Clemson black women engineers find role models

The non-fiction book and its film counterpart “Hidden Figures” revealed the genius behind the American space race in the 1960s: a cohort of black women who, despite segregation and discrimination, applied their genius in math and engineering to help send our rockets and astronauts into space and bring them back safely. But three Clemson University black women engineers say the look back at the trailblazing women casts a light on racial and gender disparities that still exist in science, technology, engineering and math Renee Cottle, assistant professor of bioengineering at Clemson. “Often, many women are underestimated, as they were in the movie, and they have to overcome those preconceived notions that their employers and even colleagues may have about what they can do and what they can accomplish,” Cottle said.  Clemson chemical engineering major Crystal Pee, civil engineering doctoral candidate Shakira Hobbs and Cottle gathered recently to discuss how “Hidden Figures” affected them and how they related to the women’s struggles. In the movie, actors Taraji Henson, Janelle Monáe and Octavia Spencer play real characters Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan, who, with many other black women, persevered and triumphed in two worlds dominated by people who looked nothing like them: the science, engineering and mathematics professions dominated by men, and the world of white people, which dominated every other aspect of American society. The story of the “Hidden Figures” women remained largely unknown until the book was published in September 2016 and the movie was released this month. Increasing diversity and inclusion in the STEM fields got a boost recently with a $3.4 million grant to Clemson from the National Science Foundation.