I Am My Sister's Keeper: Reflections on a Gender-Focused, Culturally Relevant, College Preparatory Curriculum

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: Racing Minds: Curriculum Scholars Making Sense of Race, Gender, and Pedagogies of Justice

Abstract

This presentation will address a three-year longitudinal study that sought to determine how, if at all, a gender focused, culturally relevant, college preparatory program would influence the way young women from traditionally underrepresented college-going populations thought about postsecondary planning and made college enrollment decisions. Tenth grade, African American students, from one urban, public high school, volunteered to participate in a three-year program that would help prepare them for postsecondary life. Based on students’ bi-weekly session evaluations, annual survey and interview responses; and, facilitators’ field notes we found which aspects of the program influenced participants the most and why. We will conclude with some general concerns associated with this type of work and what could be done to overcome those issues.

Authors

• Nicole E. Holland, Northeastern Illinois University

• Raquel Farmer-Hinton, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee