Female data workers underrate their data skills compared to men:聽only 28% of female respondents said they had the best skills in recent survey.
Women Rate Their Data Skills Lower than Male Colleagues
Alteryx, Inc.鈥�(NYSE: AYX), the analytics automation company鈥痺ith鈥痗lients such聽as 鈥疭ainsbury鈥檚, Gymshark 鈥痑nd聽Brookson, is聽highlighting聽new results that women聽rated their skills here lower than those of their male colleagues.鈥� On a scale of 0-10, 81%鈥痮f men and only 76%鈥痮f women rank themselves between six and ten. And the gap is even wider when it comes to “perfect” data literacy (8-10): 42% of respondents who said they had the best skills were male and only 28% were female.
The results highlight the difference in perceived value of data skills. Where聽71% of workers believe the pandemic has increased鈥�榯he importance of having strong data skills to make informed business decisions.鈥欌�� 鈥疉dditionally,鈥痶he majority of鈥� workers believe more training in data work would result in better (75%) and faster (69%) decisions.
Women Rate Skills More Accurately Than Men
It is possible that women rate their skills more accurately as聽the聽research聽highlights that 鈥痡ust鈥� 23% 鈥痮f data workers鈥�斺�痺hom they call the Data Champions鈥�斺�痑re 鈥痙elivering any actual鈥� business value.鈥� This is despite 鈥疉lteryx 鈥痜inding that 鈥痶hree 鈥痲uarters (73%) classify their data skills as above average.
Lack of Hiring Talent
Despite the clear link between data-driven insights and business agility, this lack of knowledge and skills inflation is stalling business transformation efforts. While the historic digital skills gap centred on a鈥� lack of hireable talent, we now see a new phenomenon: a lack of talent in those available to hire. Hindering every organisation trying to 鈥痩everage 鈥痙ata-driven insights for a competitive edge this lack of analytic talent.
Basic Data Skills
When it came to basic data 鈥痟andling 鈥痵kills, 鈥疉lteryx 鈥痑sked how confident 鈥痺orkers were in a range of basic data skills including identifying trustworthy data, cleaning data and sharing data securely.
The 23% of data champions鈥�say their skills enable them to not only save money (75%), but also generate additional revenue (68%), and deliver business value (82%).
Alan Jacobson, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at 鈥疉lteryx, comments:
鈥淒igital transformation has moved beyond boardroom discussions. It鈥檚 now mission critical for businesses to be able to assess, analyse, and adapt to constantly shifting requirements through data.
鈥淓mployees with strong data skills are a core requirement for developing business resiliency and the ability to pivot at speed.鈥�Despite the inherent value of data-led decision making, there is a critical disconnect between what skills are reported and the reality.聽The majority of聽data workers appear unable to deliver on what is needed to drive this transformation forward.鈥�
