In a historic first, Star Trek: Discovery season 4 will begin with the first-ever all-female bridge crew, led by Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green). For the first time in Star Trek history, women will staff all three of the central bridge positions, breaking the long tradition of the bridges of the Starfleet being dominated by men in the major positions.
When Star Trek: The Original Series launched in 1966, the only female member of the bridge crew was Lt. Uhura. There were female yeomen, notably Janice Rand, but even her male counterparts were little more than glorified secretaries. In the 1980s and '90s, the gender balance improved. Star Trek: The Next Generation gave fans a female security chief, TNG's Tasha Yar, who died before the end of season 1. She had a bridge station, but much of her job was merely handling communications. The other women in the main cast were in caregiver professions: Beverly Crusher was the chief medical officer and Deanna Troi was the ship's counselor, a mental health professional. Of the two, only the latter was customarily on the bridge. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine introduced viewers to science officer Lt. Jadzia Dax, and Bajoran liaison and former Resistance member Major Kira Nerys, but neither were ever in command of the station but temporarily. It was not until Star Trek: Voyager introduced Katherine Janeway that a woman was permanently installed in the captain's chair.
Star Trek: Discovery changed all that. When Michael Burnham was initially introduced, she was first officer under Captain Phillipa Georgiou of the U.S.S. Shenzhou. Although Georgiou was killed in action in episode 2, "Battle at the Binary Stars," several of her bridge crew moved to the Discovery, including Lt. Keyla Detmer (Emily Coutts), the helmsman (this is the official term). Star Trek: Discovery's season 3 promotion of Burnham means that the "Big Three" seats on the starship's bridge – captain (conn), helm, and operations/navigation (ops) – will all be occupied by women. It won't be the first time women have taken these positions, but it will be the first time all of those officers are female and in those positions permanently rather than as an emergency measure. This represents the culmination of decades of slow movement toward gender equality on the bridge.
From the moment the bridge crew was seen properly in Star Trek: Discovery season 1 episode "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry," there have been multiple women on the bridge. Detmer remained in the helmsman position, but she was joined by Lt. Joann "Owo" Owosekun (Oyin Oladejo) at ops/navigation. Other women present on the bridge included science officers Lt. Airiam (Sara Mitich in season 1 / Hannah Cheeseman in season 2) and security chief Commander Ellen Landry (Rekha Sharma). Discovery's promotion of Burnham to captain altered the image fans had grown used to. Instead of having men as captain, ops officer, and (most frequently) at the helm, women were regularly the most prominent members of the bridge crew.
Star Trek: Discovery has been criticized for being both too "woke" and for offering too little social commentary in its stories. In truth, the series embodies social commentary by normalizing female officers in command and engineering positions, male officers in caring professions (Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), for example), and including gay, non-binary, and transgender characters like Adira and Gray without making their identity the primary focus. Women may be the most visible members of the bridge crew, but men are not excluded. Lt. Gen Rhys (Patrick Kwok-Choon) serves at the tactical station, and, in a perfect flip of Star Trek: The Original Series, the communications officer is a man, Lt. Ronald Bryce (Ronnie Rowe, Jr). It all shows Star Trek: Discovery's future is neither male nor female: it is equal.