Last article of our month dedicated to women statisticians! We conclude with Natacha NJONGWA YEPNGA.
Hello everyone, I am Natacha NJONGWA YEPNGA, a Cameroonian national. I completed most of my studies in Cameroon. After obtaining my scientific baccalaureate, I was mainly interested in mathematics and computer science, which is why I joined the Sub-Regional Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (the ISSEA).
Passionate about data, I left my country Cameroon to pursue my studies in France in 2017 at the “National School of Statistics and Information Analysis (the” ENSAI). In 2019, I obtained my degree as a data scientist engineer, and in the same year, I was hired as a quantitative analyst.
I have mainly worked for banks. I started my career at Société Générale in the risk management department. Currently, I hold a position at the bank HSBC. One of the activities of retail banking is to collect customer deposits, grant loans, and manage customer payment methods (such as bank cards). Clients include individuals as well as businesses, communities, states, etc.
A Statistician is someone whose main task is to collect, process, and analyze a company’s data to aid decision-making. For example, during the coronavirus pandemic, it was necessary to find an effective vaccine against COVID-19. One of the tasks of statisticians is to collect, process, and analyze health data to assess a vaccine’s effectiveness. Statisticians answer questions like: Is the new vaccine really effective against COVID? Or are people who take the new vaccine statistically better protected than those who don’t? In this context, statisticians help make health decisions through statistical analyses.
Within the risk management department of banks, my role is to develop statistical models (decision rules) that allow the bank to manage its credit risk (the risk that a client will not repay their loan on time). As I mentioned earlier, one of the bank’s activities is to collect and redistribute money in the form of loans. When the bank grants a loan, it must ensure that the client has a good repayment capacity. The statistical models I develop help the bank in its credit granting process.
Why are mathematics important in statistics but also in everyday life? When you’re in high school, mathematics may seem abstract, but mathematics is everyday life. For example, when you want to manage your budget, you do calculations, and that involves mathematics. The new French Minister of Education, Pap Ndiaye, has made mathematics mandatory, and fortunately so, because it is truly the foundation of everything. For example, when I develop my models that are used in an important decision like credit granting, I use a lot of mathematics. It’s concrete!
Data is the future. There was an article that described the profession of data scientist as “the sexiest job of the 21st century”. One reason is that all sectors need it. Society is becoming increasingly digitalized, and machine learning tools are used in most of today’s innovations, such as autonomous cars, translators, image recognition techniques, facial recognition on phones, and social media recommendation systems that you use. Today, data is truly strategic for companies, and it’s essential to understand data to align your business. For example, the bank of tomorrow, I imagine it completely online. There will be fewer and fewer branches, and we will have artificial intelligence systems that will assist clients in their actions, and the data scientist is indispensable in this digital transformation.
Outside of my work, I am very active on social media where I share my knowledge about data. I have at least 2 posts per week on LinkedIn. I also publish educational videos on my channel YouTube LeCoinStat. I aim to popularize my profession and showcase the realities and possibilities for advancement through interviews with professionals. I am also a mentor on the openclassroom platform where I support people who want to become data analysts or data scientists.
I don’t have any particular challenges being a data scientist as a woman. Throughout my journey, there were always women. At ISSEA, for example, we were 8 women out of 24 students, and for the record, the 8 women were always among the top in the class. I don’t have the exact proportion in mind, but there were many more women at ENSAI than at ISSEA. So, women can indeed be interested in statistics. Today, we have more opportunities than our mothers did 40 years ago, but there is still much to do, of course. I admit that impostor syndrome can be present among women. That’s why I think one of our generation’s challenges, is to take our place at the table as Sheryl Sandberg rightly says. We need to have more confidence in ourselves (because yes, we are capable) and more ambition.
I chose statistics because I really liked mathematics and programming and liked physics less. And the choice of finance is mainly related to my first internship at Afriland First Bank (the first Cameroonian bank), I really enjoyed this internship, especially since I understood the importance of data scientists in banking.
I really enjoy discovering new things, doing thrilling activities, amusement parks, and tree climbing. The craziest activity I recently did “was a parachute jump from 4,000 meters altitude. It” was quite impressive, it’s scary before the jump, but afterward, you enjoy the beautiful scenery. I also like to travel and read when I have time. The book I keep rereading, for example, is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and my favorite passage in the book is when the fox says goodbye to the little prince: “Goodbye, said the fox. Here is my secret. It is very simple, one sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye”.
To find the balance between my professional and personal life, I make an effort not to work on weekends or very late at night. I also engage in several activities outside of my work, including mentoring and my activities on social media. So, the boundary is quite blurred: my professional life is simply an integral part of my personal life.
“Always aim for the moon, because even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” Oscar WILDE
It’s normal to hesitate sometimes, but you mustn’t stay in hesitation; you need to take action. It’s action that will help you understand what you truly like or dislike. When you remain in hesitation, you’ll never know what you would like to do. You need the courage to take the plunge, and at worst, you’ll have the certainty that you didn’t really want what you were seeking. It’s something I’ve personally understood. I have a deep conviction that instead of spending time hesitating, you need to take the plunge, and very quickly you’ll know if certain studies truly align with what you were seeking.
So, young girls, don’t hesitate. Data science is the future and the present. Don’t hesitate to dive in if mathematics interests you. Go for it!
Edited by Soumya D. and Mazzarine D.
