The phenomenon has been known as “The Scully Effect”–named after Gillian Anderson’s character Dana Scully – and the Geena Davis Institute proved it’s real. Nearly two-thirds of the women surveyed who work in STEM said Scully served as a role model. Since Scully, there have been female characters in TV with STEM careers, including Dr. Rainbow Johnson (Tracee Ellis Ross) on Black-ish, Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) on Bones, Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) on The Big Bang Theory, and Darlene Alderson (Carly Chaikin) on Mr. Robot.
