The inaugural International Day of Women in Statistics and Data Science took place October 11 with support from the Caucus for Women in Statistics, Portuguese Statistical Society, American Statistical Association, and 35 other statistical and data science organizations around the world.

The global 24-hour event saw 205 statisticians and data scientists from 36 countries, of which 55 percent were academics, 17 percent were students, 10 percent worked in nonprofit organizations or other, 9 percent were business or industry workers, and a final 9 percent worked in government.

Most participants came from the United States, Portugal, and United Kingdom.

Both fascinating and diverse, sessions included presentations about work-life balance, gender issues in statistics, and COVID-19 studies. Discussions provided an opportunity for participants to share common worries and challenges faced by women in the field.

Sessions

The welcome session featured Katherine Ensor, past president of the ASA; Miguel de Carvalho, Portuguese Statistical Society president; Nairanjana Dasgupta, Caucus for Women in Statistics president; Jessica Kohlschmidt, CWS executive director; Vanda Lourenco; and Tomi Mori, CWS past president.

The University of Otago and New Zealand Statistical Association sponsored “Women in Statistics and Data Science: Career Journey, Perspectives, and Opportunities in New Zealand” by Claire Cameron, Jill Haszard, Gabrielle Davie, Ella Iosua, Alice Kim, and Nokuthaba Sibanda.

Women in Statistics in Korea sponsored “Gender, Statistics, and COVID-19 in Korea,” featuring Man-Suk Oh, Sohee Park, Tarim Lee, and Eun-Kyung Lee.

The International Indian Statistical Association sponsored “Young Female Statisticians from India,” featuring Shuvashree Mondal, Ritika Jain, Upasana Roychowdhury, and Sayantee Jana.

The Portuguese Statistical Society, CWS, and ASA sponsored a speed networking session so participants could get to know each other in a small group setting.

The Pak Institute of Statistical Training and Research hosted an interview with Rashida Bukhari by Saleha Habibullah.

The Royal Statistical Society Young Statisticians Section organized a joint session with the Career-Young Statisticians Section of the Irish Statistical Association. Norma Bargary from the University of Limerick, also one of the society’s statistical ambassadors, served as the speaker and gave an overview of functional data analysis and its applications to sports analytics.

Rosa M. Crujeiras presented “Turning Around: On Some Statistical Methods for Circular Data,” which was sponsored by the Spanish Statistical Society.

Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland featured a talk by Paula Moraga, “Geospatial Data Science for Public Health Surveillance.”

CWS sponsored a session with Shili Lin, Jessica Kohlschmidt, and Deedra Nicolet that allowed them to share ideas about how to plan a Florence Nightingale Day, a celebration of women in statistics and data science for middle- and high-school students.

CWS and the Portuguese Statistical Society hosted Alexandra Schmidt, Ivette Gomes, and Gerda Claeskens, who presented “Diverse Statistical Approaches: Origins and Fundamentals.”

The Society of Clinical Trials sponsored the session “Biostatistics Leadership in Oncology Clinical Trials,” which highlighted leadership and contributions made by three female biostatisticians in cancer clinical trials representing three major cooperative groups funded by the National Cancer Institute: Alliance, SWOG, and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium. Sumithra Mandrekar, Megan Othus, and Arzu Onar-Thomas were the presenters.

“Methods for Cluster-Correlated Data Analysis” was given by Kendra Plourde, Aya Mitani, and Kerrie Nelson and sponsored by CWS and the Statistical Society of Canada.

CWS and SSC also co-sponsored the session “Work-Life Balance Throughout the Academic Research Center,” with speakers Maya Mathur, Bei Jiang, and Josee Dupuis and discussant Sarah Lotspeich.

Nairanjana Dasgupta and her graduate student presented “The Power of R-Power” in a session sponsored by CWS.

The International Society of Bayesian Analysis also sponsored a session about R with speakers Federica Zoe Ricci, Isabella Deutsch, and Katie Buchhorn.

Micaela Parker, executive director of the Academic Data Science Alliance, discussed the community and its vision for a just, equitable future.

The concluding session featured Tomi Mori, Jessica Kohlschmidt, Cynthia Bland, Dong-Yun Kim, and Miguel de Carvalho.

Learn More

Recordings from the talks will be made available at idwsds.org and the CWS YouTube Channel. There are also greetings from people around the world and videos with information about the various societies involved in the International Day of Women in Statistics and Data Science.