According to the World Economic Forum, women make up only an estimated 26% of workers in data and AI roles globally. So, how can we change that narrative in practice? The answer lies in increasing representation and diversity in the ideation and development of analytics and AI projects. Ultimately, this should lead to better products that integrate a broad spectrum of skill sets and backgrounds and provide a common ground for people that hail from both the business and technical sides of an organization.
From supporting women’s education in STEM and introducing mentorship and scholarship opportunities to addressing gender pay gaps and fostering a culture where women feel empowered to work with data, there are a myriad of opportunities — both existing and untapped — to increase the presence of women in the AI space (while, simultaneously, aiming to mitigate bias and drive more equitable outcomes in data projects).
At Dataiku, we want to play an active role in giving this underrepresented group a voice. We believe that a blend of experiences and perspectives creates the best-performing teams and enables us to build software that is shaping the future of data and AI in a way that is fair and diverse for both people and the planet. We also:
- Have an employee resource group, EmpoWer, that aims to increase the representation of women at all levels and job functions at Dataiku
- Partner with ESSEC and CentraleSupélec — two leading European business and engineering schools — to diversity the profiles of their data science and business analytics joint Master’s degree students via a scholarship program for women
- Encourage the next generation of women in data science through our Academics program
- Have Women in Data Science (WiDS) ambassadors to host events and help extend the impact of the WiDS Worldwide conference organized by Stanford University which features women doing outstanding work in the field of data science
A Spotlight at the Everyday AI Conference New York
To continue the work outlined above but in another forum, we’re excited to highlight some extraordinary women doing game-changing work in the data and AI space at our upcoming Everyday AI Conference New York. Speakers include:
- Debbie Reynolds: Vice President, Enterprise Data Solutions and Engineering at Pfizer
- Noelle Silver: Founder of the AI Leadership Institute, Partner, AI & Analytics at IBM (You can watch her previous talk on diversity and inclusion in data science for Dataiku’s EGG On Air here)
- Dr. Brandeis Marshall: Chief Executive Officer at DataedX (Watch her previous talks from Dataiku’s EGG 2019 and EGG On Air in 2020)
- Dr. Amanda Stent (they/she): Director & Professor of Computer Science, David Institute for AI and Colby College
- Dr. Christine Hines: Vice President & Technology Focus Area Lead, ManTech International
- Nicole Alexander: Head of Marketing, Meta (You can check out her talk on the digital implications of data for EGG On Air here)
The conference, which is coming to Spring Studios in Tribeca on June 28-29, will feature compelling stories from organizations who have moved beyond the data to create meaningful impact, from empowering people to technological trends and everything in between. In addition to those mentioned above, we are excited to highlight speakers from Johnson & Johnson, Boeing, Mount Sinai Health Partners, Macquarie, and Ameritas, among others. You can check out the full list of speakers (including our Dataiku product experts) here.