Space Stations and Social Locations

As a child, all I wanted was to go to space. Years later, I knew the arts degree I was pursuing wasn't going to get me there. But, that social science and humanities background would help me to think critically about how social location affects one's chances of making it to the International Space Station (ISS).

Social Location

To understand your social location, you have to examine where you come from and how that affects your interactions with society. Were your parents wealthy? Are you a person of colour? Does your gender match your biological sex? Where do you live? The answer to each of these questions is a small piece of your social location. For more information on social location, click here.

What's in an Astronaut?

Figure 1 Click to go to source

Generally speaking, good health, problem-solving skills, and an academic background in science, engineering, or medicine are the basic requirements to become an astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA/ASC). There are specific physical requirements including height and weight restrictions, and the academic requirements include bachelor degrees, and either experience in the field or graduate degrees. You can find more information on requirements for Canadian astronauts at the CSA/ASC website. 


How does social location affect astronaut selection?

To begin, I'd like to examine the following video about the CSA/ASC's current astronaut selection process. (You can find part one here) 

When we watch this video with social location in mind, we can see patterns in the selection process. The candidates chosen are predominantly white, clean cut, and middle to upper-middle class Canadians. The implications of this are, that a career as an astronaut is more accessible to those who come from a more privileged background. Access to advanced education, good health care, and resources to improve both health and educational performance are not accessible to everyone in Canada. 1 in 7 people live in poverty in Canada, and, "1 in 5 racialized families live in poverty in Canada, as opposed to 1 in 20 non-racialized families" (Canada Without Poverty). 

 Canada has had twelve astronauts in its history, two of whom were women (Canadian Space Agency). This ratio of male to female astronauts may be influenced by the lack of women with degrees in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. "in 2011, 39% of STEM university graduates aged 25 to 34 were female, compared to 23% of STEM graduates aged 55 to 64.  However, women represented 66% of all non-STEM graduates aged 25 to 34 in 2011 (a proportion that was in the 80% range in health professions and related programs, and in education programs). Women were thus proportionately under-represented among STEM graduates, at least compared with other fields." (Statistics Canada)

Conclusion

Social location absolutely affects one's opportunities when it comes to employment with the CSA/ASC. Class, race, gender, and ability all affect one's chances at winding up with the ISS for an office. I chose this topic, because space travel was near and dear to my heart as a child and because feminism and critical thought are important to me as an adult. I'd like to end this blog with some of my childhood heroes. 

Valentina Tereshkova (First woman in space) 

Mae C. Jemison, M.D. (First African American woman in space)

Kalpana Chawla, Ph.D. (First Indian-born woman in space)

#womeninspace #intersectionalityisimportant #womeninSTEM #sociallocation

Works Cited

Statistics Canada. "Gender differences in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and computer science (STEM) programs at university." Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. N.p., 27 Nov. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Canadian Space Agency, Directions of communications, Information services and new media. "History of the Canadian astronaut corps." Canadian Space Agency website. N.p., 25 Nov. 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

"Just the Facts." Canada Without Poverty. Canada Without Poverty/Canada sans Pauvreté, 2017. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.