Intellectual Merit: This three-year research study draws from a pilot project that examined how adolescent girls in under-resourced school districts perceive and operationalize their developing consciousness as cultural beings and future technologists. Researchers from Arizona State University, University of Colorado-Boulder, and the National Center for Women Information Technology (NCWIT) will capitalize on their already existing collaborations with Phoenix Union High School District, Roosevelt School District, Gila River Indian Community, and Colorado MESA to structure this study in three geographic regions (Denver, Phoenix, and Gila River Indian Community). A stratified sample of 160 adolescent (ages 13-18) girls of color (e.g. African American, Latina, Native American), from high-needs districts will be randomly assigned in one of two conditions (C#1: technology program with cultural relevancy and gendered-identities emphasized; and C#2 technology program without a focus on cultural relevancy or gendered identities). The research team will administer pre-, mid-, and post- treatment instruments to girls in each condition and implement ethnographic methods and participatory action research to texturize the quantitative data. Theoretical concepts of intersectionality and standpoint serve as the frameworks for the design.
Broader Impacts: This proposal will uniquely analyze how multiple and intersecting factors inform various dimensions of self that shape girl's perceptions as technologists. This study also will move beyond simply identifying girls? perceptions and barriers and explore how they are constructed, experienced, and overcome in everyday practice. Examining these intersections and dynamics will advance understanding about nuanced factors that encourage or impede girls of color considering technology at earlier stages in their educational careers than commonly researched. The findings from this study will be of interest to educational institutions and technology industries interested in diversity recruitment and retention programs.
