Director: Theodore Melfi

Writers: Allison Schroeder, Theodore Melfi, Margot Lee Shetterly 

Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe

In the 1960s, Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Glen were going to be on of the first men in space. To get the men to in orbit and to land safely in the ocean was going to take something mankind has never done before. NASA has thousands upon thousands of workers behind the scenes scrambling to get men in orbit before the USSR. Among these workers were " human calculators." Before there were calculators like the ones we have today, people did all the calculations by hands by using number machines and rulers. Later IBM (International Business Machines) would release a computer that would help them crunch the numbers faster.  However the math to calculate the trajectory that the astronauts needed was not known to man. Without this math the computers were useless. NASA needed someone to accomplish something that has never been done before. 

Katherine Johnson, one of the Human Computers was chosen for the task because of her love of numbers. Katherine showed off her brilliance at an early age. She attended a high school on the campus of West Virginia college by age 13 and later attended the college by age 18. She graduated with highest honors and later became a school teacher. A couple years later she had children and started working at the West Area Computing section at Langley, a department made up of African American women at NACA (later know as NASA). These women began doing mathematical research since the beginning of World War II. When the Mercury missions needed a solution, she chosen for the task of calculating the trajectory. Katherine in fact was so highly recommended for the job, John Glenn (one of the Mercury Astronauts) reportedly only trusted the calculations that Katherine concluded were safe. Katherine studied how to use geometry to calculate the paths that spacecraft needed to take. Geometry was in fact not new, but the way Katherine used it in space travel was, her math was also used to send the Apollo astronauts to the moon. Her math is one of the foundations of todays missions. After working for NASA for more then 30 years she retired in 1986. In 2015 at the age of 97, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Which is the highest civilian honor in the United States.

Mary Jackson was a mathematician and aerospace engineer that began working at NACA's (later known as NASA) West area computing Area. Coming from Hampton, Virginia. She graduated with high marks from high school and received a bachelor of science degree from the Hampton Institute in Mathematics and Physical Science (she was a dual major). Soon after Mary graduated she became school teacher and worked several jobs before working at NACA. She worked in the computing pool for 2 years before she was invited to work on the engineer Kazimierz Czarnecki. This gave her an opportunity to work hands on in a wind tunnel testing vehicles and their components. This opened a new opportunity for a promotion except the promotion required that all trainees would need to know graduate level math and physics. They would need to take classes from the University of Virginia, but the classes were held in a segregated high school. She had to get special permission from the city of Hampton to attend the classes with her white classmates. Mary was not one afraid of a challenge no matter the magnitude and later finished all the courses and earned the promotion. In 1958 she became NASA's first black female engineer. Later she chose a demotion to fill the open position of Langley’s Federal Women’s Program Manager. She worked to impact the next generation of women engineers. In 1985 she retired from NASA and continued her work in encouraging young women in to pursue STEM. 

Dorothy Vaughan started working at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in 1943 after beginning her career as a math teacher in Farmville, Virginia. Her job during World War II was a temporary position, but thanks to a new executive order which prohibiting discrimination in defense industry she was hired on permanently because the laboratory had a wealth of data to process. Even though she was allowed to keep her job, she like the rest of the African American women had to work segregated from the white women. In 1949, Dorothy Vaughan was promoted to lead the group, making her the NACA's (later known as NASA) first black supervisor, and one of the NACA's few female supervisors. In1958, when the NACA made the transition to NASA, segregated facilities, including the West Computing office, were abolished. Dorothy and many former computer from the West Area, joined the Analysis and Computation Division (ACD), a racially and gender integrated group that worked on IBM (International Business Machines) computers. Dorothy Vaughan became an expert FORTRAN programmer, and she also contributed to the Scout Launch Vehicle Program. She retired in 1971, here legacy would live on like many of the West Area Computing Alumni; inspiring millions. 

Women in STEM reported more gender discrimination than men; in fact, 96 percent of men reported experiencing no gender discrimination compared to 59 percent of women. Women have also reported hearing negative, insensitive or disparaging comments made about one’s own gender, and viewed their workplace as more tolerant of sexism. According to a survey from 2013, most women feel more left out of scholarly with faculty members compared to their male colleagues. Many occupational psychologist have concluded most women feel that its not necessarily men that are penalizing women; it is an outdated system. Most agree that in developed countries it is simply systematic. This does not change the psychological affects it has on women. 

This includes: 

- Lower job satisfaction and productivity

- For Female Undergraduate students they feel their learning environment is negative

- Feeling discouraged and having low moral

1.To identify the challenges women face and the impact of these negative experiences.

2.To identify factors that can protect women’s psychological well-being, job perceptions and academic self-perceptions from those challenges. 

3. Clear, written policies against mistreatment and procedures for reporting it when it happens.

4.Training and education about what behaviors are inappropriate and the consequences of mistreatment

These implications is what Dr. Isis H. Settles PhD, recommends to overall improve the environment that women work in. If these implications are put place every then they would likely improve the way these women feel and the more women would enter STEM. It is clear that experiences of mistreatment gender discrimination, gender derogation, and sexual harassment, are common and have negative consequences for women in STEM. The structural and interpersonal mistreatment give women a negative feeling about their workplace. This obviously is the main reason why most women would not enter STEM. There are multiple ways organizations could work toward creating a batter environment for all personnel. This will overall make any industry stronger, they will have more brains working at once. 

Christina Koch was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2013. She completed astronaut candidate training in 2015.  Koch graduated from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Physics and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. She  served as flight engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 59, 60 and 61.  Koch set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman with a total of 328 days in space.​

Awards: Astronautics Engineer Award, National Space Club & Foundation, 2020; Global ATHENA Leadership Award, ATHENA International, 2020. NASA Group Achievement Award, NASA Juno Mission Jupiter Energetic Particle Detector Instrument, 2012; Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Invention of the Year nominee, 2009; United States Congress Antarctic Service Medal with Winter-Over distinction, 2005; NASA Group Achievement Award, NASA Suzaku Mission X-ray Spectrometer Instrument, 2005.

Koch along with Astronaut Jessica Meir completed the first ever All-female space walk. They repaired a crucial part of the ISS; the power controller. When Christina was asked about her most recent accomplishments, she said "Honor the women who paved the way before us." She is know one of those women paving the way and inspiring all women of all ages to pursue not only STEM but whatever the are passionate for. She feels that it is great that the direction for women has been continuing to improve. Koch said that she feels that one other major contribution she got to be a part of was seeing the difference of duration in space between men and women. 

She missed chips and salsa the most over gravity and she says that she considers doing another mission for NASA. 

All women should do what they love, this presentation pushes that narrative with examples of women who did not back down from a challenge. You don't have to join a STEM field. Having the ability to choose a field you have passion about is one of the most important aspects of life for everyone. There are thousands of programs that encourage women to what they love and thousands more that promote diversity.

If you are interested in anyone of STEM programs, some will be listed below:

-National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP)

-National Math and Science Initiative (NMS)

-Women in Engineering Proactive Network (WEPAN)

-Million Women Mentors (MWM)

-American Association of University Women ( AAUW)

-Scientista (Scientista)

-Association for Women in Science ( AWIS)