Boston Business Journal: How Boston University’s data sciences school achieved gender parity
Excerpt from The Business Journals | By: Don Seiffert | April 23, 2025 | Photo: Cydney Scott
Less than five years after Boston University launched its bachelors’ program in data science in the fall of 2021, the school says that next year’s incoming student class is made up of 50% women — a rarity in a traditionally male-dominated field.
The Duan Family Center for Computing & Data Sciences is probably best known in the city for its unique “stack of books” building at 665 Commonwealth Ave.,which opened in December 2022. But perhaps just as surprising is how its efforts to achieve gender parity seem to be working in a field with an industry average of just 15% to 20% women, according to a 2020 study by Boston Consulting Group.
It doesn't seem to be a one-off. The percentage of female students has been growing over the past few years, with the current class of 512 students consisting of 45% women.
Azer Bestavros, associate provost of Computing & Data Sciences (or CDS), recently spoke to Boston Business Journal Managing Editor Don Seiffert about how the school was able to achieve that milestone, and what lessons businesses might take from its efforts.