The Data Science Skills Gap Nobody Talks About-My Experience as an Indian Woman in America

I never expected my biggest challenge in America to be something nobody warned me about. Not the visa stress. Not the cold Michigan winters. Not even finding a job on OPT. It was the gap between what I studied and what the real world actually needed from me. I am Gayathri Mattaparthi. I moved from India to pursue my Master’s in Data Science at Western Michigan University. I graduated, got my OPT, and started working as an AI Data Analyst in Troy, Michigan. Now I am preparing to pursue my Doctorate in Data Science in 2027. I am not writing this as an expert with decades of experience.