Data Feminism

Upcoming Events
Data Feminism meetups occur via Zoom on a variable schedule. Registration is required. Want to get involved? Contact us!
Date | Topic | Speakers/Hosts |
February 16, 2023 | Workshop: Responsible Data Science | Sydney Wood, Pamela Reynolds |
February 15, 2023 | Women in Data Science (WiDS) Datathon Kickoff (Onboarding and Q&A) | Pamela Reynolds |
May 4, 2022 | Bookclub Meetup: Modeler’s manifestos | Pamela Reynolds, MV Eitzel |
February 16, 2022 | Bookclub Meetup: Numbers don’t speak for themselves | Pamela Reynolds, Ariel Deardorff |
12-May, 2021 | Data Feminism Symposium – webinar recording | Catherine D’Ignazio, Lauren Klein |
8-March, 2021 | Watch Party: Women in Data Science Conference | Pamela Reynolds |
12-Feb, 2021 | Data Visualization Workshop | Emily Merchant, Lindsay Poirier, Pamela Reynolds |
About Data Feminism
Computers and code are part of sociotechnical systems that embody the biases of our society and data, and reflect existing structures of inequality. Increasingly, data science has the potential to reveal the sources of inequality and inform social justice projects. This working group explores the interaction between systems of power and oppression within the development and application of the data sciences. Specifically, this working group examines the intersection of feminist theory, critical data studies, and data science within four themes surrounding data feminism: feminist critiques of data science, causes and consequences of the lack of diversity in the data sciences, how mis-applications of data science perpetuate social inequality, and critical and participatory data science. By encompassing considerations of data collection, management, analysis, and storytelling, participants develop their own working definition of “data feminism” and a variety of frameworks and approaches to bring feminist theory into their own work, undergraduate education, the consciousness of data scientists, and ultimately the process of data-driven discovery.
This working group is led by Professors of Science and Technology Studies Emily Merchant and Lindsay Poirier, and DataLab Associate Director Pamela Reynolds, with founding support from the UC Davis DataLab and Feminist Research Institute.
Want to follow along or run a similar group for your community? Check out our reading list and get involved for access to curriculum development materials.