The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences will host an Impact Talk with Francisca García-Cobián Richter, research associate professor, Wednesday, March 8, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the School’s Noble Commons.
Richter will present “Advancing Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Data Sciences for Social Impact.”
About the talk
Over the last decades, unprecedented advances in technology, artificial intelligence and big data have come to permeate all aspects of life, including those directly concerned with social welfare. Data held by social service agencies contain key information about the characteristics of those they serve, their needs and the programs and interventions in which they are involved.
Predictive models and algorithms are increasingly used to guide the provision of services in the areas of child welfare, homelessness and in the criminal judicial system. Moreover, there is a growing recognition of disparate treatment and impact in our society based on race, gender, sexual orientation, immigration and other statuses. These injustices leave a footprint in data of many types. As more data becomes available, there is a need to update the skills of data users—from social workers to social analysts—to ethically and thoughtfully make use of this data for social good.
In response to this need, the Mandel School and the Case School of Engineering have developed a Certificate in Data Sciences for Social Impact. Launched in 2022, the schools continue to work to make it broadly available with the goal of diversifying the field of data science for social impact within a framework that advances antiracism, diversity, equity and inclusion (ADEI). This presentation will focus on how ADEI materializes in the curriculum, providing examples relevant to social work practice at the micro and macro levels.
About the series
The Mandel School will host the Impact Talk series in March to demonstrate how careers in social work are making a difference in society.
All sessions in this series will be livestreamed and recorded for viewing on the Mandel School’s YouTube channel. Current Mandel School students can receive one professional development hour for each talk they attend.