On Monday, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) professor Dr. Safiya Noble joined the Howard University community to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as a continuation of WHUT’s @HOWARD series.
The UCLA professor discussed the intersections of data science, social media and internet engines. The fireside chat discussed how students across departments at the university can join forces to discuss the importance and power of data.
Howard University Provost and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Anthony Wutoh moderated the conversation as they discussed how data has informed their career journeys.
The UCLA professor authored the book "Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism" which explores algorithmic bias and discrimination in technology.
Noble used the United States Census and its racial and ethnic categories and combined them with gender categories to assess the result of her research.
“Over and over again Black women and girls were overrepresented— over 80 percent of the search results were pornography or sexual commodified kinds of images or websites,” said Noble.
Dr. Noble’s research sheds light on how biases manifest in digital platforms and impact marginalized communities.
“That study was a way for me to show the politics and the power and the implications of how these systems are programmed,” she continued.
Watch @HOWARD for more on this conversation on demand, via the PBS App or WHUT's YouTube page.