Hidden Figures Lesson 2- Bias and Prejudice

Bias means _____________ one view over another view.

• supplementing

• hosting

• comparing

• favoring

Bias can lead to prejudice behavior

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Due to implicit biases, people may often attribute certain qualities or characteristics to all members of a particular group, a phenomenon known as stereotyping. Implicit biases can influence how you behave toward the members of social groups. Researchers have found that such bias can have effects in a number of settings, including in school, work, and legal proceedings.

Why did the United States begin hiring women for jobs that had once belonged only to men?

• Women were better equipped than men for most jobs

• The men had joined sides with Germany during World War II

• The men were serving in the military during World War II

• The United States wanted to give women equal rights

Answer explanation

“For many African Americans, World War II was an opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their families.”

“With two strokes of a pen—Executive Order 8802, ordering the desegregation of the defense industry, and Executive Order 9346, creating the Fair Employment Practices Committee to monitor the national project of economic inclusion”

In the prologue the author Margot Lee Shutterfly explains why she was interested in writing this story. How is she connected to the women in the story?

• She is the daughter of one of the computers

• She is the granddaughter of the first American astronaut

• In 1946 two African women became the first human computers at NASA

• Ms. Shetterly’s father also worked at NASA making her part of the NASA family

Answer explanation

“A lot of the women around here, black and white, worked as computers...the narrative triggered memories decades old, of spending a much treasured day off from school at my father’s office a the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Langley Research Center.”

Can you think of one example from Chapter 1 where someone’s biased opinions led to prejudiced behavior towards our main characters?

Answer explanation

At the end of chapter 1, the black female mathematicians who got hired at Langley found themselves at the intersection of change. In 1943 Virginia was still segregated. The black women had to work in a separate workspace of the lab allied West Area. In addition to being separated from all the other employees, Butler, the personnel officer at Langley, hangs a sign on the bathrooms that reads “COLORED.”