UK's ASOS extends data academy with Multiverse

Funded through the apprenticeship levy, 73 ASOS employees have been enrolled in the Academy so far, which gives participants the opportunity to develop data skills across three different programmes namely The 13-month Data Literacy programme, The 15-month Data Fellowship and The 15-month Data Fellowship.

The 13-month Data Literacy programme covers the core technical skills required to transform data into insights; The 15-month Data Fellowship teaches apprentices the skills to clean, analyse and model data, and tell data stories to non-specialists; and The Advanced Data Fellowship - a degree-level programme – empowers apprentices to develop their skills in data analysis and data science.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is at the heart of the initiative particularly because, nationally, only 18 per cent of today's data science roles are occupied by women and 11 per cent of data teams do not have any women in them at all.

As part of ASOS’ long running Fashion with Integrity programme aimed at minimising the business’ impact on the planet and delivering positive benefits for people, ASOS is working towards more than 40 per cent female representation in technology, product management and data science by 2030 (which stands at 28 per cent currently), and over 15 per cent ethnic minority representation at combined leadership level by 2023 (currently at 7 per cent).

Notably, 75 per cent of the apprentices enrolled with the ASOS data academy are female, and more than 50 per cent identify as an ethnic minority, ASOS said in a press release.

“We are very proud of the incredible talent we have at ASOS. We’re passionate about their development, and particularly motivated to empower women across our data and broader tech teams. Multiverse’s technical focused programmes are fundamental to helping us deliver this targeted development; and to drive greater DEI in the sector, both internally and at an industry level,” Sandra Kampmann, director of Insights and Analytics at ASOS, said.

“ASOS enabled my transfer from a different division of the business and, in turn, fuelled my interest in data and insight via the Multiverse programme. So far, the course has enhanced my confidence in handling different datasets, while also allowing me to work on tangible projects that are providing real business value. I think that running programmes like this shows just how much ASOS, as a business, values its employees,” Orlagh Cramp, insight analyst at ASOS and an apprentice on the programme, said.

“As a result of the apprenticeship, I have improved the processes I use for data visualisation and dashboarding, which has greatly helped analysis and efficiency. The programme has also developed my interpersonal skills and my understanding of the data analytics lifecycle, which have supported my discussions of data insights with a range of stakeholders across the business,” Andrew Griffiths, senior paid media manager at ASOS and apprentice on the programme, said.

“ASOS has rightly identified that there are two critical components to being a successful business; ensuring people at every level have a firm grasp on data, and spreading opportunity to talented people from all backgrounds. The extension of their world-class data academy, delivered in partnership with Multiverse, addresses both of those challenges. Apprentices on the programme are being equipped with data skills that can fuel business transformation - and the programme itself is elevating women into those senior data positions that for too long have been male-dominated,” Euan Blair, CEO of Multiverse, said.

Multiverse announced the closing of a $220 million Series D funding round earlier this year and now trains over 8,000 tech, leadership and digital apprentices globally.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)