On being a black female math whiz during the space race

[pnwmom]

5. ln the 40's and 50's this happened to women of all colors, including white women.

Last edited Tue Sep 6, 2016, 02:15 PM - Edit history (2)

My daughter's favorite elementary school teacher was a white math whiz who had skipped two grades in school. But she told me that her college advisor had said that if she were a man, she should go into engineering; but because she was a woman -- and short -- she should be an elementary school teacher.

Then, when my daughter finished fifth, her school recommended that she have a math placement in middle school two years above grade level. But the new school said no -- that the only students they had EVER placed above grade level were boys.

This was in the 90's -- overt discrimination against girls in math was still going on.

(In the end my daughter got the correct placement and ended up getting a PhD in engineering. But every woman engineer and scientist she knows has had similar experiences.)

So the accomplishment of these NASA women was twofold -- they succeeded not only despite white privilege, but despite male privilege.