Don't fight the system. Use it.
How Mary Jackson turned barriers into bridges
She asked the segregated school for permission to attend.
In 1953, Mary Jackson wanted to become an engineer, but she needed classes. Those classes were offered by University of Virginia at Hampton High School, but they were for whites-only.
Instead of fighting the system or finding another way, she asked them if she could attend. She appealed to the city. Made her case for attending the whites-only school.
She won.
In 1958, she became NASA’s first African American female engineer.
She didn't fight the system. She used it.
In 1951, Mary joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, later called NASA) Langley Aeronautical Laboratory. She worked in the West Area Computers Colored section under Dorothy Vaughan and eventually worked with engineer Kazimierz Czarnecki in the wind tunnel lab.
It was then Mary Jackson appealed to the city to attend classes at Hampton High School.
Meeting the Obstacle where it is.
NASA required engineers to have a specific course in math and physics to become an engineer, but these courses were taught in a whites-only school.
She appealed to the city council, but not through a letter. She appeared before the Judge and made her case focusing on one key factor.
She made it about NASA's mission, not her rights
Her argument centered around needing the qualifications to get promoted from mathematician to engineer. She kept the focus on what she can do now & how much more she could do if she got the classes. How much closer she can help the astronauts get to the moon. She made herself crucial for NASA’s mission similar to how Katherine Johnson made herself indispensable.
The judge agreed and allowed her to attend night classes with her peers.
She completed her courses and became NASA’s first African American Woman engineer in 1958.
Growing at NASA & Removing Barriers:
Mary worked for nearly 20 years at NASA as an engineer, specializing in boundary layer effects on high-speed aircraft and spacecraft. Her research directly contributed to supersonic flight improvements and vehicle design, and she authored or co-authored about a dozen technical reports. But despite her technical excellence, she faced an entrenched institutional ceiling.
Advancement beyond her engineering role was systematically blocked.
In 1979, Mary made a strategic decision that puzzled her colleagues: she accepted a demotion to become Langley's Federal Women's Program Manager and Affirmative Action Program Manager. While others saw this as career suicide, Mary recognized something her petition strategy had taught her—individual navigation wasn't enough. She needed to systematically engineer the barriers out of existence.
This institutional pivot mirrors how Grace Hopper shifted from technical programming to building programming standards and advocacy. Mary understood that the same direct approach thinking that got her into engineering classes could reshape NASA's entire culture for technical women.
As Federal Women's Program Manager, she built systematic pathways: created formal mentorship and support programs, established advancement protocols for women in technical roles, and maintained an open-door policy for any new Langley recruit trying to navigate the institutional maze.
Her Girl Scout leadership ran parallel to this work, building a pipeline of young women who could envision technical careers.
Multiple sources credit Mary's leadership with increasing the retention and advancement of women and minorities at NASA and changing the institutional culture to be more inclusive and supportive of technical women.
This systematic approach to institutional change shares DNA with Fatima al-Fihri's university building blueprint. Both recognized that individual achievement means nothing without creating systematic pathways for others to follow.
Different eras, same institutional engineering mindset.
What we can learn from her:
When Mary faced attending an all-whites school, she didn’t try to fight but instead moved around it like stream passing around a rock.
When it comes to overcoming your own obstacles, here’s what we can do:
Phase 1:
Identify the exact requirement
She identified the exact requirements she needed to become an engineer. She left no wiggle room for error or doubt. IF she were going to make her case to attend an all-white school, her argument had to be airtight.
Go to the decision maker
Instead of sending a letter and hoping for the best, she went directly to the judge. No one else can get her approval to attend the classes but the judge. Everything else is noise.
Frame as business case
When Mary was making her case, she didn’t frame it as a civil rights violation, but instead as something necessary to achieve the national goal of landing on the moon. She framed her role as critical to NASA’s success.
Understanding the context, both social and business, was crucial for Mary’s case.
Make them say yes or explicitly deny
After delivering her case, she made the plea to the judge to approve or deny her enrollment in those classes. Either yes or no. Leave no room for doubt.
When she crafted her case based on her qualifications, crucial for NASA’s success, and needing a clear approve or deny choice at the end, the judge’s choice was made easy.
That’s how she became an engineer despite systematic barriers preventing her, but she wasn’t done yet. She couldn’t advance her career as much as she wanted.
Phase 2: Systematic Engineering
Recognize when individual excellence hits a wall
After 20 years of excellent work with no promotions, Mary understood the problem wasn't her performance. The system was broken.
Take a role that controls the system
She took a "demotion" to Federal Women's Program Manager. Others saw career suicide. Mary saw the lever that could change NASA's entire structure.
Build the infrastructure others need
Mary created mentorship programs, wrote new advancement policies, and ran Girl Scouts to build a pipeline. She stopped navigating around barriers and started removing them.
Mary's petition got her in the door. Her systematic approach rebuilt the building. Most technical experts stop after getting what they need. Mary shows why fixing the system matters more than individual success.
That's how she became an engineer and how she made sure others wouldn't face the same fight.