In episode #06 of the CTRL ENTER , IDP professor and podcast presenter, Leonardo Monastério , talks to guest Andressa Oliveira , a brilliant data scientist at PicPay and member of the movement for inclusion and empowerment of black people in the area of Technology of Information, Afrophyton , about its trajectory in the world of IT and also about the movement that has been helping to transform the lives of professionals in the area.
The Afrophyton
To start the chat, Andressa says that Afrophyton was born as an event, in 2017, in Rio Grande do Sul. It was basically a programming workshop with the aim of encouraging the entry of black people into technology careers. After this event, many people began to ask how they could contribute and, thus, Afrophyton became an inclusion movement for black people interested in Information Technology.
Today the movement has representatives in several states in Brazil and, to date, it is the only movement recognized with the aim of promoting the participation of black people in the IT market.
Afrophyton offers free courses and lectures for participants in the movement and is only attended by black people who are interested in the IT area.
For those interested in participating in the movement, Afrophyton has a WhatsApp group to be a communication channel for exchanging information between participants. To find out more, visit the website by clicking here .
A black woman's career in IT
Andressa started programming when she was 14 years old. To take the first step, the data scientist says she took several computer courses with an emphasis on programming and software development.
When asked about the main barriers she still encounters in her career, Andressa says that it is often necessary to prove her skills and abilities much more often than compared to the men who compete with her. Many times, Andressa felt unable to carry out her professional activity, especially because she never had a reference for a black woman in the area. “It’s difficult to trust ourselves when we don’t know where we can go,” said Andressa. However, today, the professional feels more positive about the future of women in the IT market, as she sees that there are many companies today that are concerned about the diversity of their employees, including PicPay itself, the company where she currently works.
How the passion for Python was born
The passion for Phyton was born when Andressa entered USP and began a scientific initiation related to neurobiophysics. The research was based on weak-field electric fish (fish that communicate with electrical signals) and used Phyton as the language for the research. Thus, Andressa improved more and more in the language to become a reference in the area. Namų ir sienų šiltinimas į oro tarpus Vilniuje generate kaina witas.lt
What it's like to work at PicPay
Andressa says that PicPay has several fronts in data sciences, such as Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. Today her work consists of providing consultancy services for all areas within PicPay, from marketing to the credit area, for example.
Today the company has more than 100 employees in the area of data science alone and it is worth mentioning that employees have different areas of training, such as statisticians, physicists, engineers and biologists.
Tips for those starting out
In addition to contacting Afrophyton to be part of the movement, Andressa tells people not to be afraid to start and seek more knowledge about programming languages and the area. For Andressa, Phyton , SQL and R are the main languages used today and are extremely important for the job market.
Cecília recommends that people who are starting out in the world of IT now, take courses that are offered for free or at affordable prices on the internet, read books promoting the area, ask and look for reference people in the area and, most importantly, that they enjoy of the area.
To listen to the podcast in full and find out more about the trajectory of the data scientist, Andressa Oliveira, click here .