#blackandstem

This Is Why There Are So Few Black Physicists And Astronomers (And How To Fix It)

“Make an effort to support black students in the classroom. Reach out to them. Invite them to study sessions. Tell them explicitly about opportunities. When you see them at a conference, introduce them to others that you know. Invite them for drinks and to social events. Send the simple message, wherever you can, that "you are welcome here" and "you belong here."

Many of the black physicists and astronomers today were brought into the field because of positive interactions with professors and students. If we can transform the field to make that the cultural norm — and clearly, this applies to more fields than just physics and astronomy — we can better advance, serve, and promote the physical sciences for the benefit of humanity. Advancing and supporting under-represented minorities is a critical component of that, and one that we can all contribute to simply by sending that one universal message we all yearn to hear: your presence here is genuinely valued.”

Over the past two or three decades, both the number and percentage of Bachelor’s degrees awarded to Black Americans in STEM fields has increased tremendously, with the exception of two fields where gains have been either modest or stagnant: physics and astronomy. In a historic first, the American Institute of Physics conducted a deep scientific study into what the causes of this were and how to fix it, producing a report with two main recommendations: we need to change the culture in these fields to foster a sense of belonging, inclusivity and support, and we need to fund under-represented students and their departments to ease the financial and structural burdens that they face.

Today’s #WorkerWednesday guest is a young Miss Georgiana Yvonne Young (1929-2019). In 1951, Young became the first woman to graduate from Howard University’s engineering school with a degree in mechanical engineering. In 1952, she was hired by the RCA-Victor Division of the Radio Corporation of America at the age of twenty-three, where she was the first Black woman to be hired as an engineer by the company. Prior to her career at RCA-Victor, she worked as a design engineer at the Frankford Arsenal-Gage Laboratory in Philadelphia.

I'm applying for this grant to basically kick start my business and it's HARD. I'm trying to cram my whole experience into poignant, evidence-based descriptions about how there are un-represented minorities, not just underrepresented minorities and I'm one of them.

I so badly wanna just be like

Look, I came from a ghetto ass school system, and I don't mean that in the playful way that white girls say. I mean I spent my days convincing friends not to go to gang fights, or bring a weapon to school (to squash beef), or date that dude cuz he's a thug (like fr) but he's of the good ones. I knew if I wanted to leave Franklin it was thru school and I needed good grades. I knew I was lucky to be good at math and I loved science and that was about it. I loved art too and never in all of my days would I have ever though that engineering would be a great fit for me. Cuz we didn't get STEM exposure. Period.

With my love of science I could be a doctor or a vet. Literally that's all I knew. Not to be a scientist or that professors did research. None of that. And I know nothing's changed. They got a brand new big ass high school but literally nothing changed. The teachers don't think much of the students. Kids are just expected to be bad simply because they at Franklin. Dassit. Kids still come from fucked up homes. Nothing's changed.

I went back last year and got to talk to the kids and none of them knew what to do with themselves. They had no idea what to do with their love of math or science, just like I did. At least 4 kids said they like art but like science and can't decide and I'm like "so there's this thing called engineering and it totally merges the two." They had no idea.

Here's what gets me. The hood breeds engineers. If you don't have money, you make shit. Period. You intuit, you invent, you design and you build. Then you show that shit off to your friends! There's no reason why Franklin can't be an engineering hub. None. Only a handful of teachers have enough faith in these kids to even try something.

The shittiest part? This school is maybe 20 minutes from Rutgers. 40 from Princeton. 40 from fucking NJIT. An hour from NYU and Columbia. None of these places does any outreach with them. None!

And I know Franklin's not alone but how the fuck do I put in a grant that this is a totally missed demographic group when there's no data because NO ONE IS LOOKING.

I've done outreach my WHOLE CAREER. I can tell you all the schools around every university I went to that was perdominantly lower/working class and/or black/latinx, and I can tell you the outreach groups never go there.

In the off chance they come to the university, the fear is palpable. Fucking eggshells. And I'm there like "I wanna talk to you about how I used to cornrow people's hair in the auditorium during free period. Or how we used to have dance battles and ciphers in the cafeteria after school." I wanna tell them I'm onna y'all! So bad! But if I do, and I let the Hood show, then my peers look at me different. Like I'm disingenuous or somehow even more undeserving than they already think me to be.

And no one tells you how to code switch when you "made it". Like I'm at the point in Sorry To Bother You where he has to talk in his white people voice all the time. You kinda wonder if you've lost your way. If someone was there at that moment to coach me like, "nah just talk to the kids like you should." Who knows what change mighta been effected. I can be that for other people! But I need this grant.

It's so fucking hard. I can't just say what I feel. I have to find all the data to show there is no data. Fuck. Fuck this dumb ass system that yammers for diversity while simultaneously only allowing their pre-approved notions of diversity.

I wanna make these fucking comics for the kids in Franklin. The kids in the hood. The kids who need a break from everyone expecting them to be bad. The kids with discount lunches that don't think they can afford a cool science crate subscription, or even be nerdy in public. Them. So more kid can have a path like me but maybe with a little less bullshit.

I’ve been dying to post Pauline Acalin’s new Hidden Figures Lego t-shirt for a while now, but we were waiting till we had something extra special to go with it...

The design celebrates the previously hidden (or ignored) contributions of Dorothy Vaughn, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson and many more women like them to the early days of our space program. And now each tee sold will help support today’s women of color in STEM! 

If you don’t already know about VanguardSTEM, you need to check them out. Founded by Jedidah Isler, astrophysicist and trailblazer extraordinaire, Vanguard STEM is a monthly live chat web-series with a rotating panel of women of color in STEM discussing everything from research to advice to current events. The goal of the community is: “to create conversations between emerging and established women of color in STEM, where we can celebrate and affirm our identities and STEM interests in a safe space.”

VanguardSTEM recently formed the SeRCH Foundation (STEM en Route to CHange) non-profit: 

We are dedicated to using science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as a tool for social justice. We focus on the representation, cultivation and amplification of the voices and experiences of persons of color and other marginalized bodies as they navigate and make impacts on the STEM environment and culture. We use an intersectional framework to engage the overlapping identities and discrimination that marginalized communities face without minimizing any aspect of their humanity.

Half the proceeds for all Hidden Figures t-shirts sold will be donated the SeRCH Foundation. BUT THAT’S NOT ALL...

Make a donation directly to SeRCH between now and next Wednesday (September 6th) and you could win one of these shirts! Just tweet, FB message, or email us a copy/screenshot of your receipt and we’ll enter you in the drawing. We will announce TWO winners on the blog at the end of next week. 

Sorry, not sorry for the epic post, but here’s to Pauline and Jedidah for “Women Crushing-it Wednesday.” Go help both of them continue to crush it and continue to celebrate and support women in STEM!