Tia R. Tropea

During her master’s degree in psychological research, Tia R. Tropea (Certificate in Data Analytics ’26) developed a strong foundation in statistics and research methods. Penn’s Certificate in Data Analytics advanced her foundation by providing hands-on experience with the technical aspects of working with data and statistical software as she prepared to apply for PhD programs in clinical psychology. “Just being able to work with data is such an important skill in life,” says Tia. “But I also knew I would need to strengthen my data fluency for my PhD program. For me, the certificate was an opportunity to build on my foundation and gain comfortability with each stage of the data analysis process.”

From her very first class, Tia gained experience with the technical steps involved in working with data, including how to clean large data sets, how to manipulate and manage data, and prepare data for statistical analysis. “These courses definitely helped strengthen my PhD application because these skills are typically hidden in coursework—especially in college courses, which focus more on research design and hypothesis testing rather than the full process of data preparation and analysis,” she notes. “Coursework that shows my familiarity with data is a huge advantage.” As she proceeded with the sequence of courses, Tia was surprised at some of the auxiliary skills and applications she encountered through coursework. “The range of topics covered is pretty unique,” says Tia. “I just expected some foundational skills, but we learned how to build web applications, which was a pleasant surprise. And we also learned about census data, a useful skill to have in your toolkit, as it’s a very large public data set that is often used in behavioral health research—it creates the perfect opportunity to play around with data,  develop your skill set, and learn something interesting about a specific place or region within the US.”

Tia also found more opportunities to apply her data skills in the workplace. As a clinical research coordinator for the Penn Center for Mental Health, Tia worked on a range of evaluation projects; her responsibilities included primary data collection. “I was in charge of my team’s behavioral health surveys,” she explains. “I was able to summarize our work by generating descriptive and inferential statistics, and even work on a few publications alongside stakeholders from the City of Philadelphia. So, I was immediately applying the skills from class in my day-to-day work life.” And since the DATA courses are typically completed in a set sequence, Tia got acquainted with some of the names and faces of students from her courses—even in real-world professional development contexts, such as the time she met an online classmate at an in-person data conference at Penn. “She recognized me from Zoom and came up to me,” Tia recalls. “It was nice to see a familiar face.”

Completing coursework while working full-time had its challenges, but Tia felt supported in her journey. “The courses are a little fast-paced, so things do move quickly,” she admits. “You can read a little more about the topics that you struggle with in class, and seek help from TAs. They’re always available in office hours.” And there is a lot of value in learning about data as a professional development opportunity, she suggests. “It’s definitely a useful skill for people who work in behavioral health fields,” she adds, “but there are so many different topics covered that it could be relevant for people in a range of different career fields.” For example: Since many of the instructors and TAs work with the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies, many of the data analytics tools explored in class have political and social science applications. Tia found the focus on election data interesting in its own right, and transferable to her behavioral health interests. “We learned how to make maps with geospatial data—for example, we made a map of the United States by election results,” she recalls. “I won’t necessarily be working with election data in the future, but I’m sure I will have to build a map again at some point, and the code is virtually the same. It’s just different data sets.”

After completing three of the certificate courses, Tia took a break to apply for doctoral programs before returning to finish the final course. She was accepted to Drexel University’s PhD in Clinical Psychology with a forensic concentration. “It was one of my dreams to be accepted into a forensic psychology PhD program, and I got into my top choice,” says Tia. "I've always had interest in forensic psychology. It combines my passion for behavioral health with my interests in the legal system.” She is looking forward to applying her professional experience in behavioral health and her refined skills in data analysis as she works alongside fellow graduate students in her new lab. “I’m very excited to pursue the research I’ve always wanted to do, and to learn from such an incredible community at Drexel,” adds Tia.

“I really enjoyed the certificate courses at Penn,” Tia concludes. “Overall, it was a really great experience. I’m glad I took the opportunity to get a head start on the skills I’ll need to excel in my PhD program.”