Women in Data Science @ Penn Conference 2021

Overview

The University of Pennsylvania was proud to host the second annual (first virtual) Women in Data Science (WiDS) @ Penn Conference on February 8-12, 2021. Over the course of the week, nearly 500 registrants had access to academic and industry talks, live speaker Q&A sessions, and networking opportunities in our virtual Gather.Town conference space.

This year’s theme – This is What a Data Scientist Looks Like – emphasized the depth, breadth, and diversity of data science, both in subject matter and personnel. A celebrated interdisciplinary event, WiDS @ Penn welcomed academic and industry speakers from across the data science landscape.

Hosted By

Analytics at Wharton logo
Wharton Customer Analytics logo
Penn Engineering logo
Wharton Statistics and Data Science logo

These Are What Data Scientists Look Like

Supporting the Next Generation of Women in Data Science

The WiDS @ Penn Committee is dedicated to creating equitable opportunities to educate the next generation of female data scientists and analytics leaders. As a part of this commitment, we donated all 2021 registration fees to the Wharton Data Science Academy scholarship fund. We are thrilled to announce that we raised $4,150 to support need-based scholarships for female high school students.

These scholarships will enable students, regardless of their background, to participate in summer courses at The Wharton School to expose young talent to the field of data science and analytics.

WiDS By The Numbers

0
Registrants
$
0
Scholarship Raised for the Wharton Data Science Academy
0
Speakers

WiDS Day 1: Keynote

Kate Johnson, WG’94

President
Microsoft US

After welcoming remarks from deans Erika James (The Wharton School) and Vijay Kumar (Penn Engineering), attendees heard an inspiring talk from keynote speaker Kate Johnson, WG’94, President of Microsoft US, who spoke about the importance of technology as a change agent for inclusion. Following her talk, Kate answered questions from attendees, which was moderated by Mary Purk, Executive Director of Wharton Customer Analytics and AI for Business.

Welcoming Remarks

Erika James

Dean
The Wharton School

Vijay Kumar

Dean
Penn Engineering

WiDS Day 2: Speaker Sessions

Data Science in Radiology
and
Imaging Informatics

Tessa Cook

Assistant Professor of Radiology
Perelman School of Medicine

Social Network
Dependence and
the Replication Crisis

Betsy Ogburn

Associate Professor of Biostatistics
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

WiDS Day 3: Industry Panel

Sponsored by Wharton Women in Business

Christine Cox

Vice President Data and Analytics for IKEA Digital
IKEA Group

 

Didi Huang

Director of Data Science (Business Opportunities)
Facebook

Barkha Saxena

Chief Data Officer
Poshmark

WiDS Day 4: Speaker Sessions

The Influence of Automated Accounts in the Spread of Information on Social Media

Sandra González-Bailón

Associate Professor of Communication
Annenberg School for Communication

How Humans Build Models of the World

Danielle Bassett

J Peter Skirkanich Professor, Associate Prof of Bioengineering
University of Pennsylvania

WiDS Day 5: Student Speaker Sessions

Comcast Customer Analysis

Ashley Clarke

W’23
University of Pennsylvania

COVID-19 Impact on Counties with Different Social-Economical Characteristics

Katherine Lin

Student
Byram Hills High School

Equalmodel: A Post-Processing Algorithm for Bias Reduction in Big Data Analytics

Brian Handen, Hyewon Lee, Margaret Ji, Tashweena Heeramun and Trishla Pokharna

University of Pennsylvania

Predicting Academic Success of Masters Students Using Application Data

Karen Shen

DATS MSE ’20
University of Pennsylvania

Related Articles

Kate Johnson

What Does it Mean to Be a Courageous Leader? Ask Microsoft’s Kate Johnson

Kate Johnson, president of Microsoft US, spoke with Wharton Customer Analytics Executive Director Mary Purk about her career journey, managing and leading change, and Microsoft’s efforts to drive diversity and inclusion.
Read more >>

WiDS Industry Panel

Building a Career in Data Science: Lessons from the Journeys of Three Leaders

Demand for data scientists is exploding. At such a time, what can women do to build successful careers in this fast-growing field? A panel of industry experts discussed this issue.
Read more >>

Small business owner

Six Tips for Women in Data Science from the Chief Data Officer of Poshmark

Barkha Saxena, WG’11, credits Wharton’s EMBA program with helping her achieve her goal of transitioning into the technology sector as a senior data science leader.
Read more >>

5 Questions for Katherine Lin: Data Scientist in Training

This story sits at the intersection of challenge and opportunity. First, the pandemic. While a time of crisis, it has also been a year of revealing numbers.
Read more >>

How Women in Data Science Rise to the Top

In Taoist philosophy, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This saying has certainly held true for four women whose careers have taken them all the way to the top of the field of data science.
Read more >>

Data science is a field full of opportunity, say these women in leadership roles

Directors at IKEA Digital, Facebook and Poshmark share tips on how to succeed in the field.
Read more >>