I saved the equivalent two days of work for three people per week.

I was encouraged to invest more time in learning automation and in my second company not only did I automate Excel processes, but I also started to practice extracting data in SQL and bringing that into Power Query. I automated an entire data refresh process to a point where I didn’t have to touch a single button to get new data the next day.

Both companies really supported me and allowed me to grow my interest in data science.

What is your take on women going into data science?

When looking at the statistics of who takes up STEM subjects, the number women who take up that discipline is quite low. With any career progression it starts with education, and of the total population that take up STEM subjects in the UK only 35% are women. When you translate that into a career, that drops down to about 24/25%.

I think the problem isn’t ‘are women going into tech or are less women going into tech?’ but I think the problem is one step before that which is ‘are women taking STEM subjects?’ Are they being encouraged or being empowered to take up subjects that fall into the data discipline.

If women aren’t learning STEM subjects from a young age, the only way they are going to fall into that career path is if they happen to do it like me which was by accident, or if they have a true passion for it later in life.

Like with any other discipline such as accountancy or being a doctor or any sort of professional, it all starts with the education that you take to get into that career. I think if more women are encouraged to take up those subjects earlier on, we will see more women in these fields naturally.

What has been your experience as a woman in data science?

One of the challenges of being a woman in data science is the fact that there are few women there. I try and use this challenge positively, viewing it as an opportunity to grow.

Being the only woman in a room full of men can sometimes make you feel like an outsider. I use that feeling to then put in extra effort to stand my ground more confidently. I am young in a young field dealing with a gender who has dominated this field for many years. It’s not so much a power dynamic but almost an intimidation that I feel that I tend to use drive me deeper into my data career. I look at my male colleagues and male counterparts as individuals I can learn from them instead of looking at them as competition.

For example, I am learning Python right now so when I knew one of my male colleagues is experienced in this language, I immediately turned to him for support asking him questions like, ‘where did you learn’, ‘how did you learn’, ‘how much did it cost’ and ‘how long did them to master it’.

What are you and your team currently working on and what exciting developments do you hope to achieve in future?

Currently, we are working on producing insights from the healthcare performance measures that we are mandated to publish by the CMA order and its something that I am quite excited to work on.

Not everyone is an expert in deciphering data through numbers especially in a tabulated format, and if we as an organisation can show patients what private healthcare options they have available to them more visually, it will help inform their decision making.

Do you think annual events like International Day of Women and Girls in Science play an important role in encouraging girls to get into science?

It’s helpful. I am a huge advocate for awareness days because if there was awareness in the first place, we wouldn’t need an awareness day.

This day is not only a call out to round up all the women and get them into tech but also a celebration of the strides we have made so far.

Just the other week I was speaking to my mum about the career changes in our family. My grandma was a tailor, my mum is a secretary and now I am in data science.

In three generations of women, we have gone from a very manual discipline to one that is working on automation and strategic decisions through data. A huge leap of in professional disciplines for the women in my family is indicative of the strides women have made so far in the world.

If you look at the top performing tech companies the reason, they are top performing is because of the diversity they have in gender and in race, it’s important to have all the perspectives from different demographics that this world has to offer.

Any advice for women out there who are thinking about pursuing a career in science?

If you want to move into data science, if you have a passion for it, make the jump. Its still a growing industry and there is so much potential and with so much to explore. Any idea derived from data will be appreciated. Getting more ideas in the works accelerates the progress to be data driven world.

It’s not going to be difficult to set yourself up in the field. Of course, you must have a passion for data and have the right skillset, but once you enter the field, the sky is the limit because we are never going to run out of data.??

For anyone who is deciding on whether they want to get into it, its my belief that data is the new oil. They say crude oil is black gold and I think data is almost invisible gold because you don’t see the value in it until you convert it into information and insights. ?

With many companies now adopting artificial intelligence and machine learning if you feel like there is chance you might be interested, get into it as soon as you can.?