The untold story of black women working at NASA in the 1960s challenges HR to ask if it’s doing enough to support women and minorities, writes Cathryn Newbery
That Hidden Figures has been nominated for a clutch of awards this season – including best picture at this weekend’s Academy Awards – is little surprise. The actors are brilliant, the script mixes laughter and wit in equal measure, and the costumes and make-up are on point.
But it’s the story that makes the film a real standout – one that any HR professional worth their salt should make a point of watching as soon as possible. Because it’s so, so striking, that many of the problems faced by the black women in the film are ones that many minority employees in the UK (and beyond) undoubtedly still face. By watching how far we’ve come at work, it’s clear how much work we still have to do.
The film tells the stories of a team of mathematicians working at NASA in the 1960s, who are trying to overcome segregation and sexual discrimination to ensure their brains are put to full use to help the US put a man into space.
Katherine G Johnson (played by Taraji P Henson) fights to prove to an all-white, all-male team that she’s smarter than most of them put together. Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) – doing a supervisor’s job without a supervisor’s pay – realises her job as a ‘computer’ (mathematician) is under threat from automation in the form of an IBM machine, and decides to reskill herself by learning programming. And while Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) has an engineer’s brain, she has to navigate roadblocks put in place by HR policies to earn a promotion. All three women also have to juggle the high-pressure demands of the space race with societal expectations that they care for their children and homes.
Aside from the segregation, I’d expect many women and people with minority backgrounds to have had experiences that echo those of the NASA mathematicians – 60 years on. Voices gone unheard. Ideas appropriated. Additional responsibilities heaped on without recognition. Qualifications and experience overlooked in favour of someone who’s a ‘better fit’. Kids and partners who feel neglected when you work long hours. A lack of role models to inspire and motivate you to succeed. Difficulties progressing at work until an older white man steps in and offers support.
Enter a screening of Hidden Figures and you will be forced to check your privilege at the door. It might be a period drama, but it illuminates so strongly the challenges we still have to overcome that when the credits roll you’ll shake your head and say: ‘I won’t let this happen on my watch.’