Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion



Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

New York University has initiated a number of diversity and inclusion initiatives to facilitate the goal of building a culture that respects and embraces diversity, inclusion, and equity. NYU President Andrew Hamilton shared a statement of NYU’s commitment to these values:

“[These values are] not only important to cherish for their own sake, but because they are also vital for advancing knowledge, sparking innovation, and creating sustainable communities. They should be indispensable elements of an NYU education on all of our campuses. A diverse population encounters and appreciates all perspectives of an issue with a wealth of different approaches to confront it. The result is a higher quality of debate, and a more excellent and advanced academic enterprise.”



In addition to the university-wide initiatives, the Center for Data Science pledges to the following DE&I mission: 

DE&I Mission Statement

Build a culture and environment that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion as we recognize the importance of these ideals in advancing innovation and knowledge in the field of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.



Center for Data Science DE&I Commitment


Fostering an Ongoing Dialogue

Transparent and honest dialogue among students, faculty, researchers, staff and leadership is the tool by which we are creating a truly diverse and inclusive community at CDS. Without open communication, we as a community cannot grow, challenge our preconceived notions, and truly welcome people from all backgrounds. Based on this belief, CDS is committed to:

  • Aligning the community members’ understanding of DE&I concepts and terminology through ongoing training sessions, regular workshops, consistent dialogue, and transparent “open doors” communication policy.
  • Ensuring the CDS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee has sufficient support to do its work and continue to meet every month.
  • Including students and research representatives in CDS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee processes, specifically by inviting student and research representatives to committee meetings on a semesterly basis.

    • Building A Diverse Community

    It is crucial to form a community that represents a breadth of backgrounds and experiences, especially as data scientists. To ensure that our contributions to the realm of data science are unbiased, we must create a community that as best as possible represents the world we live in. CDS is therefore committed to:

  • Continuing the effort to diversify the CDS community by attracting, recruiting, retaining, and engaging students, faculty, researchers, and staff members from diverse backgrounds.
  • Developing a research internship program as a way to connect and engage underrepresented groups in STEM.
  • Expanding the CDS Partners Program’s Diversity Initiative to provide financial support for students.

    • Creating an Inclusive Community

    It is not enough to simply recruit diverse students, faculty, researchers, and staff. It is our responsibility to create an environment where people from all walks of life are respected, heard, and feel that their experience and perspective is valued. To this end, CDS is committed to:

  • Collaborating closely with NYU’s Office of Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Strategic Innovation to provide continuous diversity and equity education to ensure community inclusion.
  • Supporting student organizations and activities that foster a sense of belonging to the CDS community


    • Center for Data Science Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives & Efforts


    2021-2022 CDS Efforts Highlights


    Started
    student affinity group

    Sponsored
    Grace Hopper Conference

    Participated
    in Out in STEM conference

    Continuing
    the CURP program for Spring 2022 and Summer 2022

    Academic Year 2020-2021

    • Supported students, researchers, and faculty to participate in the 2020 Grace Hopper Annual Conference.
    • Participated in the National Association of African American Honors Programs (NAAHP) Graduate Program recruiting event.

    Academic Year 2019-2020

    • Participated in Great Minds in STEM to connect with Latinx students who are studying STEM.
    • Attended the SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Conference to promote CDS’s graduate programs to underrepresented STEM students.
    • Participated in New York University Graduate and Professional School Fair.

    Academic Year 2018-2019

    • Attended the Idealist Graduate School Fair in Washington DC, and the National Diversity College Fair in Boston to reach diverse prospective graduate students.
    • Took part in Beckman Scholar STEM Symposium and STEM Opportunities Fair at Barnard College.

    Academic Year 2017-2018

    • Participated in New York University Graduate and Professional School Fair.

    In addition to these admissions efforts, the Center for Data Science: 

    • Created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee that meets on a regular basis.
    • Leveraged the Diversity Initiative supported by the Partners Program to provide financial support to approx. 25 underrepresented graduate students.
    • Gave a talk, presented by Faculty, Prof. Andrea Jones-Rooy, to NYU College and Career labs, which is designed to serve economically disadvantaged, first-generation college-going, and historically underrepresented students from New York City schools.
    • Launched CDS Women in Data Science student group.
    • Hosted events with Women in Data Science NYC meet-ups.
    • Collaborated with NYU Courant GSTEM to help provide mentoring resources to female high school students who are interested in STEM.
    • Supported the student-led community-building group, Leadership Circle.
    • Launched the CDS Undergraduate Research Program (CURP) to provide faculty mentorship to a diverse group of undergraduate students.
    • Developed and launched Data Science Student Affinity Group.



    Where We Are Now…


    Enrollment Statistics: Race & Gender


    Fall 2013

    Female: 31.03% | Male: 68.97%


    Fall 2014

    Female: 48.72% | Male: 51.28%


    Fall 2015

    Female: 38.33% | Male: 61.67%


    Fall 2016

    Female: 45.33% | Male: 54.67%


    Fall 2017

    Female: 41.86% | Male: 58.14%


    Fall 2018

    Female: 41.55% | Male: 58.45%


    Fall 2019

    Female: 52.94% | Male: 46.41%


    Fall 2020

    Female: 40.44% | Male: 59.56%


    Fall 2021

    Female: 47.59% | Male: 52.41%


    Fall 2013

    Asian: 68.97% | White: 24.14%

    Fall 2014

    Asian: 82.05% | White: 15.38%

    Fall 2015

    Asian: 50.00% | White: 35.00% | Hispanic: 10.00% | Black: 1.67%

    Fall 2016

    Asian: 74.67% | White: 20.00% | Hispanic: 2.67% | Black: 1.33%

    Fall 2017

    Asian: 72.09% | White: 19.77% | Hispanic: 1.16%

    Fall 2018

    Asian: 68.31% | White: 19.01% | Hispanic: 4.93% | Black: 4.93%

    Fall 2019

    Asian: 67.32% | White: 22.22% | Hispanic: 2.61% | Black: 3.27%

    Fall 2020

    Asian: 71.32% | White: 19.85% | Hispanic: 1.47% | Black: 0.74% | American Indian: 0.74%

    Fall 2021

    Asian: 66.90% | White: 17.93% | Hispanic: 4.83% | Black: 2.76% | American Indian: 0.69%


    Fall 2017

    Female: 25.00% | Male: 75.00%


    Fall 2018

    Female: 50.00% | Male: 50.00%


    Fall 2019

    Female: 15.38% | Male: 84.62%


    Fall 2020

    Female: 38.46% | Male: 61.54%


    Fall 2021

    Female: 33.33% | Male: 66.67%


    Fall 2017

    Asian: 75.00% | White: 25.00%


    Fall 2018

    Asian: 71.43% | White: 14.29% | Hispanic: 7.14%


    Fall 2019

    Asian: 46.15% | White: 46.15%


    Fall 2020

    Asian: 69.23% | White: 15.38% | Black: 7.69%


    Fall 2021

    Asian: 58.33% | White: 33.33% | Hispanic: 8.33%





    Our Partners Program

    One of the main objectives of the CDS Partners Program is to provide scholarships and financial aid to talented students who may not have the resources to pursue a graduate degree in data science. We also support faculty and research staff through this initiative, as the recruitment and inclusion of all levels of academia is imperative for our holistic approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Diversity pipelining, or connecting with students earlier in their academic careers, is extremely important to us at CDS. The CDS Partners Program facilitates more opportunities to provide mentorship to high school and junior high students interested in STEM. The inclusion of students with differing backgrounds leads to a higher quality program and research. Your support of the CDS Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Initiative can help make the Center for Data Science a more diverse and inclusive population. If you would like to know more about the Partners Program, please contact cds-externalrelations@nyu.edu.


    Partner-Supported Initiatives


    DeepMind Scholarship

    DeepMind Scholarship for Underrepresented Students

    The DeepMind Fellowship offers a series of scholarships with the objective of providing more opportunity among underrepresented students in higher education AI programs.

    For 2022 entry, 2 fully-funded master’s scholarships will be available for CDS students from backgrounds underrepresented in AI, including DeepMind mentoring support and a grant for academic conference travel. All applicants are reviewed for potential scholarship opportunities. Thus, in order to be considered for the DeepMind scholarship, the only step applicants need to take is to simply apply to the program.

    Visit the MS Financial Aid page for more information.

    CURP

    CURP (CDS-Courant Undergraduate Research Program)

    CURP is the Center for Data Science – Courant Undergraduate Research Program which was launched in Spring 2021 by the Center for Data Science in partnership with the National Society of Black Physicists. This year the Center for Data Science and the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences will be offering more mentors from a broader range of research areas and more computing and research projects in Spring 2022!

    Visit the CURP page for more information.