Virginia Tech alumna advocates for women's advancement in data science
“I'm in a profession of operations, technology, and analytics where many women are still not in executive positions. I want to change that,” said Ewa Kleczyk Ph.D. ’08.
Ewa Kleczyk ’08, who received her Ph.D. in economics through a joint program between the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and the Department of Economics, is a long-time mentor and advocate of women in STEM and in the data science field.
As the senior vice president of commercial analytics and data curation at Target RWE, a North Carolina-based company that provides real-world evidence and data to the health care industry, she founded the Women’s Network for employees, an ongoing collaborative effort that provides space and support for Target RWE employees to learn from and celebrate their peers.
She is an active supporter in mentoring future women leaders in the pharmaceutical industry for which she has been recognized with multiple leadership awards, including the Healthcare Business Women’s Association Rising Star and Luminary recognitions.
“I want to advance women,” Kleczyk said. “I'm in a profession of operations, technology, and analytics where many women are still not in executive positions. I want to change that.”
According to industry reports, women make up 57 percent of undergraduate students and 60 percent of postgraduate students but only 35 percent pursue studies in STEM fields. Women represent 56 percent of the U.S. workforce but only 25 percent are in technology jobs. That number falls under 20 percent when it comes to data science fields.
In 2023, she was part of a group of women who contributed chapters in the book, “Empowering Women to Succeed Volume 3: Women Rising.”
In her chapter, “Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Strategies for Women to Succeed in a Male-Dominated Profession,” Kleczyk offers empowering strategies that not only explain the challenges but also highlight abundant opportunities, enabling women to overcome barriers and reshape norms with resilience.
Today, she is in the process of writing her own book, which takes a deeper dive into the chapter she wrote in the collaboration.
“It's important for me to leave a legacy behind and encourage women to follow their path, whatever that might be,” Kleczyk said.
Kleczyk was recognized in 2023 as WomenTech’s Global Data Science and AI Leader of the Year and was a 2022 Women in IT finalist for Outstanding Contribution of the Year. The basis of this award was her pioneering work using advanced machine learning algorithms to identify the drivers of endometriosis, a chronic and often debilitating women’s gynecological disorder, along with her contributions to the arena as a whole.
When she is not advocating on behalf of women, Kleczyk leads operations for Target RWE’s real-world data solutions that support the health care industry. These solutions are utilized throughout the drug development and commercialization process.
Her experiences spans data science and advanced analytics, health economics, health care outcomes research, commercial analytics, as well as forecasting.
“I have the privilege of using data to help inform decisions on how patients are being diagnosed and treated,” Kleczyk said. “My role is to identify new opportunities for changing policy, optimizing treatment patterns and diagnostic processes, and understanding gaps in the market to help treat patients more effectively. Through my work, I aim to contribute to improving health care outcomes for everyone.”
Kleczyk enjoys the impact she is having on patients. She is proud to leverage her expertise to advance communities; specifically rural, disadvantaged areas where residents might not have access to health care.
Kleczyk, along with her husband, James Strout, serves on the Community Cancer Council for the Northern Light Health Network in Bangor, Maine, providing advocacy for cancer patients. She is also an affiliated graduate faculty member in the School of Economics at the University of Maine, where she established a scholarship for graduate students in the field of economics.
“Ewa is a person with tremendous drive and a self-starter,” said Darrell Bosch, professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and Kleczyk’s former advisor. “She is a leader and an excellent role model for women.”
“Someone once told me to create my table and convince others to join when there seemed no opportunity to advance,” Kleczyk said. “This presents an opportunity for female leaders to build new executive tables and create seats to empower all women.”
