Rise of the Rocket Girls, I had to stop in my local book shop to grab Rocket Girls details the women who worked as human computers at the Jet Propulsion Lab on the west coast, Hidden Figures focuses on a group of African American women working as human computers on the east coast at the and later part of NASA. When I finished readingI had to stop in my local book shop to grab Hidden Figures . Whiledetails the women who worked as human computers at the Jet Propulsion Lab on the west coast,focuses ongroup of African American women working as human computers on the east coast at the Langley Research Center , first as part of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronauticslater part of NASA.



Hidden Figures is a bit denser in terms of the history and a bit less focused on the narratives of the individual women at the heart of the story. The author Margot Lee Shetterly has Hidden Figures. This careful research and detail is evident in every page of the book. In the epilogue, the author describes how hard it was to choose what stories to tel l – if you ' re finally bringing people's contributions to the space race to light, it can be hard to leave anything out! is a bit denser in terms of the history and a bit less focused on the narratives of the individual women at the heart of the story. The author Margot Lee Shetterly has beautifully described how she came to tell this story, which is deeply connected to her life in Virginia, where her father worked for NASA's Langely Research Center and where all the family friends were connected to NASA in some way. As a result, the author has a very unique perspective on the lives of the young women who broke the boundaries at the NACA/NASA. Based on her initial research and interviews, she started The Human Computer Project , which aimed to document all the people who worked in this capacity at NACA/NASA. As she did this, she started to find the story that would become the book. This careful research and detail is evident in every page of the book. In the epilogue, the author describes how hard it was to choose what stories to telif youre finally bringing people's contributions to the space race to light, it can be hard to leave anything out!





As a result, the book is structured around the historical events that the women are connected with and driving forward. Interestingly, t he movie complements the story perfectly in this respect. I admit that, in an unusual turn, I decided to watch the film as I was reading the book; this really helped me put the stories together into a linear (albeit much too simple) narrative. ou t fault, oversimplification of the story was not as glaring as the Don't get me wrong, the film was not witht fault, oversimplification of the story was not as glaring as the white savior problem. ( H i story vs. Hollywood has a good . ) summary of the things the film got right and wrong









Hidden Figures has achieved such strong critical acclaim, there are plenty of excellent reviews of the content (e.g., and The Atlantic , so I de cided to focu s instead on why it 's so important that this story has been brought to light in 2017 : Becausehas achieved such strong critical acclaim, there are plenty of excellent reviews of the content (e.g., The New York Times

- We need to remember the realities of segregation.

- We need to remember the limited op portuni ties available for women in mid - century America .

- We need to remember what can be achieved wh en w e invest in science and technology.



Remembering the realities of segregation Here is where I need to ask forgiveness for my ignorance of history. I have been studying science for many yea rs, and this focus has meant that I have missed a lot of other important things, with history probably being at the top of the list. In my defense, I bet that lots of people, especially white folks or those educated in the south, were never taught about the realities of segregation. This is the first reason I think this book seems particularly relevant right now: we are at a time in our history when we seem to be moving backwards in terms of civil rights and we are at the risk of wiping out the truth of these events that happened only 60 years ago. Just as some deny the moon landing or the roundness of Earth, some want to erase this history, which they paint as being exaggerated e.g., Betsey DeVos' suggestion that HBCUs were pioneers in school choice downplay Jim C row .) the revision of Texas state history textbooks to and



Hidden Figures also reminds us that even after the obvious signs of segregation were removed, the less obvious and more pernicious elements of segre gation eer Mary Jackson's son "first colored boy to win " the local . While there was no explicit rule that black boys could n't enter the race, it just wasn't something that w ould register to people in the black community . Even if someone did hear a bout such an even t, the re were still barriers to particip ation, which Shatterly 's description perfectly: was thethe local All American Soap Box Derby computer and enginMary Jackson's son how details e, the book For exampl persisted.

"The electrified fence of segregation and the centuries of shocks it delivered so effectively circumscribed the lives of American blacks that even after the current was turned off, the idea of climbing over the fence inspired dread."

of color states that minorities (of any gender) make up only 10% of the STEM work force, despite being about a quarter of the population ( statistics from 2015). the National Science Foundation continue to be under-represented in STEM fields. Data from Unfortunately, peoplecolor n the "Double Jeopardy" that these women face in their jobs . Women report ed being mistaken for jani tors and hat the y were likely to have to cover ed here ) "prove themselves again and again" likely to have to reports othe "Double Jeopardy"and men of color in STEM 2015 survey of wo





Katherine Johnson (Taraji Henson) at work in Hidden Figures



Remembering the limited options for women in mid - century America

contribution of women in STEM before the age of 's liberation . Before that time, also highlights theof women in STEM before the age of women The story of the female computers at Langley Research Center

– these were considered to be menial and repetitive tasks that required an attention for detail . Of course, even when women got the jobs that were suitable for their skills, they found their employers willing to say goodbye as soon as they got married or pregnant. (Remember that employers in the US were not required to give family leave women were generally limited to jobs as nurses, teachers, or secretaries. Even the jobs that women filled during the war were chosen for their simple and repetitive nature. This is why so many women joined computing groupsthese were considered to be menial and repetitive tasks that required an attention for detailOf course, even when women got the jobs that were suitable for their skills, they found their employers willing to say goodbye as soon as they got married or pregnant. (Remember that employers in the US were not required to giveuntil 1993.)





ak y pipeline" (e.g., the confidence gap equities), but few solutions are clear. r these in There are a number of causes fo re not securing high level jobs. as men, but a es , where women are getting an equal number of advanced degre ing is the "le ed in STEM fields. Perhaps most troubl epresent equally r Even today, women are still not



another problem . The Implicit Bias test can help uncover your bli nd spots . As a woman of science, I was surprised to learn that I had some bias in ass ociating men with s cience, particularly engin eering and physics, where women are still in the lowe st numbers Implicit bias isproblem Interestingly, the author of Hidden Figures al ways thought scientists and engineers were black and middle class because that is what she grew up around . Hidden Figures re flects Sh etterly's upbringing by portraying many positive black women in STEM . Recent data we need to start r aising awaren ess of the prevalence of w o men in science and engine ering. already associate boys with inherent smartness and girls with hard work (coverage in the LA Times ). Thus, it seems and shows that girls as young as 6 start self-selecting out of STEM fields seeing more women and p eople of color i n roles like this can encourage young wom en to chose STEM careers . Some suggest thatroles like this canyoung wom





Hidden Figures and Rise of the Rocket Girls still need to be uncovered. I recently read a - sourced project to get pictures of female scientists for their Wikipedia pages. She explains her rationale: "Pictures are one of the main drivers for whose stories get told and shared. So expanding the pool of women we can ' see ' matters." Going forward, I plan to contribute to this project and look for ways to highlight the accomplis h ments of women in my daily work. It is frustrating to consider how many stories likeandstill need to be uncovered. I recently read a post from Hilda Bastian, who has started a crowdsourced project to get pictures of female scientiststheir Wikipedia pages. She explains her rationale: "Pictures are one of the main drivers for whose stories get told and shared. So expanding the pool of women we canseematters." Going forward,



