Data literacy is low in Europe - and learning opportunities are far from equal

Executives are more than half as likely to have all of the data sets that they need than manual workers

A campaign promoting equality in how people are trained to handle data has found that fewer than one in five European workers are fully confident in their ability to read, work, analyse and argue with data.

Just 17 per cent of the 5,000 respondents to a study by Qlik, which is running the Data Equality campaign, described themselves as data literate. A link was found between data literacy and work performance, with 76 per cent of data literates saying that they are performing well compared to 49 per cent of the wider workforce.

While two-thirds (65 per cent) of workers want to increase their skills with data, the campaign found that employers are not offering the training necessary to do so. Only 23 per cent said that their everyone in their company is proficient at using data; but 43 per cent feel that their training is lacking.

We're dealing with a huge flood of data, but few have the skills to deal with it - Dan Sommer, senior director, Qlik

A large gap was found in the opportunities offered to workers. 85 per cent of manual workers said that data helps them to perform their job better; but they are the least likely to have access to it (only 49 per cent said that they have all of the data sets that they need). Manual workers are also the least-trained of any group, with only 10.1 per cent describing themselves as data literate - closely followed by graduates, at 10.2 per cent. This suggests that universities are failing to prepare students for the data-centric world.

Senior executives are the most likely (79 per cent) to have necessary data sets on hand - but data literacy amongst them still only stood at 24 per cent.

Dan Sommer, senior director at Qlik, said: "It doesn't matter if you're on the board or a field sales worker - we want data equality for all. This doesn't just mean equal access, it means making sure that everyone has full confidence to use it to their advantage. The hierarchical approach that currently exists can be broken down through cultural change, which should centre around giving everyone the data, tools and learning to perform well and progress."

The UK was the worst offender for inequality, with only 18 per cent of respondents saying that their business trained everyone to use data. Conversely, the country was in second place when it came to number of data literates: 21 per cent, only behind Spain at 25 per cent, and ahead of Sweden, Germany and France (15, 14 and 12 per cent, respectively).

Sommer commented: "Data literacy is as important as the ability to read and write. It adds weight to our arguments and helps us to make better decisions. And these skills are just as important in our everyday lives where we are overwhelmed with information in the news and social media. We're dealing with a huge flood of data, but few have the skills to deal with it. In a post-fact world - full of fake news and data manipulations - it's critical that we are able to interrogate facts and figures to get to the real truth."