Transforming Policy & Practice through Leveraging the Strengths of Girls of Color

• In Event: At the Intersections: Leveraging the Strengths of Girls of Color in Schools and Communities

Abstract

Objectives or purposes. The objectives of this presentation are as follows:
We will examine the evolution of important theoretical conceptualizations of positive youth development for girls of color.
We will center critical consciousness, resistance, and resilience as key competencies that girls of Color need to develop within our contemporary society, and we will offer empirical depictions of these competencies from three research studies.
We will demonstrate how listening to the expertise of girls of Color can transform adult allyship, policy, and practice.

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework. This presentation examines the adapted model of positive youth development for adolescent girls of Color published in 2016 (citation deleted for blind review), which emphasizes the strengths of girls of Color rather than their deficits (Author1, et al, 2016). The original positive youth development model presented six competencies for optimal youth development: competence, character, confidence, caring, connection, and contribution (Lerner, et al., 2005). We expanded upon that model, recognizing that girls of Color experience unique, intersecting forms of oppression, and need to develop three additional competencies: critical consciousness, resistance, and resilience. These competencies support girls of Color in recognizing inequities and imbalances of power in society, orienting themselves towards social justice, pushing back on injustices, and persevering through experiences of oppression. As we review the key perspectives that informed the creation of this model (positive youth development, intersectionality, critical race feminism, and ecological systems theory), we will also discuss contemporary studies (published between 2016 - 2024) that have applied the model and pushed it forward.

Methods and data sources. This presentation will call upon qualitative data collected between 2019 - 2022 at five all-girls independent schools on the East Coast and in the Midwest U.S. Qualitative data analyzed for this presentation includes interview transcripts and fieldnotes from observations. We engaged in rigorous thematic analysis to analyze our data for competencies in the adapted positive youth development model. We engaged in peer debriefing and triangulation to foster trustworthiness of analysis.

Key arguments. While our presentation will begin with an overview of the adapted positive youth development model and how it has evolved between 2016 - 2024, we will then proceed to focus on three competencies: critical consciousness, resistance, and resilience. We will discuss why these competencies are necessary for girls of Color to navigate our contemporary imperialist, white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchal (hooks, 1994) society. We will provide empirical examples of how these competencies have supported girls of Color in thriving academically and personally, and changing oppressive environments they are immersed in.

Significance. The racial reckoning of 2020 combined with the COVID-19 pandemic illuminated and intensified structural inequities in educational and developmental systems, and energized calls for equity-focused practices in schools and other community spaces that marginalized youth inhabit. This presentation contributes to the ongoing conversations that scholars and practitioners are currently immersed in regarding how to disrupt deficit narratives that circulate around girls of Color, and engage in best equity-focused practices that support youth’s education and development and foster societal change.

Authors

• Charlotte E Jacobs, University of Pennsylvania

• Katherine Clonan-Roy, Cleveland State University

• Chantille Unique Jackson, Cleveland State University

• Ashleigh Imani Cartwright, University of Pennsylvania