Hidden Figures Reading and Assignment Excerpt: Hidden Figures Chapter 17, paragraphs 5–15

5 Katherine Goble sat down with the engineers to review the requirements for the space technology lectures and the research reports that were coming out of the presentations. She asked lots of questions so that she completely understood the problems set before her.

6 “Why can’t I go to the editorial meetings?” she asked the engineers.

7 “Girls don’t go to the meetings,” her colleagues said.

8 “Is there a law against it?” she asked.

9 There wasn’t, of course. It wasn’t personal, the engineers told her. It was just the way things had always been done. The no-woman rule was a matter of practice, not policy. Langley gave each division chief and branch head the power to manage their own groups. These male bosses decided whether a woman was promoted, if she got a raise, or if she was permitted to attend meetings.

10 Women at Langley had to learn how to work with men. They needed to be polite, but not so polite that they seemed timid. For the most part, men were engineers and women were computers. Men did the analytical thinking and women did the calculations. Men gave the orders and women took the notes. Unless an engineer was given a compelling reason to see a woman as a peer, she remained in his blind spot. Even the smartest woman might get stuck doing repetitive, humdrum work unless someone paid attention and gave her a chance.

11 Women like Katherine Goble found their work interesting, just like the men did. For the women who found their true calling at NASA, they matched their male colleagues in curiosity, passion, and the ability to withstand pressure. The problem was that women had to get over the high hurdle of low expectations—they needed to prove that they were just as good as men and should be held to the same standards and given the same opportunities.

12 Whatever personal insecurities Katherine Goble may have had about being a woman working with men or about being one of the few blacks in a white workplace, she didn’t let them bother her. Male or female, black or white, as far as Katherine was concerned, once she got to the office, “they were all the same.”

13 “Why can’t I go to the editorial meetings?” Katherine Goble asked again. On this issue, like any other, she kept up the questioning until she received a satisfactory answer. Her requests came across as gentle but persistent. She wasn’t going to let the issue drop. The greatest adventure in the history of humankind was happening in the office next door, and she wanted to be part of it.

14 “Let her go,” one of the men finally said, exasperated. The others agreed, no doubt tired of saying no. Who were they, they must have figured, to stand in the way of someone so committed to making a contribution?

15 In 1958, Katherine Goble finally made it into the editorial meetings of the Guidance and Control Branch of Langley’s Flight Research Division, soon to be renamed the Aerospace Mechanics Division of NASA. She took her place at the table, where she knew she belonged. She had a lot to learn and a lot to offer.

Assignment
For steps one and two listed below, your answers for steps one and two will show on the text above. For step three, please write your answers below.

Step One - Reading Comprehension
Underline what Katherine Goble DOES in this passage.
Bold what Katherine Goble SAYS in this passage.
Italicize what Katherine Goble BELIEVES in this passage.

Step Two - Analysis of the Text

Highlight in yellow the text that reveals standard practices toward women at Langley/NACA.

Highlight in green the reactions of the men on Katherine Goble’s team to her actions and words.

Step Three - Drawing Conclusions

Considering her colleagues' reactions and the way women were treated at this time, what character trait(s) did Goble demonstrate through her words and actions as shown in this passage? Use the text that you’ve underlined and highlighted to explain your answer.
PERSISTENCE
CONFIDENCE
DEDICATION

Independent Response: It is clear that some of Goble’s character traits helped her to be successful as a woman in a man’s world. Do you think that the hurdles she had to overcome were higher because she was also African American? Explain your answer.