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Thirteen years before any other woman joined the National Advisory Board for Aeronautics (or NACA, NASA’s predecessor), in a technical role, a young lab assistant Young Pearl was making waves in the agency. As a fierce and persistent advocate for herself and her team, her legacy would pave the way for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics for decades.
My interest in Young’s story is grounded My identity as a woman in the STEM field. I find strength in sharing stories Women who had a lasting impact on STEM. I am the director Funded by NASANorth Dakota Space Grant Consortiumwhere we aim to promote an open and welcoming environment in STEM. the youngest the story is one of persistence through setbacks, advocating for self and others and building a community of support.
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Facing challenges head on
Young was a scientist, educator, technical editor and researcher. Born in 1895, she was no stranger to the obstacles faced by women at that time.
At the beginning of the 20th century, college degrees were taken in STEM fields”not so suitable for women”, and they were graduates with these degrees they are considered unconventional women. They were the professors who agreed to mentor women in advanced STEM fields in the 1940s and 1950s. he is often accused of communism.
In 1956, the National Science Foundation even published an article with the title: “Women are NOT for Engineering”.
Despite society’s sexist standards, Young graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1919 with a triple major in physics, mathematics, and chemistry, with honors. He then began a decade-long career in STEM.
Become a technical editor
Despite a culture hostile to women, Young successfully navigated a variety of technical roles at NACA. His diverse expertise allowed him to work across multiple divisions (physics, instrumentation, and aerodynamics) and he soon recognized a trend across the agency. Many of the reports written by his colleagues were not well written enough to be useful.
In a 1959 interviewYoung spoke of his early years at NACA: “They were fruitful years. I was interested in good writing and suggested the need for a technical editor. Engineers lacked time to produce legible reports.’
Three years after voicing his suggestion, the role of assistant technical editor had just been created in the Young publications section in 1935. After six years, Young was promoted to associate technical editor in 1941.
In 1941, NACA established the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory, now known as the NASA Glenn Research Center, in Cleveland. This new field center needed experienced staff, so two years later, NACA management invited Young to lead a new technical editing section.
It was at the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory that Young published his most notable technical work, A Manual of Style for Engineering Writers, in 1943. NASA’s Office of History also cited Young. Architect of the NACA technical reporting system.
Young’s style manual allowed the agency to communicate technological advances around the world. This manual included specific formatting rules for technical writing, which would increase consistency in the reporting of data and experimental results to engineers and researchers. It was essential to effective World War II operations and was translated into many languages.
But it was after this publication that Young finally received a promotion to full technical editor, 11 years after expressing a need for the role at the agency. He was the first person to fill this role, but he had to start at the assistant level, then move up to associate before receiving the full designation of technical editor.
Pearl Young ‘Raising Hell’
Perhaps the most remarkable part of Young’s story is his character. While standing up for himself and his colleagues, Young often had to challenge authority.
She stood up for her editing department when male supervisors accused them of making mistakes. He wrote the official proposals correctly classify his office in the research department Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory. He regularly recognized the contributions of his entire team for their shared achievements.
He also brought in additional staff to reduce unsustainable workloads and wrote official memoranda to ensure that his colleagues were getting fair promotions. Young often referred to these actions as “raising hell.”
The archival documents I have reviewed indicate that Young’s performance at NACA was exemplary throughout his career. in 1967It was awarded to him by the University of North Dakota Famous Sioux award in recognition of his professional achievements and service to the university.
In 1995, and again in 2014, NASA Langley Research Center he offered a theater in his name. The new theater is located in NASA’s Integrated Engineering Services building.
In 2015, Young joined the inaugural NASA/NACA Langley Hall of Honor. But throughout his career, not all of his colleagues shared this complementary view of Young and his work.
One of Young’s supervisors in 1930 thought it necessary to evaluate his “attitude” and his status as a worker in his progress report, and he justified his position by writing these additional words into the document himself.
That year, Young requested time off, probably for the holidays, by asking another supervisor to write an official memorandum to the chief engineer, a position similar to NASA’s current center director. He cited Young’s “attitude” in asking him to use his vacation days.
Women are not welcome in STEM
Although sexism in STEM has changed its forms over time, gender disparities still exist. Women in STEM often face microaggressions, marginalization and hostile work environmentsincluding unequal pay, lack of recognition and additional service expectations.
Women often not having a supportive social network and meet another systemic obstacles to career advancementsuch as not being recognized as an authority figure, or the double standard of being seen as too aggressive instead of being seen as a leader.
Women of Colorlocal women LGBTQ+ communities and women with one or more disabilities Face even more obstacles rooted in these intersectional identities.
One of the ways to address these disparities is to draw attention to systemic barriers through sharing Stories of women in STEM persisted – Women like Pearl Young.
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