Changing the Equation: 50+ US Black Women in STEM

by Tonya Bolden

A celebratory and inspiring look at some of the most important black women in STEM
 
Award-winning author Tonya Bolden explores the black women who have changed the world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in America. Including groundbreaking computer scientists, doctors, inventors, physicists, pharmacists, mathematicians, aviators, and many more, this book celebrates more than 50 women who have shattered the glass ceiling, defied racial discrimination, and pioneered in their fields. In these profiles, young readers will find role models, inspirations, and maybe even reasons to be the STEM leaders of tomorrow. These stories help young readers to dream big and stay curious. The book includes endnotes, a bibliography, and an index.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle Grade, Biography, Science, Banned Books, Feminism, Childrens

208 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 2020

About the author

Author and publisher Tonya Wilyce Bolden was born on March 1, 1959, in New York City to Georgia Bolden, a homemaker, and Willie Bolden, a garment center shipping manager. Bolden grew up in Harlem in a musical family and loved to read; she attended Public M.E.S. 146, an elementary school in Manhattan, and then graduated from the Chapin School, a private secondary school, in Manhattan in 1976. Bolden attended Princeton University in New Jersey, and, in 1981, obtained her B.A. degree in Slavic languages and literature with a Russian focus. Bolden was also a University Scholar and received the Nicholas Bachko, Jr. Scholarship Prize.

Upon graduating from Princeton University, Bolden began working as a salesperson for Charles Alan, Incorporated, a dress manufacturer, while working towards her M.A. degree at Columbia University. In 1985, Bolden earned her degree in Slavic languages and literature, as well as a Certificate for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union from the Harriman Institute; after this she began working as an office coordinator for Raoulfilm, Inc., assisting in the research and development of various film and literary products. Bolden worked as an English instructor at Malcolm-King College and New Rochelle School of New Resources while serving as newsletter editor of the HARKline, a homeless shelter newsletter.

In 1990, Bolden wrote her first book, The Family Heirloom Cookbook. In 1992, Bolden co-authored a children’s book entitled Mama, I Want To Sing along with Vy Higginsen, based on Higginsen’s musical. Bolden continued publishing throughout the 1990s, releasing Starting a Business from your Home, Mail-Order and Direct Response, The Book of African-American Women: 150 Crusaders, Creators, and Uplifters, And Not Afraid to Dare: The Stories of Ten African-American Women, American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military from the Revolution to Desert Storm and The Champ. Bolden became editor of the Quarterly Black Review of Books in 1994, and served as an editor for 33 Things Every Girl Should Know, in 1998. Bolden’s writing career became even more prolific in the following decade; a partial list of her works include:, Our Souls: A Celebration of Black American Artists, Maritcha: A Nineteenth Century American Girl, MLK: Journey of a King, Take-Off: American All-Girl Bands During World War II, and George Washington Carver, a book she authored in conjunction with an exhibit about the famous African American inventor created by The Field Museum in Chicago.

(source; http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biogr...)

Reviews

[TheNextGenLibrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great nonfiction text with gorgeous pictures and graphics about 50 Black women in STEM over the years, many whom I hadn’t heard of. It’s important that we share books like this with our students so they learn about the trailblazers of all races and backgrounds of our history. #blacklivesmatter #weneeddiversebooks

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book celebrating the achievements of Black Women, because a common theme for all of them is the difficulties faced being seen as an oddity. Many of the contemporary women have devoted time to organizations that promote STEM success in minority and female youth, because of the extra barriers they face. Hopefully seeing other successful people will help motivate them, and then having peers that reflect their images in programs will also reduce some of the stress. Engineering programs are inherently tough -- nobody needs to face social barriers on top of the intellectual ones!

That said, this isn't the kind of thing I'm really into. I want to see the paper version to see if that is a more enticing feel. Reading page after page of micro-biographies of people I don't know got a bit repetitive. Every individual one was great - I felt a bit inadequate when their ages matched mine! -- but with only a few pages per person there wasn't a lot of room for details. The back of the book is devoted to notes, image credits, and an index. This would be a great library reference.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

People have different strengths and ways of problem solving. That is one reason that diversity in any workplace is a positive and productive thing. Especially where rigorous critical thinking skills are driving scientific and technological discovery it's more important than ever to have creative and diverse minds tackling society's ever more disastrous problems. STEM is critically important and is one area which has traditionally been male dominated. Changing the Equation is a collection of profiles and short biographies of women of color representing different fields of science in the USA. Due out 3rd March from Abrams, it's 208 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is an interesting and informative collection of women of color who were unbelievable trail-blazers in some cases, impressive in all cases who defied tradition, prejudice, and powerful opposition to become notable in their chosen fields of study. The book includes doctors, inventors, educators, mathematicians, veterinarians, engineers, geochemists, data and computer experts, and even a video game developer.

As women in technological fields (I'm a bioengineer), we've been subjected from birth on to constant subtle universal conditioning that math is *hard*, science is for boys, and we should choose something more ladylike to pursue. I really believe that's changing (oh so slowly), but it's really nice to see a real representation of women, and especially women of color, excelling at these traditionally male-dominated professions.

There's room for everyone. We have a critical need for creative, smart, solution oriented, curious, persevering scientists now more than ever. We need books which can show young people that they CAN pursue an education in STEM careers.

This would make a superlative classroom or library book. It would also make a great gift for any young person. These are well written biographies and well worth a read. Despite being a huge science nerd myself, there were a number of these women who were unfamiliar to me. I enjoyed reading this myself and I can think back when I was 12 or 13 and determined to pursue a career in science that I would have been ecstatic to find this book.

Five stars. Well done and appropriate for *anyone*.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an inspiring book. Tonya Bolden goes beyond the known black, women-in-STEM role models to show the multitudes of black women working in science, technology, engineering, and math for more than 150 years. You may know mathematician Katherine Johnson, who helped put Alan Shepherd in orbit. But what about her college professor, Dr. Angie Lena Turner King, associate professor of mathematics and chemistry at now-West Virginia University, who taught Johnson? You may know Bessie Coleman, the first American African-American woman to get a pilot's license (in France). But what about Willa Beatrice Brown, the first to get a pilot's license on U.S. soil. She then co-founded the National Airmen Association of America to inspire black aviators? Bolden has arranged her book into broad time periods -- before the first wave of women's suffrage, after women's suffrage (1920), and then the Civil Rights/second-wave feminism period. She provides a brief introduction to the era for each. The bite-sized biographies of each woman, make this an enjoyable read.

[Lizzy Hartwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an inspiring book. Tonya Bolden goes beyond the known black, women-in-STEM role models to show the multitudes of black women working in science, technology, engineering, and math for more than 150 years. You may know mathematician Katherine Johnson, who helped put Alan Shepherd in orbit. But what about her college professor, Dr. Angie Lena Turner King, associate professor of mathematics and chemistry at now-West Virginia University, who taught Johnson? You may know Bessie Coleman, the first American African-American woman to get a pilot's license (in France). But what about Willa Beatrice Brown, the first to get a pilot's license on U.S. soil. She then co-founded the National Airmen Association of America to inspire black aviators? Bolden has arranged her book into broad time periods -- before the first wave of women's suffrage, after women's suffrage (1920), and then the Civil Rights/second-wave feminism period. She provides a brief introduction to the era for each. The bite-sized biographies of each woman, make this an enjoyable read.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a compilation of over 50 biographies of Black women who have overcome incredible challenges in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) field. They cover an incredible variety of contributions from surgery, robotics, space, video programming, etc from the past and present. There were many names that I had not heard of which is fantastic - give these women their long overdue recognition!
My biggest regret about this book is that there are typographical errors: in one entry, the person's name is Angie, but it is mis-spelled as Annie at one point; use of a non word "first-er". And my biggest issue was the reference to someone as petite with a specific height and weight. I think it is ok to call someone petite, but leave it at that so as not to engender body dysmorphia issues.
Text features include full color photographs, detailed source notes, selected sources, image credits, index

[Rachel Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will say that collected biographies are NOT my thing (I find that there is never enough information and it's always the same people). But I was willing to give this one a try... It was NOT like other collected biographies, IMO. It had a narrative, somewhat chronological flow that I found engaging. I love how the author was able to connect the women, most of whom I had never heard of, in an inspiring way, with so many artifacts, images, and ephemera.

I loved learning new facts (a woman coined the acronym STEM! a Black woman helped create the mRNA vaccine! Black women CAN be geologists, and oceanographers, and surgeons and more!) and I hope that young people who read this book will see women like themselves doing amazing things - maybe even discover a career they didn’t know existed! This will be a welcome addition to our school library.

[Maria Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Divided into chapters - "Vanguard," (1864-1900) "Riding the Wave," (1900-1950) and "Onward" (from 1950), this book celebrates an amazing collection of women who've proven that black women are not only capable, but skilled, at science, technology, engineering, and math. Energetic text blends the struggles and accomplishments of each woman with historic events and cultural milestones. Making it valuable for social studies evaluations as well. In addition to expected professions, Tonya Bolden highlights veterinarians, an architect, marine biologist, meteorologist, roboticist, geologist, cybersecurity professional, video game developer, and mechanic. It's a great book to inspire curiosity, creativity, and action. 

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the book digitally and it felt unrefined or unfinished in some way because it seemed like an outline of biographical sketches of more than fifty Black women in STEM rather than a more fully-realized version of a collective biography.

I needed more.

One favorite addition was the Latin roots of the words for the kind of STEM the women studied and excelled in (and a local person, Dr. Jackson from RPI!) but otherwise, it was a hodge-podge with the STEM biography the only cohesive piece. I need artwork, a more standard way to present each women, or a chart for each women to keep it appealing.

[Karen Lemmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tonya Bolden does an excellent job presenting the pioneers and contemporary US Black Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Her research using primary and secondary sources is thorough. Her format is easy to read and understand. These women are inspirations for us and their legacy is to remember forever.

[JL Salty · Rating 5 out of 5]

These short, bullet-point biographies are a good starting point and inspiration for girls in STEM, Black girls in particular. Up-to-date, with contemporary women included: a mechanic and a video game designer.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating book about black women in the STEM fields. I learned about some careers I didn’t know existed. I thought a little of it was hard to understand so I wonder what kids would think of it. I hope it inspires many to follow their dreams and go into whatever field they want.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like a reference book than a book to be read from cover to cover. Read this with my kids - a few profiles a night. By the end I was skimming them and sharing the main points instead of reading word for word.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has a basic bio of some world-changing, STEM career-forging Black women from the US.

My only thing was that I wished each person had a more detailed story rather than just the outline.

[CCPL Buzz]

JZ

[Kate Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very empowering, and a very easy read. I love the bright fonts and colors that make this book visually appealing. Hoping it finds its way to any kiddo that needs it :)

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many women to celebrate! I appreciate Bolden's broad view of STEM and willingness to use contemporary language and expressions to help these mini-portraits appeal to young readers.