Originally published in KDNuggets, September 2018
Research indicates data science is a promising career path, and it’s a field likely to offer job security and growth for the foreseeable future. Women are still significantly underrepresented, though.
Statistics across multiple studies confirm females only fill about 15 percent of data scientist roles, although some investigations show totals approximately 10 percent higher.
We still have a long way to go before the gender representation becomes more equalized, but the field at large indicates hopeful trends about women working in the role or desiring to do so in the future.
Rising Attendance at a Worldwide Women’s Data Science Event
In recent years, it’s been increasingly common for people around the globe to band together and stand up against school violence, a lack of support for the environment and science and women’s rights, to name but a few.
However, another event called Global Women in Data Science (WiDS) highlights the growing representation of female data scientists. Like the other events mentioned above, it’s too big for one city, but the anchor event happened in March 2018 at Stanford University and included a live-streamed conference that an estimated 100,000 people watched. Moreover, WiDS 2018 encompassed over 170 regional events in more than 50 countries.
Statistics from past events of this kind revealed a third of the participants are industry professionals, while the others are professors or students. The 2017 edition of WiDS attracted 75,000 people, and the details of the more recent conference mentioned above indicate attendance is increasing at an impressive rate.
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About the Author
Kayla Matthews is a tech journalist and blogger, whose work has appeared on websites such as VentureBeat, MakeUseOf, VICE’s Motherboard, Gear Diary, Inc.com, The Huffington Post, CloudTweaks, and others.
Drawing from her interests in technology and its applications to daily life, Matthews writes about the intersection of technology and productivity.
