Women in Science: Then and Now

This is the first post in a two-part series.

The clear skies of Reno, Nevada made Nancy Roman’s edge-of-town home perfect for star gazing. So, at the age of 11, she gathered some girlfriends together for a constellation club. At night, Roman and her club would gaze up at the stars, wondering over Scorpio, Cassiopeia, and other marvelous summer constellations.

Roman’s childhood love for astronomy grew more serious in high school, and she tried to focus her studies on math and science. But when she asked to substitute second-year algebra for fifth-year Latin, her guidance counselor asked, “What lady would take mathematics instead of Latin?”

A response like this was no surprise for the times. And things didn’t improve much as Roman went on to college, where the dean of women tried to dissuade Roman from pursuing science. When she refused, the dean stopped speaking to her altogether.

By this time, World War II had engulfed even academia. Nancy’s fellow students were either men in the Navy or men waiting to be drafted, not exactly friendship material for the rare woman in the classroom.

Despite these barriers, Roman earned her doctorate. But she grew frustrated with academic life, where as a woman, she had no chance of getting a research position. She turned to AAUW for companionship.

“I wanted contact with educated women,” Roman said. “I’ve made a number of good friends through AAUW.” Armed with this support, Roman continued to establish herself through her work despite the discrimination she faced in job options and salary.

AAUW Member Nancy Roman, first female executive at NASA

Then, in 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, and astronomy became a key component of the Cold War. Opportunity was knocking.

 

A Soviet astronomer took notice of a two-page paper Roman had written on an unusual star, and he invited her to attend an observatory dedication in the USSR. Her trip to the communist country got  Roman noticed at her job at the Naval Research Laboratory, but she also got NASA’s attention.

Within two years, Roman became the first female executive at NASA. Her work was extraordinary; she designed a program of orbit instruments and worked on exciting projects like the Cosmic Background Explorer and the Hubble Space Telescope.

“The agency was new and gung-ho, and everyone was just pitching in to do their job,” Roman said about the lack of sexism at the new organization. “They didn’t look at things like sex or color.”

Now retired, Roman continues to learn and lecture, working with both children and adults to spread the wonders of the stars. While astronomers build on her research and projects, her work continues in another way, too.

Roman won the battle against countless barriers — teachers, co-workers, and stereotypes. Women and girls pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics stand on the shoulders of Roman and her relentless drive to be the astronomer of her childhood dreams.

[ part 1 ] [ part 2 ]