Kennesaw State’s Analytics and Data Science Institute will hold a Women in Data Science event on Thursday, Sept. 27, for women to learn more about careers in data analytics.
Dr. Jennifer Priestley, associate dean of the Graduate College and executive director of the Analytics and Data Science Institute, said that there is a small percentage of women in this industry which the event will address. The event is meant to encourage women at KSU to pursue degrees in computational programs where women are usually underrepresented.
Priestley said, however, that more than 40 percent of the students in the data science programs at KSU are female, representing a larger female presence than many other programs.
The event will be led by Polly Mitchell-Guthrie, the chair and vice chair of the Analytics Certification Board and secretary of the Analytics Society. She will be speaking about her own experiences in the field and how she worked to get a leadership position.
According to Dr. Priestley, this event is open every month and will have guests who travel from across the country to attend. Guests will speak about research, initiatives, cases and all sectors of the economy as a way to try to coach and mentor women pursuing a degree in data science. The event will also end with a Q&A session.
This event is mainly meant for college students who are considering computational degrees. Priestley stressed that data science is an interdisciplinary field with approximately 100 undergraduate students minoring in data analysis at KSU.
“One theme that I hear consistently from those who come from less computational disciplines like sociology or psychology is along the lines of, ‘I had a question, and I needed to learn how to analyze data to find the answer. And that required that I learn how to code,’” Priestley said. “Again, their paths are different, but their truth is the same.”
Priestley said that KSU started the Women in Data Science initiative in 2018 as a way to engage and support female students as they found their path into the analytics field.
The initiative started at KSU as part of a larger global initiative that started at Stanford University, Priestley explained.
Priestley said that data science involves working with translation data and information used to solve problems in healthcare, retail and manufacturing. Data science involves core skills such as mathematics, statistics and computer science, and requires that students use applied concepts in real-world projects.
The Graduate College published videos on its website in March about the institute, mentioning that data science can be enjoyed by all 13 colleges across KSU.