Celebrating Black Women Who Shaped STEM

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For centuries, the work of black women has gone unnoticed and uncelebrated, silenced by a system built to oppress them, even when they were pioneers of ground-breaking advancements across multiple industries. Their contributions were often erased or diminished, leaving young black girls without role models to recognise themselves in, and discouraging them from following in their footsteps.

That’s why a single month may never be enough to honour their legacy. But this october, Black history month marks a special time to celebrate these women, amplify their stories, recognise their impact, and ensure their names and achievements are remembered as an integral part of STEM.

Its easy to overlook the importance of these stories, especially because people outside the community may not recognise some of the struggles faced by black women in their day to day lives. Representation matters because it shapes confidence, belonging and ambition. Without it, Women and girls are often left questioning their place in STEM, facing countless obstacles whether its rooted in individual bias or systems designed to work against them. Celebrating the achievements of women of colour helps break down these barriers, creating role models who show that talent, brilliance and innovation have always been spaces of both racial and gender diversity.

In light of this, we begin Black history month by celebrating the achievements of a few of those remarkable women, starting with Katherine Johnson, Born August 26th 1918 in West virginia, Johnson grew up alongside 4 siblings. Despite the harsh realities of segregation leaving black schools underfunded and under-resourced, she excelled academically, finishing high school at 13 and graduating University at 18 with a double degree in french and mathematics. Her brilliance and determination would later lead her to become one of NASA’s first ‘Human computers’, where she would complete all the calculations for the agency’s male engineers.

While working at NASA she not only broke barriers in mathematics, but also broke racial and gender barriers. She resisted segregation by refusing to use separate facilities from her white counterparts, she insisted on attending high level briefings where women where rarely allowed. And through her tenacity her brilliance was soon recognised as she calculated the trajectory of John Glenn’s historic orbit around earth, Glenn himself refused to fly unless Katherine had confirmed the numbers by hand, she later went on to contribute vital calculations for the Apollo moon landing.

Beyond her professional work, she balanced her career with raising three daughters, while tirelessly advocating for better access to STEM education for Black girls. After her retirement in 1986, her achievements were finally recognised, receiving the presidential medal of freedom in 2015, being portrayed in the 2016 film Hidden figures and having a NASA facility named in her honour.

Katherine passed away at 101 in 2020 but the extraordinary legacy she left behind lives on and continues to inspire generation after generation of young girls and women in STEM.

That’s why as a society, we are proud to use this month in order the celebrate the story of Kathrine Johnson and many other women like her, we Invite you to join us in recognising their achievements, engaging with our posts and activities, and taking the time to learn from their legacies. From all of us at WiSTEM Essex, we wish you a happy, inspiring and educational black history month.

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By Karen Kamanga,

Diversity & Inclusion Officer 2025/26

Women in STEM Essex.