Curiosity, Confidence, and Commitment: 3Cs That Matter for Black Girls’ STEM Efficacy and Belonging

• In Event: Black Girls Thriving: Exploring How Confidence Is Catalyzed in Three Community STEM-Based Organizations

Abstract

[BLIND Organization] impacts girls in the St. Louis community and beyond through our STEM Saturday Academy, which is an 8-month, 40-hour program encompassing hands-on STEM workshops on integrated STEM career pathways, mentoring with Black women in STEM and social emotional learning topics for personal development. The goals of this program are self-worth, confidence building, occupational awareness/career exploration and personal development building 21st century skills. This program works with 6th-9th graders. With our empowerment, preparation, and placement (EPP) program targeting girls as they enter 10th-12th grade to support them in continued STEM access across their high school career as a true 7-year pathway. Our philosophy at [BLIND] is diversifying innovation, and empowering Black girls to achieve equitable STEM representation. By creating a culturally unique learning space we give room for cognitive and mental resilience. This leads to development of a STEM mindset and belief in their STEM capability while placing positive role models who look like them right in their path. We strive to couple problem solving approaches and design thinking frameworks alongside career-specific applicable experience to trigger curiosity and promote metacognition in real time. Through our core values of scholarship, training, empowerment (equity) and mentorship we trigger curiosity in the minds of Black girls building confidence, community, skills, and the future STEM workforce.
We empower youth through exposure, beyond STEM. We have SEL activities and introduction to role models and mentors who are Black women in STEM, and they lead those relationships, sharing their knowledge with mentors as well as learning from them. We see every engagement at [BLIND] as an opportunity to develop youth confidence/self-worth, self-advocacy skills, and a depth of understanding that centers Black girls as in control of their own learning, growth, and development. Through partnership with parents who make sure girls are developing both socially and personally, their self-efficacy and experience of joy in the learning process grows and parents can notice a change in their youth. Building confidence and curiosity in themselves, what they can be, and how they might impact the world near or far is the ultimate goal.
[BLIND] fosters project-based learning giving our girls the creative space to understand and center their own experiences rather than the experiences of others and uniquely design solutions for them and people like them with community in mind. Our focused social justice topics have included environmental justice, looking at youth asthma in our region. Fashion technology is a growing field and we've focused on fast fashion trends and its impact on global sustainability. Finally, our girls champion and excel at STEM projects that relate to their vision of themselves and their community. All of our data suggest students increase in confidence in their problem-solving abilities and other 21st century skills and a deeper understanding of their Black girl identity and its interaction within the STEM world, increase their willingness to ask questions, act, engage in risk and take a deeper interest in STEM more in transitional and informal educational environments.

Author

• Cynthia Chapple, Black Girls Do STEM