[Power K-Women] Advice from the First Female Ho-Am Engineering Award Winner: "Women Leaders Must Always Stand Out"

Professor Lee Su-in, Department of Computer Science, University of Washington

First Female Recipient of Samsung Ho-Am Engineering Award
Overcoming Discrimination Against Asian Women to Become a World-Renowned Scholar
Recognized for Research in Explainable Artificial Intelligence
"Female Leaders Should Serve as Role Models for the Next Generation"

"Female leaders must always step forward to be visible and speak out strongly (vocal)."

On the 28th, in a video interview, Professor Suin Lee of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington in the United States cited 'clarity' as a virtue that female leaders should possess. Professor Lee was recognized as a prodigy from childhood, excelling in mathematics and science, and now leads research in Explainable Artificial Intelligence (AI), sweeping various prestigious awards. Having lived a distinct life more than anyone else, she expressed her determination to continue challenging obstacles and confronting discrimination for the female juniors who will live in the future.

- What is Explainable AI, your research field?

▲It is a technology that makes AI, which only provides answers, explainable. For example, if you input various medical information into AI and ask about the probability of disease occurrence, you only get an answer. However, AI's answers may vary for several reasons. If AI is implemented so that its results can be understood and interpreted, errors can be prevented. If conventional AI is like a workbook with only problems and answers, explainable AI is a kind of commentary book.

- You became the first woman to receive the Ho-Am Prize in Engineering for Explainable AI. At the time of the award, you said, "A good scientist must be a good politician." Why did you think this way?

▲Modern science is team science. All papers from our lab have multiple authors. A good scientist basically secures funding to support the members of their lab. Also, they must have the charisma to lead talented researchers. In short, to succeed in this field, you must be a 'jack of all trades.' Yet, I have seen many students, colleagues, and professors who focus only on what is visible and pay no attention to human relationships. I mentioned this in my acceptance speech because it seemed like a behavior that causes many long-term losses. It was a message to young students, but my colleagues encouraged me by saying it applies to all scientists.

- Team science seems relatively inactive in Korea.

▲Korean scholars also understand its importance. However, since such collaboration has not been frequently seen, it seems not to be active. In the U.S., collaborations across different disciplines are diverse. Funding agencies also allocate more money to interdisciplinary studies. Of course, it is not easy for scholars from completely different backgrounds to collaborate, but we also need systems that encourage team science.

- You graduated from Seoul Science High School, a prestigious high school, in two years and published papers since your KAIST undergraduate years. From an external perspective, you were an outstanding prodigy.

▲I like the term 'super-gap.' There are many different standards in the world. Sometimes they are fair, but sometimes unfair. So I decided to compete with a super-gap in the few things I consider important?so that no one can easily overturn it. Therefore, I graduated as the top student in the Department of Electronic Engineering at KAIST with nearly perfect grades and won the gold prize for a paper from Samsung in my third undergraduate year. However, behind this were many failures too numerous to mention. What matters is not the fragmentary results like success or failure but my story?how I interpret the path I have walked in life. Life is personal, and personal happiness is the most important success indicator.

- Did you face difficulties as a woman?

▲I grew up in an environment where women made up 10% from high school and experienced a lot of gender discrimination. Early in my studies abroad, I struggled greatly with English and cultural differences. I was just a quiet female student from a small country called 'South Korea,' who could not speak a single fluent English word and studied hard. At that time, there was no BTS or Netflix. Korea was just a poor country known through the Korean War. Especially, I was often ignored by white male seniors. They said, "That's not how you present science," but never told me how to do it well. Even now, in the computer science field where I work, female professors make up less than 20%. The U.S. professor hiring process is performance-based and very rigorous, so 'being a woman' is not a factor. Still, male colleagues sometimes said to me, "You were hired because you are a woman."

- How did you cope with such gender discrimination?

▲I think showing is the most effective way. Female leaders must always step forward to be visible and speak out strongly. It is not about showing off. They must be role models for the next generation of women. Discrimination is deeply rooted in social atmospheres, so it cannot be easily resolved in a short time. The U.S. is better than other East Asian countries, but I still experience absurd incidents. At such times, I express myself directly, saying, "Is my being a woman a problem for you?" straightforwardly.

- Yet, the rate of women entering STEM fields in Korea is still very low. Why do you think that is?

▲It is a global phenomenon. Cautiously, I think social pressure is significant. The roles expected of women by the older generation and various perceptions in families. For example, prejudices like expecting women to excel more in the arts. As a result, there have been fewer women in STEM fields, and the Ho-Am Engineering Prize was slower to be awarded to women. Of course, the claim that women are genetically or biologically suited to certain fields is nonsense.

- There is talk about the need to nurture female scientists and engineers. What do you think about affirmative action?

▲Affirmative action (AA) has various side effects. AA is a very important policy. The policy can be adjusted to select more women in the selection process. However, prejudice does not change overnight. From the male colleagues' perspective, it can lead to comments like "White men are disadvantaged," and unnecessary misunderstandings such as "She was selected because she is a woman." I am not saying AA should be abolished immediately, but creating a culture that focuses on people rather than gender is the fundamental solution.

- Why do many STEM students in Korea try to enter medical school, and how do you think this can be resolved?

▲Of course, medicine is a field that saves lives and requires talented people. But considering social balance, it is not a desirable phenomenon. I think the medical school craze in Korea originated from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) financial crisis. People lost their jobs overnight. My father was no exception. After that, people started flocking to licensed professions. The perception spread that life is easier if you become a doctor. We need to change people's perceptions, and I expect the popularity of AI to play a role. Everyone in Korea knows the names of AI company CEOs and scholars. They are regarded like celebrities. As the importance of AI grows, I think more students will enter engineering and other fields.

- Recently, the Korean government cut and then restored the research and development (R&D) budget. What do you think as a researcher?

▲Cutting R&D budgets is a very unsettling phenomenon and extremely short-sighted. I was really shocked. Since my friends are professors, I heard the news as soon as the situation occurred. My colleagues reduced graduate students and stopped research due to budget cuts. Some professors paid researchers' salaries out of pocket. Research funding is like a lifeline for scientists, so I was very worried that Korean academia might shrink. While countries like the U.S. and China are accelerating R&D, if such an event happens even once, the scientific community suffers a huge blow.

- In which fields do you want to achieve results in the future?

▲I am researching Alzheimer's disease through explainable AI. I analyze biological big data to study which genes are problematic. Currently, about two Alzheimer's drugs have been developed, but they have little effect. Since it is a disease that causes great suffering to patients and their families worldwide, I want to contribute to its solution. I am also very interested in aging. Aging research is a challenging task that seems to go against the laws of nature. I am investigating why cells age and change, how they differ, and whether aging prevention is possible.

- What kind of researcher do you want to be?

▲Scientists are called "people who dream of 10 years later." But I want to see results quickly. I want to be a researcher who quickly develops technologies that help humanity.

About Professor Suin Lee

She graduated from Seoul Science High School and graduated top of her class in Electronic Engineering at KAIST. She then earned her Ph.D. at Stanford University in the U.S. and has conducted research applying artificial intelligence to the bio field. Later, she led research in the field of Explainable AI to understand AI's decision-making and prediction processes. Earlier this year, she received the most prestigious 'Innovator Award' at the International Society for Computational Biology and, in April, became the first woman to receive the Samsung Ho-Am Prize in Engineering.