Introduction
Diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and belonging are important parts of our academic and professional lives. This page is intended to provide an introduction to DEI considerations and topics in Informatics and Information Technology. These resources are not comprehensive and inevitably reflect the biases of their creators.
For additional information, visit the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion guide.
DEI & Information Technology
Western traditions of scholarship were formed by white, male, affluent researchers to meet the needs of affluent white men. Without careful thought and planning, harmful assumptions can persist in our scholarship. As you embark on your research, interrogate:
- who is being studied (or not studied)
- through which viewpoint or lens
- assumptions made about people, collective good or harm
- How AI could perpetuate racism, sexism and other biases in societyNPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with scholar Safiya Noble about how advancements in artificial intelligence could further perpetuate biases in society.
- How our data encodes systematic racismTechnologists must take responsibility for the toxic ideologies that our data sets and algorithms reflect.
- Gender analytics: how gender-based insights create valueGender-based insights can inform innovative new ways of working, doing business and designing policy.
Resources & Further Reading
- Racial Equity Analytics LabThe Urban Institute’s Racial Equity Analytics Lab (REAL), housed in the Office of Race and Equity Research, equips today’s change agents with data and analyses to inform social and economic policies that help remedy persistent structural racism.
Data Feminism by ISBN: 9780262358521Publication Date: 2020-02-21A new way of thinking about data science and data ethics that is informed by the ideas of intersectional feminism. Today, data science is a form of power. It has been used to expose injustice, improve health outcomes, and topple governments. But it has also been used to discriminate, police, and surveil. This potential for good, on the one hand, and harm, on the other, makes it essential to ask: Data science by whom? Data science for whom? Data science with whose interests in mind? The narratives around big data and data science are overwhelmingly white, male, and techno-heroic. In Data Feminism, Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren Klein present a new way of thinking about data science and data ethics--one that is informed by intersectional feminist thought. Illustrating data feminism in action, D'Ignazio and Klein show how challenges to the male/female binary can help challenge other hierarchical (and empirically wrong) classification systems. They explain how, for example, an understanding of emotion can expand our ideas about effective data visualization, and how the concept of invisible labor can expose the significant human efforts required by our automated systems. And they show why the data never, ever "speak for themselves." Data Feminism offers strategies for data scientists seeking to learn how feminism can help them work toward justice, and for feminists who want to focus their efforts on the growing field of data science. But Data Feminism is about much more than gender. It is about power, about who has it and who doesn't, and about how those differentials of power can be challenged and changed.
Algorithms of Oppression by
A revealing look at how negative biases against women of color are embedded in search engine results and algorithms Run a Google search for "black girls"--what will you find? "Big Booty" and other sexually explicit terms are likely to come up as top search terms. But, if you type in "white girls," the results are radically different. The suggested porn sites and un-moderated discussions about "why black women are so sassy" or "why black women are so angry" presents a disturbing portrait of black womanhood in modern society. In Algorithms of Oppression, Safiya Umoja Noble challenges the idea that search engines like Google offer an equal playing field for all forms of ideas, identities, and activities. Data discrimination is a real social problem; Noble argues that the combination of private interests in promoting certain sites, along with the monopoly status of a relatively small number of Internet search engines, leads to a biased set of search algorithms that privilege whiteness and discriminate against people of color, specifically women of color. Through an analysis of textual and media searches as well as extensive research on paid online advertising, Noble exposes a culture of racism and sexism in the way discoverability is created online. As search engines and their related companies grow in importance--operating as a source for email, a major vehicle for primary and secondary school learning, and beyond--understanding and reversing these disquieting trends and discriminatory practices is of utmost importance. An original, surprising and, at times, disturbing account of bias on the internet, Algorithms of Oppression contributes to our understanding of how racism is created, maintained, and disseminated in the 21st century.
ISBN: 9781479849949Publication Date: 2018-02-20
Invisible Women by ISBN: 9781419729072Publication Date: 2019-03-12#1 International Bestseller "A rallying cry to fight back." --Sunday Times (London) Winner, 2019 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award Winner, 2019 Royal Society Science Book Prize Data is fundamental to the modern world. From economic development, to healthcare, to education and public policy, we rely on numbers to allocate resources and make crucial decisions. But because so much data fails to take into account gender, because it treats men as the default and women as atypical, bias and discrimination are baked into our systems. And women pay tremendous costs for this bias in time, money, and sometimes with their lives. Celebrated feminist advocate Caroline Criado Perez investigates the shocking root cause of gender inequality and research in Invisible Women, diving into women's lives at home, the workplace, the public square, the doctor's office, and more. Chapters here include: Can Snow-Clearing Be Sexist The Myth of Meritocracy The Henry Higgins Effect One-Size-Fits-Men Yentl Syndrome From Purse to Wallet Women's Rights Are Human Rights Perez writes in her preface, "It's when women are able to step out from the shadows with their voices and their bodies that things start to shift. The gaps close. And so, at heart, Invisible Women is also a call for change. For too long we have positioned women as a deviation from standard humanity and this is why they have been allowed to become invisible. It's time for a change in perspective. It's time for women to be seen." Built on hundreds of studies in the US, the UK, and around the world, and written with energy, wit, and sparkling intelligence, this is a groundbreaking, unforgettable exposé that will change the way you look at the world.
