MySQL database access in PHP

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang = "en">
<head>
    <meta charset = "UTF-8">
    <meta name = "viewport" content = "width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name = "description" content = "PHP basics">
    <title>MySQL database access in PHP</title>
</head>
<body>
    <?php function form($firstName = "", $lastName = "", $profession = "", $email = "", $mailingChecked = false, $gender = "", $education = "") 
    { ?>
        <form action = "" method = "post">
            <div>
                <p>First name:</p>
                <input name = "firstName" value = "<?= $firstName; ?>"><br>
                <p>Last name:</p>
                <input name = "lastName" value = "<?= $lastName; ?>"><br>
                <p>Profession:</p>
                <input name = "profession" value = "<?= $profession; ?>"><br>
                <p>Email address:</p>
                <input name = "email" value = "<?= $email; ?>"><br>

                <p>Gender:</p>
                <input type = "radio" name = "gender" value = "Male" <?php if ($gender === "Male") echo "checked"; ?>><label for = "Male">Male</label><br>
                <input type = "radio" name = "gender" value = "Female" <?php if ($gender === "Female") echo "checked"; ?>><label for = "Female">Female</label><br>

                <p>Education:</p>
                <select name = "education">
                    <option value = "">-- Select --</option>
                    <option value = "High School" <?php if ($education === "High School") echo "selected"; ?>>High School</option>
                    <option value = "Bachelor's" <?php if ($education === "Bachelor's") echo "selected"; ?>>Bachelor's</option>
                    <option value = "Master's" <?php if ($education === "Master's") echo "selected"; ?>>Master's</option>
                    <option value = "PhD" <?php if ($education === "PhD") echo "selected"; ?>>PhD</option>
                </select><br><br>

                <input type = "checkbox" name = "mailing" <?php if ($mailingChecked) echo "checked"; ?>>I want to receive commercial information<br><br>
                
                <input type = "submit" value = "Submit" name = "submit">
            </div>
        </form>
    <?php } ?>
    
    <?php
        $servername = "localhost";
        $username = "root";
        $password = "";
        $dbname = "dbtest";

        // Connecting to the database (make sure database "dbtest" exists)
        $conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);
        if ($conn -> connect_error)
            die("<p style='color: red;'>Connection failed: " . $conn -> connect_error . "</p>");

        // Creating a table if it doesn't exist
        $conn -> query("CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS users (
            id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
            firstName VARCHAR(50),
            lastName VARCHAR(50),
            profession VARCHAR(50),
            email VARCHAR(100),
            gender VARCHAR(10),
            education VARCHAR(20),
            mailing BOOLEAN
        )");
                                        
        if (isset($_POST["submit"])) {
            $mailing = isset($_POST["mailing"]);
            $gender = isset($_POST["gender"]) ? $_POST["gender"] : "";
            $education = isset($_POST["education"]) ? $_POST["education"] : "";
            
            form($_POST["firstName"], $_POST["lastName"], $_POST["profession"], $_POST["email"], $mailing, $gender, $education);
            
            if (empty($_POST["firstName"]) || empty($_POST["lastName"]) || 
            empty($_POST["profession"]) || empty($_POST["email"]) || 
            empty($gender) || empty($education)) {
                echo "<p style='color: red;'>You must fill in all fields!</p>";
            } else {
                echo "<p>Thank you for filling out the form!</p>";

                $stmt = $conn -> prepare("INSERT INTO users (firstName, lastName, profession, email, gender, education, mailing) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)");
                $stmt -> bind_param("ssssssi", $_POST["firstName"], $_POST["lastName"], $_POST["profession"], $_POST["email"], $gender, $education, $mailing);
                $stmt -> execute();
                $stmt -> close();
                ?>
                <ul>
                    <li>First name: <b><?= trim($_POST["firstName"]); ?></b></li>
                    <li>Last name: <b><?= trim($_POST["lastName"]); ?></b></li>
                    <li>Profession: <b><?= trim($_POST["profession"]); ?></b></li>
                    <li>Email address: <b><?= trim($_POST["email"]); ?></b></li>
                    <li>Gender: <b><?= $gender; ?></b></li>
                    <li>Education: <b><?= $education; ?></b></li>
                    <?php
                        if ($mailing)
                            echo "<li>You want to receive commercial information.</li>";
                        else
                            echo "<li>You do not want to receive commercial information.</li>";
                    ?>
                </ul>
                <?php
           }
        } else
            form();
        $conn -> close();
    ?>
</body>
</html>