The cast of the original Star Trek series.
There she was, going boldly where no man had gone before. Or should I say, no woman. In Star Trek: The Original Series (1966), Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) was the only woman on the bridge. She was also the first African American woman to play a lead role on television in the United States. Though she made great strides, she was still a marginalized character. In fact, most of the women in the television show were treated this way. This did not exactly change until later series such as Star Trek: Voyager (1995) which showcased a female captain. The portrayal of women in media as beautiful minds, rather than just beautiful objects, has been a long and continuing process.
Media holds a mirror to real life, and often presents an exaggeration of it. Patriarchal norms in the workforce and gender gaps in television are unfortunate reflections of real life. Men outnumber women in almost every field, including NASA’s astronauts where ~17% are women, with the raw numbers being only 61 women and 299 men. Even NASA, the supposed best government agency to work for, can’t bridge the gender gap. Not only that, there has never been an openly LGBTQ+ astronaut. There have only been Sally Ride, the first American woman in space and a suspected member of the LGBTQ+ community, though not publicly out. All of the past and current astronauts identify as cisgender.
Astronaut demographics compared to US population demographics (Men in Green, Women in Orange, Nonbinary in Yellow)
People other than cisgender white men are conditioned by society to believe that they are not made for science. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Women are just as capable as men are in the STEM field and the space industry, yet they still have not represented more than about 11% of astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) in the past 20 years. However, women have done a lot with the time they have had in space.
Sally Ride was the first American woman in space.
Susan Helms was the first woman to travel to the ISS.
Peggy Whitson was the first woman ISS commander and holds the record for the most time spent in space.
Kathryn Sullivan was the first woman NASA astronaut to complete a space walk (EVA).
Mae Jemison was the first African American woman in space.
The first all female spacewalk was conducted by Christina Koch and Jessica Meir.
In the space industry, women tend to be kept to administrative roles rather than scientific job positions that are dominated by men. While women are present in small numbers, they are not necessarily innovating on the frontier of space science. Women are still seen as homemakers, and homemakers can’t go on expeditions. Since the beginning of history, women have been deemed as unfit to participate in a “man’s world.” The saddening reality? Apparently this disparity continues in outer-space. In order to create truly objective and pure science, employers in STEM fields such as the space industry must bridge the gap, without relying on minorities to make the first move. Often, the work of increasing diversity and declaring its importance is in the hands of minorities rather than normalized majority groups such as cis white men.
“If we want scientists and engineers in the future, we should be cultivating the girls as much as the boys.” – Sally Ride
In order to begin closing the gap, NASA must focus on recruiting more diverse women to the astronaut program. There are several theories as to why there is a deficit in the number of women astronauts at NASA. There could be a hiring bias, certainly possible. Other reasons for disproportionate rates of women in these roles may be due to part-time work complications, career choices influenced by societal norms, and fewer and lower-paid female managers. To combat these issues specifically, NASA should gear its advertisement of the astronaut program to women to encourage them to apply. The agency would have to do this without making everything “pink and girly” or “girlboss”, rather, it would have to portray the strength and capabilities of the women astronauts NASA does have, inspiring new generations.
It is even harder for women of color to break through in these fields, facing double the challenges due to their intersectional identities. NASA as a workplace lacks diversity, and this is presented most clearly to the public via its astronauts. If the public is still seeing majority white male astronauts, they will continue to believe that that is the perfect astronaut candidate. A report on the demographics of the STEM field noted that only one third of the workforce was women, and did not include a figure for nonbinary workers. Another step in combating gender bias is by showing the public that it can be done.
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