The Uhura Effect: How the character of Uhura in Star Trek (1966) influenced Black women’s and girls’ decision to enter STEM fields during the mid-twentieth century.
The Uhura Effect: How the character of Uhura in Star Trek (1966) influenced Black women’s and girls’ decision to enter STEM fields during the mid-twentieth century.
Purpose & Significance
Research studies have not often turned their investigative lenses toward gender representation in relation to race. This study focuses on self-identified BIWOC (Black and Indigenous Women of Color) in STEM fields who were born before 1960 and aims to begin to fill the gap in gender representation research by looking backward in order to move forward.
Participants who were born before 1960 are vital because this is the generation who experienced much of television’s firsts. This group may have viewed Star Trek in its first run and early syndication and found Uhura’s presence affirming, thus strengthening their resolve to further their pursuits in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.
By allowing participants to self-identify their race opens this opportunity to all women of color but also signals a specificity that may be more nuanced for mixed-race women. Focusing on self-identified BIWOC brings attention to systemic misrepresentation by the media at large that furthers stereotypes nurtured by white supremacists.
To learn more or participate, please visit the Uhura Effect website.
“If she can see it, she can be it.”
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