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What is the future of Data Science?
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IBM World of Watson
Question 8: @bigdatagal can we talk about #womenintech? http://www.via-cc.at...

Susan Visser
Clearly women are very well represented on this chat... not that we noticed!
IBM World of Watson
@susvis very very true! let's see what everyone thinks!
Diane Reynolds
Is there a shortage of female data scientists? How did we define data scientist? Is the proportion different across age groups? (Careful making statements like this to data scientists! :-) )
Susan Visser
It's a complete falsehood that women aren't good at math. Infact, we're great at anything we try :)
Lillian Pierson, PE
I think the problem is that the cart is before the horse. Women, in general, tend to pursue fields that they feel good about... like envtl engineering has a lot greater proportion of women than other engineering fields... so... #IBMInsight
Maig Worel
I hate to say it, but this goes back to the 'sexy' question (which I hated). If you re-frame the question to 'how can I do x' instead of 'data science' it has better resonance. Solve world hunger. Heal the sick. Make cooler cars. Fun with data.
dikwizerdumb
idk, bc some of the most analytically gifted minds I have known have been women.
Susan Visser
I always attend the #WIT event at #IBMInsight. I've met some pretty awesome people: men & women!
EileenDSmith
Apparently only 14% of computer science graduates today are women...
Kirk Borne
Develop and Deploy Role Models, Mentors, Collaborative Teams, ...and vote here: https://twitter.com/...
Lillian Pierson, PE
as data science keeps integrating through out all industries, you will see women being interested in working in the areas of data science about which they are most passionate. Referring to my example, the equiv would be Envtl Data Science
Diane Reynolds
@EileenDSmith Fortunately, (1) not all data scientists have a degree in computer science and (2) more than half of graduate students (in Canada, all disciplines) are women -- and many/most (ref?) data scientists have advanced degrees.
Kirk Borne
I think we start at middle school or younger to teach data literacy and the power of data (eg, in Social Media)... bright minds will want to pursue this career!
{([ Ryan Boyles ])}
@MWorel i agree 100% and was about to say that "what do you want to be when you grow up (and what will you do with the data)?
Anuran Pradhan
I thought the tag "sexy" will attract more females to join this line :P
Aylee Nielsen
Many of the women here are blazing the trail for women in data science (and tech in general) and should continue to recruit and guide new members :)
Susan Visser
@Diane_Analtyics I wonder if this differs by country? I think it does...and #Canada Rocks!
Kirk Borne
I like to ask the question to young people "Who do you want to be when you grow up?", then show them that Data Science is a path to be anything that they might answer
Diane Reynolds
@susvis it appears to be true in the US according to: http://nces.ed.gov/p... (for 2012-3)
Kirk Borne
@AnuranPradhan "Sexy" tag attracts young people, and that's what we need! (... said this grandpa!)
Maig Worel
@AnuranPradhan the tags 'successful', 'important', 'key', 'useful', 'helpful', 'relevant', 'important' are more what I look for in a career. Suspect other people might think that too.
Manas Ranjan Kar
On a lighter note, force the wives & girlfriends of data scientists to join them ! I would say the best female engineers I have seen excel in tasks around data - like ETL, ideation, questioning new techniques etc. Grooming them would help !
Anuran Pradhan
@MWorel Yes absolutely ma'am. Please take no offense for me backing 'sexy' tag.
Maig Worel
@AnuranPradhan - no offense taken at all :) This is a GREAT part of the discussion, being able to talk about meanings and what resonates with different people. Attracting people to a career is definitely about messaging.
IBM World of Watson
http://www.via-cc.at... The Harvard Business Review dubbed Data Scientist as the "sexiest job of the 21st century." Reality or just hype?

EileenDSmith
This might be my favorite question ever.
jameskobielus
Superlatives such as that are hype. "Sexy" is a ridiculous word to apply to the discipline. Let's just say that data science is the essential core of 21st century application development in the era of big data analytics and cognitive computing.
Susan Visser
I think sexy was just used to get attention... maybe interesting and high playing?
Kirk Borne
I'm fine with the label because it attracts the best and brightest young minds into this new world of data everywhere
Lillian Pierson, PE
@jameskobielus Truth - in most data science work, work-life balance is one of the perks - and I would call that "sexy" #IBMInsight
jameskobielus
Data scientist, as a job category, brings together defiantly unsexy disciplines--statistical analysis and programming--with sexier ones: creative problem solving, visualization, and narrative building.
Aylee Nielsen
@jameskobielus Great answer Jim! ""Sexy" is a ridiculous word to apply to the discipline" LOL!
Diane Reynolds
It does attract interest. And, if Gartner's Hype Cycle is to be believed, the hype is likely to remain for awhile... I think data science will continue with other domains like physics or chemistry in future.
Lillian Pierson, PE
agreed @jameskobielus and @AyleeNielsen - but is such FUN stuff!!
jameskobielus
Creative design is key to data science in the 21st century: building machine learning models to drive mobility, engagement, experience, etc. Shaping the future is sexy. Sure.
Ariana Gradow
haha this great. Maybe this will pull more women into the field. :)
Aylee Nielsen
Great to see you too @bigdatagal! I hope we get the chance to hang out at #ibminsight this year ;)
Susan Visser
@jameskobielus You nailed it Jim! Shaping the future is the intriguing part!
Somil Kulkarni
I think this is a reality - data is already at the center of business - understanding that data, exploring that data, deriving insights from that data will be key - data scientist will bring in domain knowledge that'd be vital for business
jameskobielus
Thanks, Susan. Of course, there are physically attractive people in this line of work, as in others, but I don't think that's the sense in which HBR means "data scientists are sexy."
{([ Ryan Boyles ])}
anything future leaning and geeky is sexy and good in my book
Aylee Nielsen
@arianagradow I think it may have the opposite effect ;)
Chris
when I think sexy I think of attractive or exciting, Data Science is that...
dikwizerdumb
duh, it's sexier than porn
IBM World of Watson
Question 6: we're talking about skills already so let's talk about story telling http://www.via-cc.at...

Lillian Pierson, PE
Well, insights mean nothing unless they're communicated in a way that stakeholders can use and understand. I'd say it is vital. #IBMInsight
Susan Visser
Some of my favourite authors are both storytellers and data scientists! I'll add each below.
Susan Visser
Steven Levitt calls himself an economist, but with journalist Stephen Dubner, the two are the brains behind the #Freakonomics series.
{([ Ryan Boyles ])}
@BigDataGal truth. is it fair to say LOB wants visuals for everything?
Kirk Borne
@bigdatagal @susvis I agree 100%. And I love using this book as a guide...http://datajournalis...
jameskobielus
Extremely important. Grounding the scoping of the problem to be modeled and identifying the key independent and dependent variables. Being able to interpret and explain the results. Being able to apply the findings to real scenarios.
dikwizerdumb
all the tables & graphs r useless w/o a compotent narrative & narrator
Susan Visser
Malcolm Gladwell may be a historian and journalist, but also a story teller and data scientist.
Susan Visser
Atul Gawande is a surgeon, storyteller, data scientist, and best selling author!
John Furrier
it's a new requirement
Susan Visser
Part of Nate Silver's success is combining the storytelling and data science.
Diane Reynolds
Weaving a story that accurately conveys both the problem and the results is critical. Sadly, there is more fiction that truth in some data science stories today. Over simplification, not understanding the business...
Lillian Pierson, PE
@theRab I'd say so, but that makes sense bc when a data viz is well-crafted, its an extremely effective means of communication, right? #IBMInsight
Susan Visser
Jordan Ellenberg's book about Math is also a great story. Did you hear him speak at #IBMVision?
Chris
Essential requirement!
Susan Visser
Maybe some of you #datascientists out there will become best selling authors??
Aylee Nielsen
Story telling is a data scientists "real" job ;)
Kirk Borne
@susvis @bigdatagal I think we should all support the authors among us!... http://rocketdatasci...
Susan Visser
@KirkDBorne It looks like a great book.... I'll add it to my reading list!
IBM Analytics LA
The bridge between the final user and the data scientist is the storytelling. Simple, interactive visualizations are key in the development of successful data projects.
Somil Kulkarni
If you analyze a typical project there'll only be a handful of Data Scientists - rest will be programmers, mgrs, marketing, etc - as such, you need to be a good story teller to get your points across accurately and efficiently.
Manas Ranjan Kar
I have always maintained, the perfect data scientist is someone who has the experience of likes of @kirkdborne or the curiosity atleast + can present data like Hans Rosling & tell a story like Asimov.