Was inspired to take up programming by a community college teacher. I attended his lectures 8 years back. He kept insisting we learn how to program our TI calculators and said programming was a vital skill. I was scared of breaking my laptop if I downloaded software. Downloaded R as a result of the confidence I felt from the success with the TI. Went on to do a second masters focusing on data. From a math class for kicks to a career change! All thanks to the inspiration from a community college teacher.
One of the hardest experiences for a job seeker is getting no feedback from a potential employer after an onsite. This has happened to me a few times when I was seeking opportunities after grad school. It is interesting to see how times have changed.
Take refresher classes at community college. This is what I did. I did all the calculus and linear algebra classes on offer. For me this was very valuable. My goal was to be able to read mathematics in research papers.
I started by working through some elementary math books meant for middle schoolers and high schoolers. Then took classes at community college and now learn on my own. At the initial stages, I needed a teacher and structure, especially with Calculus
“I cannot imagine how a woman with children can have an academic career. ...." This is the real truth and reality for anyone actively parenting and trying to deeply understand and research anything ...Grateful that this article chose to include the quote
In most cases if the student is a resident but still international (dependent) of a visa holder, the student still ends up paying international fees. Not fun for the parent/guardian
It will depend on your goals, background knowledge and interests. It's very easy to fall off track if you are going it alone and there is no balance of these elements and how much personal time you have to dedicate to your learning.
A lot of value from Data Science comes in large non-tech companies. It's not the super glamorous type of DS. It is about using data to drive optimizations, process improvements, manage supply chains, instrumenting alert mechanisms to monitor key mechanical and software components etc.
I went to pretty good school in India for my undergrad and grad. It was not sufficiently challenging. I did another masters in the US from a middle tier University. I found it more challenging and engaging. I've been motivated to continue learning and taking class (both via MOOCs and on prem) when necessary to learn new concepts. I love the passion here, the library system and the access to star performances and innovators via meet ups and conferences.
I think you are right! I am curious about the research behind this one. I do see a lot of tech companies consciously looking for all kinds of diversity - gender, sexual orientation, varied college majors, different cultural backgrounds etc.
If you feel like you not having the theoretical grounding is holding you back, you should do a few classes to get an appreciation for the theory. I don't think you need to go and do every single class though.
>Those who disagreed with Damore already won the battle.
It's about the attitude. As a woman in Tech, there are so many men you don't feel like you belong. Men think you are really not very feminine anyway, you are a geek who likes programming. With memos like this more young women are going to rethink a career where they will feel alone and may have their biological identity questioned if they are successful
Thank you for posting this! Since that memo came out, I've asked myself several times - am I not woman enough because I love math and programming. I didn't know I would love either till I did a bit of deliberate slogging on both when I changed careers. Math, I deliberately learnt in high school simply because I no longer wanted to confused. Computing I learnt the slow hard way, again deliberately. But once I got a hang of it, it's been my passion!!!
I did not have an undergraduate degree in CS when I did my masters (not this program), I used her approach as well. I did numerous online classes, did community college courses etc. and shoulder watched classmates programming and asked lots of questions. It was not easy, but glad I did it !!!!.
Get familiar with linear algebra. What I did was go back to school ( community college for cal2, linear algebra, differential equations and multi-variable calculus. ) I'm comfortable with the math now. It's a commitment for about a year but really worth your time.
Why don't we focus on teaching critical thinking and making kids comfortable with abstract concepts? Do we need to call it programming and overwhelm those around us. These are skills that translate to most of life's situations and decision making. when I started programming my biggest obstacle was the fear of seeing error codes.
Local Meet Up groups and conferences are a great way. There are some groups that have a series of small 15 min talks, where you explain how to use a particular library or optimize with some techniques. These are a great way to get started.