Discrimination towards women of color working in West Computing had been an impactful issue in 1943 through 1958. West Computing was a group of African American women who were mathematicians that helped at the Langley Research Center of NACA. The Jim Crow laws had particularly affected colored women by only exposing them to segregated facilities such as cafeteria lunch tables, restrooms, water fountains, and coffee dispensers. When the organization of NACA became NASA, all the facilities that were segregated were then prohibited and abolished. Even though segregated facilities were abolished, colored women are still being discriminated in STEM today since the 1950s. Women are still being discriminated by having to prove themselves over and
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Many women that were part of Langley went through this quite often. In the book Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly said “If something needed to be measured and didn’t exist, the engineers invented it, ran the test, and sent the numbers to the computers…What Marge passed along to Dorothy and the women of west computing was usually a small portion of a larger task ... she might not hear another word about the work until a piece appeared in the Air Scoop ... the calculations were whisked away into the shadowy kingdom of the engineers” (58,59). This shows how the engineers would take credit for all calculations women would work hard on. Generally, making the women work double hard to prove themselves over and over to show they were capable of doing a great job. This is also seen in a contemporary study shown by Joan C. Williams, who wrote the article “The 5 Biases Pushing Women Out of STEM” pointing out “two-thirds of the women interviewed, and two-thirds of the women survey, reported having to prove themselves over and over again- their successes discounted, their expertise questioned … Black women were considerably more likely than other women to report having to deal with this type of bias”. This can compare to the years of the 1940s, where these women were being discriminated and how it still continues …show more content…
In the 1940s, colored women were faced with segregated facilities that prohibited them from fully engaging in their education. In the book Hidden Figures, Mary Jackson wanted to begin an engineer training program but had to get permission first to attend a segregated high school. If it weren’t for fighting against the court system and her rights, she wouldn’t have gotten permission to go to her classes, which later was granted the permission she needed (Shetterly 144). Along with being racially stereotyped, women also received gender bias. In Hidden Figures, Katherine Globe was not able to attend the meetings with the rest of the engineers because she was a woman. She questioned and fought her rights to be present in those meetings and with time they eventually let her attend the meetings (Shetterly 179). These racial stereotypes and gender biases happen till this day in STEM. Shalene Gupta, writer of “Study: 100% of women of color in STEM experience bias”, reported on William’s survey that “60 women of color in STEM and a survey of 557 women (both women of color and white women). A full 100% of the women of color reported gender bias, with 93% of white women saying they’ve experienced gender bias. But women of color also encounter racial and ethnic stereotypes, putting them in what Williams called ‘a double jeopardy.’” This study done shows how women
Many women that were part of Langley went through this quite often. In the book Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly said “If something needed to be measured and didn’t exist, the engineers invented it, ran the test, and sent the numbers to the computers…What Marge passed along to Dorothy and the women of west computing was usually a small portion of a larger task ... she might not hear another word about the work until a piece appeared in the Air Scoop ... the calculations were whisked away into the shadowy kingdom of the engineers” (58,59). This shows how the engineers would take credit for all calculations women would work hard on. Generally, making the women work double hard to prove themselves over and over to show they were capable of doing a great job. This is also seen in a contemporary study shown by Joan C. Williams, who wrote the article “The 5 Biases Pushing Women Out of STEM” pointing out “two-thirds of the women interviewed, and two-thirds of the women survey, reported having to prove themselves over and over again- their successes discounted, their expertise questioned … Black women were considerably more likely than other women to report having to deal with this type of bias”. This can compare to the years of the 1940s, where these women were being discriminated and how it still continues …show more content…
In the 1940s, colored women were faced with segregated facilities that prohibited them from fully engaging in their education. In the book Hidden Figures, Mary Jackson wanted to begin an engineer training program but had to get permission first to attend a segregated high school. If it weren’t for fighting against the court system and her rights, she wouldn’t have gotten permission to go to her classes, which later was granted the permission she needed (Shetterly 144). Along with being racially stereotyped, women also received gender bias. In Hidden Figures, Katherine Globe was not able to attend the meetings with the rest of the engineers because she was a woman. She questioned and fought her rights to be present in those meetings and with time they eventually let her attend the meetings (Shetterly 179). These racial stereotypes and gender biases happen till this day in STEM. Shalene Gupta, writer of “Study: 100% of women of color in STEM experience bias”, reported on William’s survey that “60 women of color in STEM and a survey of 557 women (both women of color and white women). A full 100% of the women of color reported gender bias, with 93% of white women saying they’ve experienced gender bias. But women of color also encounter racial and ethnic stereotypes, putting them in what Williams called ‘a double jeopardy.’” This study done shows how women