Why Do We Need More Women in Data Science?

Evgeniya Korneva is a statistics and probability teacher at Harbour.Space and a data scientist. She has a bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Informatics from Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, and a master’s in Artificial Intelligence from KU Leuven, in Belgium. She works at ACMetric as a data scientist, teaches Probability and Statistics at Harbour.Space University, and is doing her doctoral research at DTAI. 

Globally, as we wrote last year in our #BreakTheBias blog, a UNESCO report shows that only 35% of STEM students in higher education are women. However, that number drops when it comes to data science. Shockingly, Evgeniya is part of the staggering 15 per cent of the world’s data scientists that are women, a percentage that sinks to 5% when we look at the senior positions in the field. If data is shaping the world’s future and that data is run by men, the data will be biased. Therefore, it is crucial to have women studying data science for us to really #EmbraceEquity. 

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is #EmbraceEquity. First, what is equity? To have equity is to be fair and impartial, it is to recognise that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to fix the imbalance.

Unfortunately, in STEM careers and in the tech world this imbalance is palpable. According to PWC UK, only 3% of women think about studying a career in technology as their first choice and 78% of students can’t name a famous female working in technology. 

As Evgeniya’ tells us, “in our company, we are currently a team of 11 data scientists, and I’m the only woman among them. I also rarely encounter women in our client’s data science teams. As a teacher, I see there are still more male students sitting in my classroom, so I don’t see these numbers changing dramatically any time soon”. And, she is right, the gender gap in technology starts at school and the lack of female role models reinforces the perception that a career in STEM is not for women. 

Data is the term of the future, and we need women in the room to shape it without bias, because big data and artificial intelligence are moulding our world and will change humanity. As Evgeniya acknowledges, “with a booming investment in Artificial Intelligence, the demand for highly skilled data scientists has risen. I do find AI a very exciting field to work in, and, sadly, many women believe that’s just not something for them by default, without even considering being part of it”. 

The sector is growing at the speed of light, even Linkedin’s 2020 job report shows that data science is booming and 83% of companies around the world are investing in big data projects. But what happens when women are not part of the equation? Yes, data shapes the world, but who shapes the data?

Astoundingly, a report found that 11% of data teams are 100% formed by men. As BCG states, “humans and machine learning algorithms work together to identify patterns in data, but they are always subject to internal biases. Women in statistics and data science roles could help mitigate these biases, but if a data science team lacks gender diversity, the patterns and results garnered from data sets could lead to ‘dangerous conclusions’”. Artificial intelligence and big data will transform the world, but the underrepresentation of women can create statistical bias and perpetuate gender bias.

To change the future and create equity among all of us, we need more women data scientists. However, as Evgeniya tells us, “you can’t be what you don’t see. Many girls simply don’t consider this path for themselves because they don’t see any role models while growing up. Besides, in popular culture, the tech industry and the people who work in it are always pictured in a very stereotypical way. But not all programmers wear hoodies, and the scope of things you can be doing is extremely diverse. I believe more visibility needs to be given to female tech specialists working in different roles and domains. Seeing them talking about their work would help other young women learn about all kinds of opportunities that are there in this industry and maybe, eventually, discover something they are passionate about. Most of my female friends work in a technical field, and in many cases, their mothers, just like mine, also have a tech degree. This has always been a great source of support and inspiration, and this is probably why I never ever felt like I don’t belong in this field”.

She continues, “at my job, I’m partially involved in the hiring process, and I haven’t seen many female applicants for the open data science positions that we have from time to time. Maybe we should make more effort in promoting our vacancies specifically among women. I have recently tried sharing our latest openings in the Women in Tech community I’m a part of.”

Evgeniya is the role model and visibility other women need to look for. She is one of the guiding lights that other women can follow. 

Besides having as teachers data scientists like Evgeniya, to change the gender gap and #EmbraceEquity, Harbour.Space is repeating its Women in Tech Scholarship programme. As Evgeniya says, “we need to create opportunities for girls and young women to explore the tech world and all the professional opportunities it has to offer”, and that is exactly what Harbour.Space is doing. 

Last year, we awarded more than €400,000 to 25 students from around the globe (check our blog to read their testimonials), and this year we are offering more scholarships. 

If you are a woman thinking about your future, don’t be afraid, be part of the group that closes the gender gap in tech and that changes the world for the better. Apply and receive up to 50% off your tuition fee and a reduced application fee. Also, if you know someone that might benefit from this opportunity, share this information with her and invite her to study with us! #EmbraceEquity and study a career in data science or any other STEM programme. 

If you are interested in other programmes take a look at Harbour.Space’s website to see which ones might help your professional development. If you have any inquiries or thoughts, you can write to us at hello@harbour.space.