Careers in technology fields can offer financial freedom to women around the world, but gender inequality still plagues the top tech companies and education systems worldwide. Can academia help close the gender gap from Silicon Valley to Shenzhen?

Looking to answer these questions and more, SiliconANGLE is at the Global Women in Data Science Conference at Stanford University. Showcasing women across the globe making a difference in data science, we’re broadcasting live interviews and commentary from our roving news desk, theCUBE. (* Disclosure below.)

As artificial intelligence technology gains real-world use cases, the field of data science has become a focal point for those pushing for gender equality in the technology industry. High-profile advocates like Melinda Gates have made public pleas for more women to get involved in the training of the algorithms powering artificial intelligence applications, as diversity at the creation level can help resolve the challenges of inadvertent machine bias. Yet even as gender equality becomes a mainstream message, top tech companies still struggle to achieve equal pay and diversity at the top.

The problem is global, with gender gaps witnessed in several countries, according to data from the Unesco Institute of Statistics. The onus of resolving the gender gap has fallen to academia, with universities and school districts determined to raise awareness and opportunities for women interested in pursuing careers in science and engineering.

Academia provides a unique opportunity to join educators and practitioners together, learning from both sides of the coin. Companies such as Microsoft Corp. are considered leaders in global initiatives for bringing more women into tech industries, and countries like Iceland turn to legislation to discourage gender inequality.

The need for diversity in data science only grows as more jobs rely on technology, presenting more opportunity and demand for women in related fields. Despite data showing a gender divide in subject knowledge between science and reading, financial freedom could ultimately encourage more women into science, technology, engineering and math programs.

Keynote speakers at the Global Women in Data Science Conference include Lada Adamic, research scientist manager at Facebook Inc.; Elena Grewal, head of data science at Airbnb; Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College; Jia Li, head of research and development, Cloud AI, at Google LLC; Ziya Ma, vice president of the Software and Services Group and director of big data technologies at Intel Corp.; and Dawn Woodard, senior data science manager of Maps at Uber Technologies Inc.

The broadcast begins at 9:00 AM PST on March 5, 2018. You can watch the livestream coverage here. You can also access the keynotes via this livestream URL:  https://livestream.com/accounts/1973198/WiDS2018 or via Facebook Live.

How to watch theCUBE interviews

We offer you various ways to watch all of theCUBE interviews that will be taking place at the Global Women in Data Science Conference, including theCUBE’s dedicated website and YouTube. You can also get all the coverage from this year’s event on SiliconANGLE.

TheCUBE’s dedicated website

All of theCUBE’s exclusive interviews from the Global Women in Data Science Conference will be available on theCUBE’s dedicated website.

Watch on the SiliconANGLE YouTube channel

All of theCUBE interviews from the Global Women in Data Science Conference will also be loaded onto SiliconANGLE’s dedicated YouTube channel.

Cubecasts

SiliconANGLE also has podcasts available of archived interview sessions, available on both SoundCloud and iTunes, which you can enjoy while on the go.

Guests who will be interviewed at the Global Women in Data Science Conference

The guests who will be interviewed on theCUBE at the Global Women in Data Science Conference include Daniela Witten, associate professor at the University of Washington; Dawn Woodard, senior data science manager of maps at Uber Technologies Inc.; Jennifer Prendki, head of data science and data strategist at Atlassian Corp. plc; Mala Anand, executive vice president, president – Leonardo, data and analytics at SAP SE; Margot Gerritsen, professor, director of the Institute for Computational & Mathematical Engineering, and senior associate dean at Stanford University; Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College; and Zia Ma, vice president of the Software and Services Group at Intel Corp., to name a few.

Livestream of theCUBE at the Global Women in Data Science Conference

A live video stream of theCUBE interviews will take place from Monday, March 5, at 1:00 p.m. ET to 9:00 p.m. PT.

(* Disclosure: Some segments on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE are sponsored. Sponsors have no editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: WiDS Conference Organization