"But she was mean to Data 😔" YES!! yes she was she could be a straight up bastard! But she also raised questions about his nature and abilities that even Data couldn't answer - questions that should be asked! And she changed her viewpoint over time! She was a good doctor! She had stone cold humour! She was kind to Worf! She had prejudiced ideas but when she was wrong she addressed it! That's an interesting character and it's a shame we didn't get to see more of it!

For my money, the best scene showing Pulaski's growth is from Pen Pals. The scene where they're discussing the prime directive and how it's supposed to keep emotions from influencing judgment and this exchange happens:

Pulaski: "My emotions are involved. Data's friend is going to die. That means something."

Worf: "To Data"

Pulaski: "Does that invalidate the emotion?"

And the whole senior staff shuts up, the room is silence and stunned expressions. She's on Team Data 100% for no other reason than Data thinks this is the right thing to do.

This illustrates just how much growth Pulaski has gone through. She goes from "I don't trust the judgment of a machine" to "I implicitly trust Data's judgment in interpreting our highest law, which we all took an oath to uphold". As far as she knows, Data's primary motivation for wanting to intervene is personal attachment.

She wasn't sure Data was even capable of that kind of relationship when she arrived on the ship. Now she's ready to risk her career supporting Data. (If Starfleet Command doesn't agree with their reasoning for intervening to save Sarjenka and Drema IV, the crew could be reprimanded, demoted, or even court martialed)

I have been called ableist and transphobic? for liking her character arc. It took MANY messages to get across the idea that I enjoy that we saw her growth. It wasn’t dramatic. It was just sincere learning, and I think the world needs more examples of characters that become better and show that it is possible to have growth.