Celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science with Marzena Karpinska

The United Nations General Assembly’s 11th annual International Day of Women and Girls in Science is Today, February 11th. Celebrated globally, this day promotes equal access to and participation of women and girls in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

This year’s theme is "From Vision to Impact: Redefining STEM by Closing the Gender Gap" representing the need for more women in STEM careers bringing their talents and skills for maximum global impact. 

In the Q&A that follows, Marzena Karpinska, Assistant Professor at SFU Computing Science shares her academic journey, reflect on the importance of mentorship and community, and offer insights into building more inclusive pathways in science.

Briefly describe your research focus

I conduct research in the field of natural language processing, with a focus on understanding where current language models, such as Claude or Gemini, fall short and how we can improve them. More specifically, I am interested in making language models more inclusive by improving their multilingual performance, as well as understanding how well modern language models can handle long-form inputs (e.g., multiple documents) and generate long-form outputs (e.g., coherent translations of an entire book).

What inspires you to pursue a career in STEM, specifically in your field?

I became interested in natural language processing around 2014, when a new algorithm was introduced to represent words as vectors, building on a linguistic principle summarized by linguist John Rupert Firth: “You shall know a word by the company it keeps.” I found it fascinating that researchers were attempting to encode the meaning of words into vectors based on how those words are used in large corpora.

Was there a defining moment, experience, or mentor that influenced your academic or professional path?

Rather than one defining moment, it was a collection of experiences. Some memorable moments include the first time I worked on a research paper and the results finally started to make sense, the many occasions when I worked with students in class or on research projects and witnessed their growth, and my time working with advisors who were consistently patient and supportive. Together, these experiences convinced me that I want to teach and conduct research at a university while helping to shape the next generation of scientists.

Do you have a female role model in STEM whose work or career inspires you?

Yes, many. Two of the most prominent ones are Yejin Choi and Hanna Hajishirzi. I greatly admire how deeply they think about the current challenges in the field and the thoughtfulness they bring to their research.

What aspects of your journey as a woman in science have most influenced your career and research approach?

One of the most influential experiences was moving from Japan to the United States to begin a postdoctoral position at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The lab I joined in Amherst was extremely welcoming and diverse, with many female students. I felt comfortable speaking freely, sharing my opinions, and pursuing the research directions that interested me. I hope to create a similar lab environment here at SFU.

What advice do you have for women and girls who want to pursue a career in STEM?

I would say: don’t be shy—go for it. The first step is often the hardest, and imposter syndrome can easily creep in, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know what’s possible. Throughout my career, I’ve seen situations where the percentage of women admitted to STEM programs was low not because of weaker performance, but simply because fewer women applied in the first place. Taking that first step matters. Once you start moving forward, the goal is often closer than it seems.