The Next Frontier: Black professionals aim high for NASA, STEM-related passions (2024)

Black, women and other minorities set eyes on the future with increasing roles in STEM-related workforces as part of the Artemis generation.

T’mari Bowe is cruising at 100 mph, some 2,300 feet off the ground with his eyes locked on the tri-sectional screen depicting an animated flyover of lush Florida coastland.

“I think I’m too high, I’m going to go closer to the ground,” the 16-year-old says, staring ahead in a moment of concentration. At his side, youth aviation instructor Ramone Hemphill monitors the teen’s efforts at the helm of the Federal Aviation Administration-certified basic training flight simulator.

In one way, the Eau Gallie High School student is still a rarity: young, Black and immersed in the fast expanding worlds of science, engineering and technology. But on the other hand, he represents a small but growing number of others who look like him in the STEM sector.

“He’s the real thing — amazing,” said Hemphill, an accomplished engineer and pilot in Palm Bay who teaches minority youth the art of avionics and flying.

This was once seen as uncharted territory for students like T'mari, who more often were pushed toward sports, business, the arts and the military as the traditional routes for success for Black professionals.

Hemphill can relate, and that's what he's trying to change.

"A lot of people fall into that fallacy; think maybe there aren’t many Blacks in (STEM-related fields) because they aren’t interested," said Hemphill. "The truth is that it's really just a lack of exposure.”

Yes, T'mari loves time on the basketball court or chatting it up on social media like his peers, but he dreams of becoming a test pilot with the Air Force or working as a commercial pilot jetting across the globe — and maybe more.

“I was 14 when I thought about it. I wanted to be a pilot, with my second choice being an engineer or mechanic. I told my mom," he said.

"She’s always supportive of anything I do, fully. I’m just always thinking about how to set myself up for the future."

T'mari's journey into the skies above could see him enter a profession where less than 2% of the nation’s Air Force fighter pilots and just under 4% of American commercial pilots are Black. But a Black astronaut is also preparing to helm next year's Artemis mission around the moon, and other people of color are marking their presence felt in these fields across the nation.

Who works in STEM?

The National Science Foundation, a federal agency that supports research, grants and education efforts in science and engineering, pointed out in a 2023 study that there are still a low number of Black individuals, Hispanics and women in the 34 million STEM-related workforce. But the numbers are growing.

The numbers show that the percentage of Black people — who make up 13% of the U.S. population — working in STEM-related fields has slowly climbed from 7% to 9% during the decade leading up to 2021. Hispanics grew in representation from 11% to 15% during the same time frame.

In 2011, women made up 32% of the STEM workforce, a number that increased to 35% by 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

That representation was highlighted earlier this year anecdotally when young, Black NASA employees — including engineers and scientists — went viral on social media, drawing millions of likes and views after posting their official NASA headshots displaying their locs and braids.

The gains are also seen in organizations like the National Society of Black Engineers, which began with a small group of members in 1975 but now has more than 24,000 workers on its rolls.

There's also a growing crop of niche groups like Black In Astro, a collective of Black astrophysicists who put together last year's Black Space Week during the week of Juneteenth. In addition to research discussions on discoveries across the universe and tributes to sci-fi author and Afro-futurist Octavia Butler, there was a panel discussion on LGBTQ issues. Even in entertainment, the aftermath of the movie "Black Panther" has spurred a generation of youth toward science and technology.

All of it, said Dr. Ronald Gamble Jr., deals with Blacks, people of color and women finding spaces — through guidance, education, connections and the ability to stay the course — in a world once dominated by white men and a white-collar culture.

“Today, there is more visibility and it’s easier to make the connections. When I started, we didn’t have the type of social media we have today. We didn’t have TikTok,” said Gamble, a 35-year-old Afro-Latino theoretical astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Texas.

Gamble has mentored dozens of minorities in STEM-related fields, and Generation Z is sharing their stories, he said. He also created the Cosmic Pathfinders program, designed to promote dialogue about the challenges of STEM for traditionally underrepresented groups while also creating exposure careers and opportunities to those with a new generation.

"They are no longer hidden anymore and that means more opportunities to find those fellowships or programs to find others who look like them," Gamble said.

And four years after George Floyd’s death at the hands of police officers prompted deep soul-searching in corporate America over equity and inclusion, agencies like NASA, universities and tech companies — despite backlash from industry leaders including Elon Musk, and politicians like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — continue nurturing the fragile emergence of more Black people, other people of color and women into STEM fields.

Private efforts to encourage the STEM revolution in communities of color are also growing.

Take Hemphill's Melbourne-based 99th Squadron.

"This isn't just a joyride," said Hemphill, who has held four youth aviation academies aimed at teaching minority students avionics and STEM science in a county where STEM is the lifeblood of the local economy.

"This is for the future."

Finding a space, in space

Jordan Forman, one of those Gen Z students mentored by Gamble, recalls staring into the skies in Delaware as a child, then asking her grandmother about those "little dots" glittering against the velvet black night.

Today, the 24-year-old Florida Institute of Technology graduate is an astrophysicist and researcher at Goddard, studying deep space, black holes and gamma rays. Forman now seeks answers to questions that fueled the minds and imaginations of scientists like Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein.

“My grandmother showed me a picture of Mae Jemison, the first Black woman astronaut, floating in the middle of the space station," Forman said, adding that her grandmother would often take her to places like Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. "I just pictured myself going up into space on this rocket, just experiencing zero gravity."

Closer to the ground, Forman found her dreams diverted to theater in high school. She still thought about becoming an astronaut but outside of high-profile astronauts like Jemison, there were few role models in science who looked like her.

Then came a college recruitment fair where she met a Florida Tech recruiter and decided to take the chance on studying space. It was an opportunity she could not resist.

“I applied,” she said of moving to Brevard, a county with a bustling spaceport, NASA and ever-expanding ties to high-tech companies like Boeing and L3Harris.

“The biggest thing for me was finding a safe space, finding people that supported me and my career. Honestly, I’ve grown up in a lot of white spaces. So I didn’t think it was something out of the ordinary for me. I was always good at science but math was a struggle."

While at Florida Tech, Forman’s passion for STEM grew even more, moving her to help organize several Blacks in STEM conferences in Melbourne, and drawing on people like Dr. Winston Scott, one of 18 Black astronauts out of the 360 people who have been sent into space. Scott is a Florida Tech emeritus faculty member.

The events were the first of their kind for Florida Tech and one year, Forman took the message of STEM to the predominantly Black south Melbourne neighborhood just east of the university.Hemphill was also there.

Forman took on three internships at NASA before being offered a position to research alongside some of the leading astrophysicists in the nation.Last year, Forman found herself invited by the National Space Council to attend the first-ever Black Space Week in-person event at the White House, mingling with others like her with a love of the space program, science and tech.

In 10 years, she said, she hopes to still be in astronomy, but with a doctorate.

"Right now I focus on high energy astrophysics, supermassive black holes that pull in matter, dust and gas. Honestly, there aren’t a lot of action movies I can watch in peace now,” she said, laughing.

"Every brain matters:" Encouraging STEM

Engaging those youth who were like her once upon a time is a must, Forman said.

To the south of the Space Coast at the Gifford Youth Achievement Center in Indian River County, students are learning to embrace the elementary dynamics of flight through the hands-on building and flying of drones.

The center held its first annual drone competition April 20. In 2022, some of the same students sat in rapt attention at GYAC as astronauts aboard the International Space Station — including Jessica Watkins, the first Black woman astronaut to work on the space station — livestreamed answers about space travel.

Richard Butler is head of the Next Generation Academy and a STEM course teacher at the Gifford Center. All of the interactions, from asking astronauts questions to handling drones help bring the reality of world steeped in science and technology closer to home.

"Things like this are important, especially for those in the underrepresented communities," said Butler, a motivational speaker who has established similar programs in Texas and North Carolina.

"Every brain matters."

For Los Angeles resident Maynard Okereke, founder of Hip Hop Science and a STEM educator, minority youth — many of whom carry high-tech tools like cellphones and use apps offering state-of-the-art innovations — must dispel the idea that science is out of the norm and out of reach. He uses hip-hop culture — from rap to allegories — to show teens the relevancy of science and to kindle creativity to bring the fictional "Black Panther" world of Wakanda into real life.

“One of the things we have to do is connect them to the jobs and opportunities out there now," said Okereke, who travels the nation to talk with youth.

"The thing about STEM fields is that they are so far reaching, you can look at space, rocket technology, rocket science, astrobiology, even designing living spaces. I think we go through school and we have some students who feel it's too complex, or 'I’m not smart enough' and everything in our education system fuels that. My ultimate goal in what I do is to have scientists and engineers celebrated the same way that LeBron James is celebrated."

All of it, Forman and others say, is worth the effort to reach the youth and excite them about the possibility that they could be designing a rocket to reach Mars or draft plans for a future city on a nearby planet.

“I felt the impact was worth all the difficulty, just for the couple of times we put it on," Forman said of the Florida Tech conferences. "After the events, I even had little Black girls who would walk up to me and say, ‘I want to be a physicist.’ It was all about giving people that possibility.”

The future, with inspiration now

Victor J. Glover Jr., who served as a naval aviator flying more than 40 aircraft and carrying out 24 combat missions, was chosen as an astronaut in 2013 and is seen as an inspiration for many young Black people choosing careers in STEM.

Next year Glover, who has stressed the importance of science and engineering for youth and people of color, will pilot the four-person Artemis II mission some 230,000 miles into space to loop around the moon. NASA’s vision of eventually returning humans to the lunar surface also includes plans for the first woman and person of color to be among the crew.

NASA has advanced the importance of STEM to what it dubbed "The Artemis Generation" with a missionary zeal, connecting with youth like those at Gifford Youth Achievement Center.

“It’s more than an emotion, it drives priorities and decisions. It’s an important factor in this mission,” Glover said last August at Kennedy Space Center while fielding a question from FLORIDA TODAY about the importance of STEM education.

Glover’s 2025 flight aboard Artemis, as part of a new generation of astronauts, will come 60 years after the Kennedy administration attempted to break the color barrier of the space program with the selection of Air Force test pilot Edward Dwight Jr. as a potential astronaut. It failed miserably.

Those plans for Dwight, whose face graced Black magazine covers like Ebony, to integrate the all-white male astronaut corps fell apart after President Kennedy — who visited Cape Canaveral a week before his death — was fatally wounded by an assassin’s bullets in Dallas.Others questioned Dwight's skills and interest dwindled in placing him on the path to space. It took 24 years from the announcement naming the nation's first crop of astronauts before the first Black astronaut rode into space.

Today NASA Chief Bill Nelson — a Melbourne resident and former astronaut himself — is a strong advocate for diversifying the space agency’s workforce.

Earlier this year, NASA updated its Equity Action Plan to build a future pipeline for a more diverse STEM-grounded workforce. NASA points out that nearly 28% of the STEM-related roles at the agency — including scientists, aerospace technology and engineers — is made up of women and minorities.

A need for diversity and collaboration

But not everyone shares the same vision about diversity and inclusion. Some critics see the current push for diversity, equity and inclusion policies as a disregard for qualifications. However, NASA and others dismiss that argument by pointing out that the future will be guided by collaboration and innovation from all corners.

“We understand that leveraging diverse talents, skills, perspectives, and backgrounds allow us to accomplish deeper discovery, greater innovation in space technology, better research, and achieve mission success — when we make space for every willing and capable mind to participate and contribute to the work we do, we will go farther than ever before,” said Gerelle Dodson, a NASA spokesperson.

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of SpaceX who himself crafted video games as a child growing up in South Africa, has been public in his criticism.

“DEI is just another word for racism. Shame on anyone who uses it,” Musk posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, back in January.

His sentiments are backed by Florida Gov. DeSantis, whose state is a magnet for high-tech companies. DeSantis has worked vigorously to dismantle diversity programs throughout the state’s public university system, attacking them using heated political rhetoric.

"The left tells us DEI stands for ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.’ But as practiced, it more closely represents ‘Discrimination, Exclusion, and Indoctrination.’ That has no place in our universities," DeSantis posted on Musk's X.

Gamble, who was recruited by NASA, didn’t speak directly about Musk, but said a future workforce must be inclusive. That means not only shoring up STEM-related coursework and opportunities for women and minorities but building on collaboration, he said.

“We’re doing workforce development, we’re bringing equity and not just talking about putting Black faces in white spaces. We want to be able to contribute,” said Gamble, who grew up watching shows like "Star Trek" with his mother and asking questions about the heat and light from the sun.

“We have to have collaboration. On the flip side, we must also make sure our students stay the course; take on the challenges of remaining in the workforce. We want to be able to contribute to the future."

It is not the first time that the space agency has worked to diversify its workforce and astronaut candidates. Unlike the failed effort to fully train Edward Dwight Jr. for a position on the Apollo astronaut team, this time the recruitment effort involved Nichelle Nichols, who played a STEM-related role on "Star Trek," one of the most popular science fiction series in history.

In the 1960s, Nichols played Lt. Nyota Uhura, the chief communications officer aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise at a time when interest in space was at an all-time high with the Apollo program. And though it was a fictional role, the character’s skill, critical thinking and engagement impressed no less than civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., a science fiction fan who encouraged Nichols to stay with the role because of its impact on youth, despite her desire to quit the show.

A decade later, Nichols challenged NASA to recruit more women and minorities into its white, male astronaut corp for future missions. The agency listened and had Nichols help recruit the next generation of astronauts as it moved its mission into the '80s, she recalled in a 2012 session at Goddard Space Flight Center. The astronauts that came through following her recruitment efforts included the first Black astronaut, Guy Bluford, and Sally Ride, the first American woman to head to the stars.

"After Apollo 11, Nichelle made it her mission to inspire women and people of color to join this agency, change the face of STEM and explore the cosmos. Nichelle’s mission is NASA’s mission," Nelson said in a tribute to Nichols after her 2022 death.

And Dwight? The retired pilot who remained a quiet, hidden figure sidelined from the space program is now 90 and a celebrated sculptor. In a twist of fate, on May 19 Dwight became the oldest person ever to venture to space, aboard a Blue Origin launch that jolted him and five other "space tourists" from west Texas to the edge of space, if only for a few minutes.

'Be true to yourself'

Aerospace engineer Brandon Burroughs said he recognizes that the decision to go into STEM as a young person can be challenging.

But he recommends students connect with groups, mentors and most importantly, stay true to themselves in the wake of external pressures from the course load and industry culture.

“If you do you and you do your work, you’ll be fine,” said the 30-year-old Birmingham, Alabama, native who lives with his wife in Titusville.

Burroughs works with the Boeing Program Management team supporting NASA’s Space Launch System Program and has been named engineer of the year by the BEYA STEM, the Black Engineer of the Year conference.

He enjoys chatting about his love of space with other engineers over an old fashioned and cigar at The Leaf Lounge spot in downtown Titusville.

In the fourth grade, he said, he was interested in space travel, watching "Star Trek: Deep Space 9" and thinking about science fiction. He knew that he wanted to go to Tuskegee University, because of the connection to the heroic Tuskegee Airmen, the Black pilots who escorted bombers during World War II, and its aerospace engineering program.

“I looked at my options and thought about being an astrobiologist or an astronomer. But what fit me the most was aerospace engineering,” said Burroughs.

Once he got into Boeing, he braced for the culture shock of being one of a handful of Black people in the building.

It never really came.

“I started wearing earrings to work about a year after I got here. I was worrying a little about it but I don’t think anyone paid attention to it. They were paying attention to my ability instead," Burroughs said.

"Then I began locking my hair three years ago. I wasn’t loud about it; I just did it and kept it moving. So be yourself but do the work."

A new frontier

Regardless of what the next few years bring, T'mari Bowe says, he is ready for the future, a new frontier of opportunities that previous generations of Black young people could barely imagine. Two years away from graduating, his hopes are on piloting real aircraft and pressing forward.

Back in front of the stimulator, and with intense concentration on the Earth below, his eyes hold steady on the flight simulator's screen animation a few feet away.

Now he prepares to bring his aircraft home for a landing.

He leans forward, carefully guiding the controls for a few more minutes, listening to the hum of the machinery, methodically checking his instrumentation. He levels off as he approaches the animated airfield below on the monitors.

"This is harder to land than the real thing," Hemphill says, watching the screen and walking T'mari through the final steps.

T'mari smiles.

"If you can land on this, you can land on anything," Hemphill says, his words carrying a not-so-hidden double meaning for T'mari's success.

"Anything."

J.D. Gallopis a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY.Contact Gallop at321-917-4641orjgallop@floridatoday.com. X, formerly known as Twitter:@JDGallop.