That's because, most subordinates (regardless of their degree of privilege and/or oppression) are going to be too afraid to go against their boss or their superior in the chain-of-command. This is just a natural human response, and it shouldn't be surprising. I've fallen prey to it, in many of my workplaces. My dad's youngest sister is in her early-sixties and has never been able to hold down a job because she mouths off to her bosses so frequently.

I don't see how that disproves that the authority figures in "Hidden Figures" were basing their actions on racism and sexism COMBINED WITH the heft of their authority positions per se.

What you're describing is a fair point: Stealing ideas or taking credit for ideas that one didn't actually come up with themselves, regardless of which direction the heft moves in. But that point still stands alongside of the reality of systemic discrimination in workplaces.