Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is one of the fastest-growing fields, but it is undermined by racial and gender disparities. According to the National Science Foundation, Black women make up nearly seven percent of the United States’ population, but only two percent of the STEM workforce.
A study by the University of Illinois found that racial microaggressions and a lack of representation of people of color discourage minority students from pursuing STEM majors and, consequently, perpetuate the racial disparities we see in STEM education programs and later the workforce. Data from more than 4,800 students revealed that Black students in STEM majors were more likely to experience racial microaggressions than any other students of color, and Black women reported the highest rates of these prejudices.
Diseases affect the Black community differently, as well as how we respond to various treatments. In clinical studies, we are underrepresented. Fortunately, there have been and continue to be Black scientists who focus their research on genetics, biology to understand our specific needs better.
To celebrate Black History Month, we are highlighting five inspirational Black women who broke the glass ceiling, paved the way for generations of women of color to come, and made an indelible impact on our society today.
Dr. Marie Clark Taylor
Dr. Taylor was an American botanist, and the first woman to earn a science doctorate at Fordham University. Her research interest was plant photomorphogenesis. In simple terms, it refers to the developmental process in plants in which the amount of light determines its growth. Dr. Taylor’s PhD research involved experiments with plants that were just about to grow flowers. She was interested in learning how a plant’s growth and flower development is affected by exposure to light for varying lengths of time.
I found it interesting that Dr. Taylor joined the Army Red Cross during the height of World War II. After the war, she returned to Howard University as an assistant botany professor. Taylor remained a notable professor there, and she founded the school’s first botanical greenhouse laboratory. She remained chair of Howard’s botany department until her retirement in 1976.
Dr. Georgia M. Dunston
Dr. Georgia M. Dunston is an American geneticist who is currently professor of human immunogenetics and founding director of the National Human Genome Center at Howard University. Driven by the desire to understand what makes people different, Dr. Dunston has investigated the genetic make-up of people of African descent. She chose this focus because the African population has the greatest genetic variation and also because of African Americans’ difficulties with organ transplants, Type II diabetes, asthma, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. Consequently, she has campaigned to increase the participation of people of African descent as subjects and researchers in genetic research studies. Most importantly, Dr. Dunston has used her gifts as a teacher to recruit more students into the field.
Dr. Marie Maynard Daly
Marie Maynard Daly was an American biochemist. She was the first African American to receive a PhD from Columbia University and the first African American woman in the United States to earn a PhD in chemistry. To say that she dealt with increasing barriers during her journey in academia would be an understatement; however, Dr. Daly created history without the intent of it. With a passion for science and a drive for excellence, Dr. Daly became the first Black woman to earn her PhD in chemistry. Her work included studies on cholesterol, mechanics of the heart, effects of sugars on arteries, hypertension, and protein production and organization in a cell.
Dr. Joan Murrell Owens
Owens knew she wanted to be a marine biologist from the time she was a child. But as a Black girl living in the segregated South, the path to her dream held an overwhelming number of obstacles. After a winding career, Dr. Owens came back to her love of marine biology. She did research with the Smithsonian Institute and earned her PhD. She also held degrees in geology, fine art, and guidance counseling. As an educator and marine biologist, she specialized in corals, discovering a new genus, Rhombopsammia, and three new species of button corals. Dr. Owens served as a Professor of Geology then switched to the biology department at Howard University before retiring in 1995.
Dr. Ruth Ella Moore
Ruth Ella Moore was an American bacteriologist and microbiologist, who, in 1933, became the first African American woman to be awarded a PhD in a natural science. She was a professor of bacteriology at Howard University. Dr. Moore was known for her work on blood types, tuberculosis, tooth decay, and gut microorganisms. She completed her dissertation work on tuberculosis at Ohio State University in 1933, becoming the first Black woman to earn a PhD in the natural sciences. Dr. Moore became an assistant professor at Howard University, where she was later appointed the head of the bacteriology department. This appointment made Dr. Moore the first woman to head any department at Howard.
As a bonus to our icon list, I’d like to mention Joy Adowaa Buolamwini, a Ghanaian-American computer scientist, a poet of code, activist, writer, speaker, and the founder of the Algorithmic Justice League. Forbes nicknamed her “the conscience of the AI revolution.” I’ve been following Buolamwini for quite a while now, ever since I saw her TED Talk on algorithmic bias, which largely affects Black people. Her op-eds on the dangers of facial recognition and surveillance technologies prompted legislatures to take action to investigate and better regulate these tools. For her work, she was named to Bloomberg 50, Tech Review 35 Under 35, BBC 100 Women, Forbes Top 50 Women in Tech, Forbes 30 Under 30, a Rhodes Scholar, and a Fullbright Fellow. Yes ma’am, we see you.
I believe that many Black women shy away from STEM fields due to a lack of role models, which leads to them feeling like they do not belong in these spaces. If the colleagues and people in positions of influence in STEM are mostly middle-aged white men, it’s easy to see why Black women may feel like they don’t belong, and find it difficult to picture themselves in these positions.
The Black women on this list respond to the cliché of “you can’t be what you can’t see.” They prove that, even through adversity and barriers of stereotyping, Black women in STEM careers can achieve trailblazing efforts that greatly benefit research and society as a whole.
