Sally Ride was the first American Women in space (Dunbar, 2013). She was well educated, holding two bachelor’s degrees, a Master’s, and a doctorate degree (NASA, 2012). Sally Ride accomplished this goal using her leadership skills and her ability to prove her worth. Ride went on her first mission after a year long training period and provided NASA with communications and helped deploy a new satellite (Dunbar, 2013). Through these missions she continued to prove her leadership abilities. After she stopped going on missions, Ride went on to teach at UCSD as a professor in physics (NASA, 2012).
Ride used her leadership abilities to make sure other girls and women had the same opportunities that she did. She founded a company called Sally Ride Science that focused on mentoring elementary and middle school girls in science and physics (NASA, 2012). Sally was faced with many obstacles earlier in her career. Being the first female to do anything is a scary experience for the pursuer but imagine being the first American women in space. She set the stage and allowed others to be able to accomplish their dreams. Even today women have a hard time obtaining leadership roles. Sally was able to accomplish this in the 80’s. Ride was able to get over the organizational, interpersonal, and personal barriers to make her dream come true (Northouse, 2013).
References:
“Astronaut Bio: Sally K. Ride (07/2012).” Astronaut Bio: Sally K. Ride (07/2012). NASA, July 2012. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. <http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/ride-sk.html>.
Dunbar, Brian. “First American Woman in Space.” NASA. NASA, 28 July 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. <http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2533.html>.
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.