A study by CSEE professor Cynthia Matuszek on gender bias in online images associated with a variety of occupations has recently received a lot of attention. The study, which was carried out with former University of Washington colleagues Matthew Kay and Sean Munson, resulted in a paper to be presented at the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Seoul, Korea in mid-April.

The paper, Unequal Representation and Gender Stereotypes in Image Search Results for Occupations, was recognized as a best paper of the 2015 ACM CHI Conference. This conference is considered the most prestigious in the field of human–computer interaction, and is one of the top ranked computer science conferences. 

"This project was a joint effort between myself and the two other authors," Dr. Matuszek explains. "The project was originally developed after I saw a presentation in which the images chosen to represent different professions were extremely one-sided and didn't seem representative.  Our primary goal was to learn more about the software design space: does gender in image search results affect whether people think the search results are good?  On the flip side, does showing different genders in different roles (that is, showing a male vs. a female nurse) affect how people think of those occupations?  You need to know the answers to questions like that before you can create, e.g., an image search engine that is really well and thoughtfully designed."

Not surprisingly, Dr. Matuszek's work has been noted by the popular press, with recent stories in the Washington Post Wonkblog, The Atlantic and many online news outlets. The Washington Post article quotes Dr. Matuszek on the genesis of the study.

In addition, many images retrieved by the web’s top search engine happen to be hyper-sexualized caricatures. Some female construction workers in midriff-baring flannel and jean shorts seem better dressed for a Halloween party than, say, a demolition site. (Researchers dubbed this the “sexy construction worker problem.”)

"It’s part of a cycle: How people perceive things affects the search results, which affect how people perceive things," said co-author Cynthia Matuszek, who now teaches computer ethics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Matuszek recalls sitting in a robotics lecture last year at the University of Washington, where she earned her doctoral degree in computer science. A male colleague illustrated researchers in his Powerpoint presentation as “all guys, classic nerds,” she said. But a caretaker was shown in a slide as "a plump woman in her thirties who was wearing a pink suit." The stereotypes irked Matuszek, and she's not the only one wondering about the power of images.

About eight months ago, Matuszek and her colleagues at the University of Washington decided to test the power of popular image. They wanted to know if something as seemingly trivial as search results could sway someone’s perception of how many women work in a certain field, and whether they’re competent. The researchers surveyed 21 people — a pool too small to make any sweeping statement, Matuszek acknowledges, but big enough for a glimpse into our cultural psyche — starting with questions like: What percentage of construction workers are women? Do you believe the person in this photo is good at their job? Two weeks later, they followed up, prompting participants to sift through Google image results before answering the same inquiries. Responses changed after Google images were introduced, according to the study, which was published this week. Search results could determine 7 percent of a participant's subsequent opinion about the number of men and women in a particular field, the authors calculated. And a worker was, on average, deemed more competent if he or she fit into a gender stereotype.

As Adrienne LaFrance notes in a recent Atlantic article about Matuszek's study, "Google image searches don't just reflect the sad state of diversity in corporate leadership; they actually influence the ways in which people think about what it means to be a CEO."

The study concluded that "shifting the representation of gender in image search results can shift people’s perceptions about real-world distributions."[i]

Northrop Grumman Corporation announced an expansion of their cybersecurity work with UMBC to include research on health data analytics in partnership with the UMBC Center for Hybrid Multicore Productivity Research (CHMPR). CHMPR is an NSF-sponsored industry/university cooperative research center and consortium focused on addressing the productivity, performance and scalability issues in meeting the computational demands of its sponsors applications through the continuous evolution of multicore architectures and open source tools.

From the Northrop Grumman press release:

The UMBC-Northrop Grumman collaboration began with a cybersecurity initiative and is now leveraging the big data analytics used in cyber and applying the tools and technologies to health. This has enabled Northrop Grumman to dive into expansive health data on a variety of subjects, such as the impacts of cardiovascular disease as it relates to smoking, obesity and pharmaceutical drug use.

"CHMPR has provided greater clinical access to information, analytic techniques and natural language processing," said Amy Caro, vice president and general manager, health division, Northrop Grumman Information Systems. "Our efforts have yielded real-time results and are driving programs and practices that are helping to improve the health of large populations. As we move forward, our security capabilities and work with CHMPR will allow for continued large scale data mining to help inform breakthrough research and drive better health outcomes."

Northrop Grumman has been a member and supporter of CHMPR, since its inception and chairs the CHMPR Industry Advisory Board. Northrop Grumman and UMBC started their participation with CHMPR focusing on cyber to demonstrate a commitment to that mission and have since expanded that focus to include high performance computing and big data analytics in the health arena. Most recently, Northrop Grumman has provided initial funds to CHMPR's new North Carolina State University planning site.

"Our partnership with Northrop Grumman and our work in cyber and now health are huge steps forward in advancing critical research and driving better business and health results. We couldn't be prouder of these accomplishments and we look forward to continuing this great work," said Yelena Yesha, professor of computer science and CHMPR director, UMBC.

"Working with industry to advance research is a great model and Northrop Grumman and UMBC have been a key leaders and partners in building this industry, government and university consortium to advance issues like cyber security and health analytics," said Rita Rodrigues, program director, National Science Foundation.

Northop Gumman is collaborating with UMBC on several initiatives supporting cybersecurity education, training and technology. These include partnering with the bwtech@UMBC Cyber Incubator to form Cync, a program that nurtures innovative cybersecurity startups and helping UMBC launch its Cyber Scholars Program.

Come to URCAD to see new ways to collect and measure data! Research by Kit Kearney, Andrew Comer, Marcus Flores, Lewis Gould, and Daniel Zuckerbrod will be presented Wednesday, April 22 at the University Center Ballroom from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.

This research project developed a universal device with the ability to collect a broad range of sensory input while simplifying operation, optimizing portability, and expanding file format compatibility.