BDO Digital was proud to sponsor girls + tech data basics seminar on September 29 at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. The event was designed for 6th-8th-grade young women who have an interest in STEM or careers in technology.

Students learned about data fundamentals, how to build a dashboard, and how to tell a data story by getting hands-on with analytics. They also got a private tour of Purdue Envision Center and learned about data analysis and visualization.

girls + data was founded by Kira Wetzel in 2017. The organization seeks to provide young women with STEM education opportunities and expose them to tech careers within data analytics.

Kira fell in love with data analytics during her Master’s degree program after switching career paths from education to technology. She now uses her education background and passion for technology to teach others.

“After participating in a Girls in Tech panel, I realized that many young girls and women didn’t know what types of IT opportunities were out there for them,” Kira explains. “The biggest misconception was that a career in technology meant a career in computer science – and that’s not necessarily the case. I wanted to find a way to expose women and girls to all the possibilities within IT, specifically within data analytics.”

Data analytics is one of the fastest-growing sectors in technology, with nearly 700,000 predicted open positions for roles like data scientists, data engineers and business analysts by 2020.

“Now is a fantastic time for girls to get into data analytics,” said Rob Wellen, Director at BDO Digital. “The best way for students to experience the profession is to get hands-on with the same tools that are used in the business world, and girls + data provides that invaluable opportunity. BDO Digital is excited to be a part of the work they’re doing.”

To learn more, visit https://www.girlsanddata.org/.