Here’s How Feeld is Creating an Inclusive Space For Emerging Talent in Data Science

“When the universe nudges you toward a path, just go down and see what happens,” says Dina Mohammad-Laity Mohammad Laity, Feeld’s VP of Data.?

Dina describes her career in data science in terms of right place, right time. Graduating from college straight into the Great Recession, Dina struggled to find her place in the workforce, but she did get lucky—by asking the right question at an opportune moment. “I rang around a bunch of recruiters and was like, ‘can you tell me where there are more jobs than people?’” Those recruiters pointed her toward analytics, a field that was about to absolutely explode in popularity and demand. That one question opened an entire career for Dina.?

Many data scientists in Dina’s position rose the ranks as a result of being in a similarly right place at the right time, and she’s well aware of the advantages that afforded her. “I do wonder if I hadn’t met the people that I happened to meet, if I hadn’t had that luck, would it have been as easy for me?”

Luck isn’t evenly distributed, of course, and Dina wants to take fortune out of the equation by providing hands-on work experience for those who often go unnoticed in the field.?

The Details on Feeld’s Data Analytics Workforce Placement Programme

Data science may be a rapidly growing field, but it still has a representation problem.?

Approximately 80% of data scientists are men and 66% are white. Members of the LGBTQ+ community are largely excluded from the discipline and face a 22% wage gap when they do make it in the door. As well, close to 100% of data scientists working today have a college degree.?

These jobs are well-paying, have tremendous growth potential, and myriad applications. Many professionals just need a hand to get them through the door. “There are a lot of people vying to get into the industry, and they’re on an island over here, but all the jobs are on a different island over here,” says Dina. “The route between those two islands can be really, really hard.”?

Folks entering the field often need work experience to get those first jobs, but without a job, it’s hard to get work experience. “I think it’s our responsibility as the ‘elders’ of the data community to do something about it.”

Dina launched the Data Analytics Work Placement Programme to build a bridge between the workers and the jobs, welcoming humans belonging to marginalized groups who regularly face discrimination or exclusion in the workplace. STEM fields have not, historically, welcomed everyone regardless of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, socioeconomic status, or educational background— and Dina wants that to change.

Feeld’s programme is a six-week, project-based programme for folks who want to explore a career in data science and gain hands-on experience. At the end of the programme, participants emerge with a data project they can put on a resume and present to potential employers.

Usually, these are descriptive data projects, but Dina is clear that she wants this to be an exploratory experience. “Feeld is a resource for people to explore their individuality in whatever way they see fit, and we try to make the work experience programme the same,” she says.?

L. Nichols , one of the programme’s recent participants, was looking for a way to shift their career, to expand it perhaps, but they weren’t sure how. “I’m almost 40, and it’s really hard to change course,” L says.

After taking some classes in programming and data visualisation, L needed the room to test the waters and find out if this could be a new career path. Ultimately, Feeld’s programme gave them the confidence to keep pressing into it.

“I appreciate someone being willing to take a chance on me,” L says. “If you look at my resume, I’ve done a lot of weird things: I’ve taught kids in public school robotics and computer programming. I’ve designed beer labels, I’ve painted murals and signs, I have a book that came out. I have a lot of weird-ass skills.”

Programme participants are hosted by Feeld’s data team, where they can have as much or as little interaction with their colleagues as they like from a technical perspective and a career coaching perspective. The bottom line is their colleagues are there to help.

For instance, L is naturally self-motivated and prefers an autonomous working style, though they found the mentorship beneficial to their growth —and the community beneficial to their mental health. Working as a freelancer, like L does, often means working alone, and especially during the pandemic, they missed working as part of a team.

Similarly, Dina describes one of the current participants who’s been all over the company Slack, getting involved and contributing to the team working experience. “People get to experience what it’s like to work in a fully remote company, which so many jobs are these days. Having remote working skills in itself is highly, highly valuable.”

As for diversity of thought in the programme, “it’s not even optional,” says Dina “It’s completely required for us.” In their current cohort, there’s an Oxford graduate with an analytics degree, another with a psychology background, and another parlaying their a liberal arts background to a career in STEM. “We’ve put them all on the same data set and they’re coming up with radically different topics.”?

This is why L’s resume stood out to her: They have a mechanical engineering degree from MIT, and in their spare time they’re a graphic designer who makes zines. And oh, by the way, they’re interested in a career in data science. “When I saw that, I was like ‘Wow. What kind of questions are they going to ask?’”

L, who is queer, trans, and non-binary, started with a personal question. They wanted to know how others like them experience Feeld. “I was like, how are other people who are like me or in a similar LGBTQ zone interacting with the app?” By looking at the data through a gender and sexuality lens, they were able to uncover areas to make the app better, safer, and more inclusive for all.

Dina pushes her team to the boundaries of curiosity, encouraging them to ask questions that matter to them. She wants people to bring radically different “start questions” to their work. “It’s like you unpack one box and then that leads to another box. You unpack another box, and it all starts from there.”?

In data analytics, Dina says, “that first question you ask can drive your whole journey.”?

And when it comes to the career journeys of Feeld’s Data Analytics Work Placement Programme participants, their hard work has already opened new doors. L has been retained by Feeld’s Data team as a consultant, while another cohort participant, Holly Godsland , recently began a new role at Plain Numbers, a business consulting firm that supports clients in analyzing and acting on their customer data.

Interested in applying to Feeld’s next Data Analytics Work Placement Programme cohort? Click here.