A scientist explaining on a white board to a group of workshop participants sitting on chairs or the floor, with laptops.

An event for underrepresented undergraduate students in Data Science

Connect underrepresented students with: role models and mentors working in data science, other underrepresented students to share their experiences with, methods to better handle failures and setbacks, tools to identify and proactively address non-inclusive behavior, approaches to survive in non-inclusive environments

For registration, see here

Two scientists both looking at a laptop displaying computer code and a scientific graph showing scattered points, with one scientist pointing at the graph.

DIDS, an unconference

The event will include a mix of presentations, round table discussions, and plenty of opportunities for networking.

Speakers will range from UC Berkeley internal specialist as well as external leading data scientists and experts on diversity, inclusion, and bias elimination.

Events

First event - February, 10th - 3.30PM to 8.00PM Navigating the Data Science Community
Second event - March, 5th - 3.30 to 8.00PM Data-intensive research Register here
Third event - April, 8th - 3.30 to 8.00PM Beyond academic data science Register here

For the full schedule, see here.

Code of Conduct

During DIDS, we require participants to follow the code of conduct for the workshop which can be found on our code of conduct page. If you have any questions about the workshop, you can reach the organizing committee at dids@berkeley.edu.

Organizers

This year's event is being organized by

Sponsors

DIDS is a part of the Moore-Sloan Data Science Environments at University of California Berkeley, New York University, and the University of Washington. It is made possible by the following sponsors:

logo of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
logo of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
logo of the Berkeley Institute for Data Science

Apply to sponsor!

Announcement

Due to the interactive nature of the workshop and our space constraints, we expect to cap attendance to between 50 and 250 people.

Data science and data science education are quickly emerging as one of the key foundations of our modern data-driven society and are one of the key enablers of future innovations. Reaching out to and encouraging all members of our society to participate equally broadens our technological as well as our societal progress by reducing the boundaries within our society and by strengthening its overall integration. Achieving and maintaining diversity is a long-term commitment, which has to start in kindergarten, reach through high school, and ultimately culminate at the universities and companies which drive our innovation. Keeping this diversity strong through all different educational stages is an uphill battle as peer pressure, entry barriers, and sometimes outright hostile environments erode diversity.

Different individuals face different challenges at each step of their path to a career in data science, but for underrepresented students navigating these challenges can be especially difficult. In order to achieve our main goal, increasing the diversity and inclusivity in data science at UC Berkeley, we need to prepare our students with the right tools and knowledge to better manage these challenges. In addition, the best way to first attract and then retain students from diverse backgrounds and perspectives is to encourage and empower them to pursue their interests in data science as soon as possible, at the freshman and sophomore undergraduate stage. To achieve our goals, we will connect underrepresented students with:

  • Role models and mentors working in data science
  • Other underrepresented students to share their experiences with
  • Methods to better handle failures & setbacks
  • Tools to identify and proactively address non-inclusive behavior
  • Approaches to survive in non-inclusive environments
In addition, we aim to educate our students on how they can create an inclusive work atmosphere at their future workplace, and diminish any entry barriers due to ethnicity, gender, religion, sexuality, disability, etc.

For more information, please see our website at http://bids.github.io/DIDS.

We hope to see you in Berkeley in February!

Sincerely, the Diversity and Inclusion Working Group:

Orianna DeMasi,
Stacey Dorton,
Stuart Geiger,
Yuvi Panda,
Sara Stoudt,
Marla Stuart,
Nelle Varoquaux,
Andreas Zoglauer