Between 2012 and 2017, REA conducted four evaluations of Black Girls Code, an out-of-school program designed to address issues of experience, confidence, and identity development in computer science and programming for African-American middle school girls. Our surveys, formal interviews, observations, and focus groups revealed consistent themes in participants’ responses about the impact of the program in terms of:
- promoting a strong sense of cultural identity and connectedness for young African-American girls
- introducing students to a rigorous coding curricula
- gains in students’ confidence in their coding ability
- increasing students’ interest in pursuing a career in the tech industry because of BGC.
Parents of student participants reported that they were extremely satisfied with BGC programming across the multiple evaluation studies.
The BGC environment provides culturally relevant programming by offering:
- in-person activities led by racially diverse male and female mentors,
- interactions with mostly African-American or Latina female peers in a technology-focused setting, and
- field trips to local tech companies where programming and coding careers can become a reality.
The outcomes of the 2017 evaluation provided additional insights into the experience of girls of color in STEM, and into a unique programmatic approach that integrates race and gender as a method for tackling the underrepresentation of certain groups.
“The teachers and volunteers there are showing the kids that you can succeed and be a girl, and be African-American. The girls don’t have to lose who they are in order to succeed in this field. They can be themselves. My daughter identifies herself as a coder.” (Parent of 12th-grade alumna)
To learn more about REA’s evaluation of Black Girls Code, please read our full evaluation report here.