College of Science: What were your impressions of the film Hidden Figures and the struggles for women and women of color in STEM that the film represents?

Zakiya Wilson-Kennedy: The roles of women in the scientific advancements of the twentieth century have often been unsung. Even more so for women of color. Amazingly, pioneers like Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Dr. Shirley Malcom, Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb, and many others went unnoticed. While we have many new visible role models, like Dr. Mae Jemison and Dr. Jeanette Epps, women of color are still dramatically underrepresented and underutilized within the U.S. scientific enterprise.

I am thrilled about the Hidden Figures motion picture and the opportunity it affords to celebrate the accomplishments of shero scientists, mathematicians and engineers who with dignity and grace have made world-changing scientific contributions. I am grateful for this moment in history to recognize and embrace the legacy of these African American women, hidden figures who are hidden no longer.

College of Science: What issues do women of color in STEM still face today? How have these changed over time?

Zakiya Wilson-Kennedy: The struggles that the female scientists, mathematicians and engineers depicted in Hidden Figures faced are different than the ones that women of color in STEM face today, and yet there are some similarities. To understand the progress of women of color in the American STEM landscape, I want to share two research studies conducted within the last half century.

In 1975, a group of minority women, comprised of Black, Latina, Native American and Puerto Rican individuals, met and began talking about their experiences as scientists and engineers in America. Dr. Shirley Malcolm, director of Education and Human Resources at AAAS, served as the lead author of the 1976 study that emerged from these discussions, “The Double Bind: The Price of Being a Minority Woman in Science.”

The report chronicled how “-isms” often limit the professional advancement and mobility of women of color. For Black, Latina, Native American, and Puerto Rican scientists, the vestiges of racism were still prevalent and result in what we now describe as macroaggressions and microaggressions that undercut their scientific contributions.

Sexism plays a role in how people view women in STEM and the opportunities that women are afforded. Often, the professional experiences of highly competent women are clouded by a double taxation of being a person of color and a woman.

Some of the most poignant moments of Hidden Figures illustrate how this double taxation of being a minority and being a woman impacted the work of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and many others like them.