BECOMING a statistician was never something Amanda Lee had planned on doing.

In fact, when the 27-year-old started The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, her career goal was to become an economist.

“I did economics in sixth form, which I really enjoyed. Statistics, I kind of picked up along the way,” the St Hugh’s High School for Girls past student told JIS News.

Lee said that when she started her bachelor of science degree programme in economics, she sought advice on a minor from individuals who had done the economics programme before.

“They encouraged me to pursue statistics as well. So, I ended up doing a double major in both economics and statistics,” she explained.

Lee graduated from The UWI in 2015 and landed her first job that same year as a statistician in the Research, Design and Evaluation Division at the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN).

STATIN is the country’s national statistical agency. Its main functions are to collect, compile, analyse, abstract, and publish statistical information relating to the commercial, industrial, social, economic, and general activities and condition of the people.

Lee told JIS News that the decision to study statistics is one that she has never regretted and she would gladly encourage other young people to pursue the career path, especially if they have a love for numbers and data.

“It is a broad profession. There are a lot of areas you can work in,” she noted.

STATIN employs statisticians at the entry, intermediate and senior levels in the categories of national accountants; international merchandise trade statisticians, indices statisticians, labour market statisticians, social statisticians; demographers; environment statisticians; sampling statisticians; methodologists, economic statisticians, and multi-domain statisticians.

“I would consider myself a survey statistician, that is, I am involved in questionnaire design, sample selection and data analysis,” Lee said.

She pointed out that as a statistician, one can work in the public or private sector and across various industries.

“For example, if you like statistics but you also like biology, you can be a biostatistician. If you have an interest in the environment and you also like statistics, you can combine both and you can become an environmental statistician,” Lee explained.

She said that as the world celebrated World Statistics Day on October 20, she hoped people would become aware of how important data is to policy development.

“Without statistics, informed decisions cannot be made,” she pointed out.

World Statistics Day is a United Nations event that is observed every five years. It aims to show that good data and statistics are indispensable for informed decision-making by all actors in society.

The day is being observed under the theme ‘Connecting the world with data we can trust’.

The young statistician told JIS News that she is constantly learning and evolving in her field, as her job provides an opportunity to engage with other experts through participation in regional and national workshops.

Lee said that she is “happy” to be in a position that contributes to national development.

Meanwhile, director of research, design and evaluation at STATIN, Jessica Campbell, who is Lee’s supervisor, described the young statistician as “humble, dedicated and hard-working”, adding that she has “really blossomed into a brilliant statistician”.

Campbell told JIS News that Lee’s success at STATIN can be credited to her “willingness to learn and also her passion for her work”.