By celebrating the legacy of women in data science, researchers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa are advocating for a more inclusive and forward-thinking future in this fast-growing field.

Featured in the June 2025 issue of Patterns, the article titled “Highlighting the Achievements and Impact of Women in Data Science” was authored by Lauren Higa, a PhD student in the Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering Program at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, alongside her advisor Youping Deng, professor and director of the Bioinformatics Core at the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM).

The piece pays tribute to early pioneers such as Ada Lovelace, considered the first computer programmer; Florence Nightingale, who leveraged data for public health advancements; and NASA mathematicians Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, whose calculations were essential to space exploration. 

It also spotlights contemporary leaders like Fei-Fei Li, whose groundbreaking ImageNet project transformed artificial intelligence and computer vision—underscoring the enduring influence of women in the field

A Call for Equity and Inclusion

Despite the significant contributions of women in data science, they continue to be underrepresented, comprising just 23 percentage of the global data science workforce, according to a 2024 report by Anaconda. Higa and Deng emphasize that this disparity not only hinders scientific progress but also limits innovation and contributes to bias in data-driven technologies.

To help close the gender gap, they propose several actionable strategies, including expanding mentorship and sponsorship programs, ensuring fair access to authorship and publishing opportunities, and implementing institutional policies that support work-life balance and sustained career growth.
Through their work and leadership at JABSOM’s Bioinformatics Core, the UH Manoa team aims to drive meaningful change toward a data science field that is inclusive, equitable, and truly representative of the communities it serves.

Source: https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2025/06/24/womens-impact-in-data-science/