For the Future of Women in Science, Look to the Past | Nathalia Holt | TEDxPasadenaWomen

Summary

The speaker reflects on the challenges faced by women in science, particularly in technology, using the story of NASA's first female computer programmers in the 1960s. These women, balancing motherhood with groundbreaking work in the Space Race, created a supportive culture of working motherhood. They fought for flexible work schedules, maternity leave, and career advancement while navigating societal and workplace gender expectations. The speaker highlights the importance of collaboration, trusting partners, and changing workplace policies, drawing inspiration from these pioneering women to empower future generations of women in science and beyond.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker's story begins with an unexpected challenge in an airplane bathroom, highlighting the struggles of being a working mother, especially in male-dominated fields.
• 😀 The speaker reflects on feeling isolated as one of the few women in science, and how a group of pioneering women from NASA helped her navigate this feeling of loneliness.
• 😀 The women from NASA, who were part of the first all-female team of mathematicians, developed strategies for balancing motherhood and career, which continue to be relevant today.
• 😀 The number of women in computer science has drastically decreased since 1984, with only 18% of bachelor’s degrees now awarded to women, showing the ongoing challenge for women in tech.
• 😀 The solution for improving the situation for women in science lies in learning from the experiences of these early NASA women who balanced motherhood with groundbreaking work in technology.
• 😀 One of the key strategies these women used to succeed was mutual support, which enabled them to influence workplace policies and family expectations.
• 😀 They also created their own maternity leave system by secretly keeping women in touch with their jobs through phone calls after they had children, ensuring job security.
• 😀 These women fought for opportunities, pushing for women with mathematics degrees to be trained in labs and sent to night school, eventually leading to more women working at NASA.
• 😀 Flexible working hours were key to these women’s success, allowing them to work on crucial projects while also caring for their families, a balance not commonly found in mid-20th-century workplaces.
• 😀 Despite the cultural expectations of the time, many of the women shared childcare duties with their husbands, revolutionizing the traditional gender roles of caregiving and breadwinning.
• 😀 The story of these pioneering women shows the importance of community, support, and workplace change in making space for women to thrive in science and technology fields.

Q & A

What is the main challenge the speaker faces during the flight in 2011?

The main challenge the speaker faces during the flight is her breast pump malfunctioning, which causes her to panic, especially since she is far from home and away from her infant daughter for the first time.

How does the speaker describe the moment when flight attendants knock on the airplane bathroom door?

The speaker describes the moment as tense, with the flight attendants looking prepared for anything. However, after the speaker explains the situation, the attendants start laughing, easing the tension.

Why does the speaker feel isolated at the research station in South Africa?

The speaker feels isolated because she is surrounded by mostly male colleagues and feels like the only woman in science, compounded by the lack of other mothers in her field.

How did the 80-year-old women from NASA inspire the speaker?

The 80-year-old women, pioneers of NASA who worked as mathematicians in the 1940s, inspired the speaker by showing how they balanced motherhood with their careers, offering strategies for working mothers in the scientific field.

What was the percentage of women earning computer science degrees in 1984 compared to today?

In 1984, 37% of the bachelor degrees in computer science were awarded to women. Today, that number has dropped to just 18%.

What strategies did the pioneering women at NASA employ to succeed in their careers?

The pioneering women at NASA succeeded by supporting each other, changing their workplace policies, and trusting their partners to help with child care.

How did NASA's attitude toward women in the workforce affect Barbara Paulson?

Barbara Paulson was fired by NASA when they learned she was pregnant, as they considered her an insurance liability. This was a common practice in the 1960s, where maternity leave was not available.

What strategy did Helen Lang implement to help women at NASA keep their jobs after having children?

Helen Lang helped women keep their jobs by maintaining contact through telephone calls after they gave birth, offering a form of maternity leave that was not officially provided by NASA.

How did the women at NASA ensure that more women were hired in technical roles?

The women at NASA sought out women with degrees in mathematics, trained them in the lab, and pushed them toward night school, thereby increasing the number of women hired in technical roles.

What was the significance of the beauty contests at NASA, despite their controversial nature?

The beauty contests at NASA, though misguided and controversial by today's standards, played a role in bringing the women together and fostering a sense of community, which ultimately helped strengthen their professional relationships.