During my Banyan Impact Fellowship interview, one of the AIF staff members asked me what my top five hard skills were. I dodged the question, identified the one or two hard skills that I could think of, and breathed a sigh of relief as we moved onto the next question. At the end of the interview, the AIF staff member circled back to ask if I could identify my top five hard skills. Flustered, I barely managed to complete the list. I both lacked an understanding of how valuable and concrete the research, writing, and presentation skills which I learned as a History major could be for development sector organizations and faced a need to develop additional hard skills as I progressed through my career.
As I progress through the Fellowship, I repeatedly return to the question of how I can use the skills I possess to add value to the work already being done by my Host Organization, the Vikram Sarabhai Centre for Development Interaction (VIKSAT). Through the Fellowship’s Professional Development Grant, which Fellows are eligible to apply for on a competitive basis, AIF also pushed me to consider what hard skills could help me in advancing my Fellowship project and in advancing my career. The skill I was missing, and which I received funding from AIF to develop, was data analysis.
Importance of Data Analysis Skills for the Social Development Sector
There are far more lucrative and less stressful jobs than working in the social development sector. People enter the sector because they care about using their skills and resources to make as broad of an impact as possible. Thorough and accurate data analysis is an important tool which can enable us to maximize the impact of development projects. If we understand how to analyze data, we can learn what problems are being solved by project interventions, what problems are being created by project interventions, and perhaps most importantly what answers the data do not provide.
The current development sector ecosystem in India operates as a competitive market. The idea is that depending on the results/impact that grassroots NGOs report from their work, they are either rewarded or punished by receipt of more or less Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) funds. This model can only operate effectively when data analysis and documentation is done thoroughly and faithfully across the sector. It is important that grassroots level organizations have employees, or are given resources to hire consultants, who can conduct high-level data analysis that allows for an accurate representation of the impact and implication of project interventions. Until this occurs across the sector, it is impossible for funding agencies to understand which interventions they should fund in the future in order to maximize impact.
Training development professionals in data analysis should also help curtail the temptation of organizations to spin project results to try to gain future project funding. Trained data analysts will understand the ethical importance of balanced data analysis that accurately represents both successes and failures of a project and will ensure that the data they report and impact they claim meet these ethical standards. The use of trained data analysts to even-handedly assess impact across the development sector would also help realign development organizations towards the goal of creating impactful changes like greater educational access, greater access to climate resilient livelihoods, and greater access to clean water instead of focusing on ensuring that one organization receives more funding than another.
Individual Advantage of Data Analysis Skills
Developing data analysis skills can also be a tremendous advantage for individuals seeking to advance within the social development sector. The increase globally in “the demand for data expertise” in recent years has also been accompanied by an increase in the “gap between the number of people with these skills and the comparatively huge number of roles to fill” (Foster, 2022). Because of the shortage of people trained in data analysis, a candidate with data analysis on their resume significantly boosts their appeal to development sector organizations. Even for positions where data analysis is not the core focus, data analysis skills can be a good complement to the skills which are central to the job portfolio.
In my case, I entered my Fellowship with research, writing, and communications skills which could benefit VIKSAT. However, one of the key things which VIKSAT, and other development organizations, need to communicate clearly is what story the project data tells and what impact the project interventions have had. I discovered that there was a limit to how effectively I could do this without developing my ability to analyze and synthesize complex data. This is why I applied for a Professional Development Grant (PDG) to enhance my data analysis skills. The addition of data analysis skills to my set of hard skills is not only something that will help me in completing my project at a higher level, but is also something which will continue to benefit me throughout my career as a good complement to my core skillset.
Importance of Continuous Skill Development
Whether it is in the field of data analysis or another field, it is important for development professionals to keep their eye out for opportunities to improve their skills. It is important that the social development sector avoids falling into the trap of thinking that setting aside time for additional training or skill development takes away time from helping communities. In the long run, a few hours set aside for skill development can have a far greater impact than using those hours for daily tasks. Small investments in skill development can help us improve the efficiency or quality of our work for years.
References
Foster, Jason (2022, November 15). Data Skills Are Mission-Critical: How To Bridge The Skills Gap. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/11/15/data-skills-are-mission-critical-how-to-bridge-the-skills-gap/?sh=4b98d6d44d1c.
