Lessons From A Mermaid About Representation In Science And Engineering

I honestly have to scratch my head at some of the things that cause an uproar these days. At the moment, the “theater of the absurd” is about Disney’s Little Mermaid. A trailer for the live-action adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale revealed that Halle Bailey, a black singer and actress, would portray the key character. According to National Public Radio, the trailer has surpassed over 12 million views, and many kids are excited to see a different interpretation of the character. However, a #NotMyAriel hashtag has sadly been trending too. In such ridiculousness, there are lessons about representation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) that are revealed from what my wife Ayana calls this “faux outrage” about a fictional being that does not even exist.

I am an atmospheric scientist who has achieved a certain level of career success culminating in being elected to three national academies in 2021. Over the course of my career at NASA and the University of Georgia, I have lived and observed the lack of diversity in STEM fields. I have seen it at local science fairs, in STEM-related major numbers, and over the range of professional career opportunities. In 2016, I explored why some groups are under-represented in STEM. The key reasons expressed by colleagues I cited include:

• Cultural inertia within some races about what is considered a “good” career
• Antiquated perspectives about gender roles
• Exposing youth to STEM in a way that is interesting, applicable, and fun
• Availability of mentors
• Stereotypes presented in movies, the media, and other forums about what a scientist or engineer “looks like.”

The last two points are relevant to this Little Mermaid discussion. Over the course of my career, I have been told several times that “you don’t look like a scientist.” I will share two stories here. While serving as the President of the American Meteorological Society, I was standing in the lobby of our conference hotel with other colleagues. A woman comes up to only me and asked if I was the airport shuttle driver. In another occasion, I was invited to give a featured lecture in Washington D.C at a major science conference. I was wearing a suit and one of only a few Black scientists there. Numerous people asked me if was hotel staff or questions as if I was. It got so bad that I asked a staff member to take a selfie with me (picture below). I tweeted the picture and tagged the conference hashtag saying something to the effect that “the hotel staff is wearing red blazers.”

Representation matters in STEM. It shapes the perception that kids have of themselves and that others have of them. Early in my career, I just wanted to be the best research meteorologist that I could be and explore the weather as a scientist. I reluctantly took on the role of a mentor, and I am glad that I did. My presence (and other colleagues too) shows kids from various backgrounds that there are different images of what scientists or engineers look like as opposed to what they may see on TV or in their textbooks. It also creates a broader and more inclusive mentor pool.

I speak to and mentor students from all backgrounds, but I routinely notice a different type of excitement and awe when I walk into a room full of African-American or Black kids. When our family friend Tasha Allen tweeted about the trailer, “My daughter started clapping when she saw this! The first thing she said was “she’s so pretty”❤️. I understood exactly what she was saying. One of my daughter’s favorite movies as a child was “Princess and the Frog.” It resonated with her, in part, because of representation.

The original Little Mermaid story is a fairytale. Mermaids do not exist. Hans Christian Andersen told the story from his cultural and geographical “marinades,” respectively. Though I am no artist (far from it in fact), I know that artistry and creativity are about interpretation and inspiration. Heck, we have seen numerous interpretations of Spiderman, Star Wars characters, and even Godzilla. There are different marinades and perspectives to tell these stories and that is ok.

Let me circle back to representation in STEM. A recent report from the National Science Foundation (NSF) finds that representation of women and under-represented groups are still woefully low relative to the population as a whole. However, the report notes, “the number of Hispanics or Latinos working in S&E (Science and Engineering) occupations sextupled between 1995 and 2019 and tripled for Blacks or African Americans.” The report also found that, “By 2019, the number of women with a bachelor’s degree or higher working in S&E occupations almost tripled since 1993 and nearly doubled in S&E-related occupations since 2003.”

It is important to keep these numbers in perspective. When I became President of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 2013, I doubled the number of Black Presidents of that organization because prior to me, only my mentor Dr. Warren Washington served in that role. However, the aforementioned NSF numbers likely do reflect that increasing representation and mentorship pools may be having some positive effects.

I cannot claim to know what color E.T. or Yoda is because they are not real. Let’s relax and let the kids enjoy all of the interpretations of these stories.