COMPUGIRLS

Abstract

A considerable amount of attention and money has been spent on programs aimed to improve the technical skills of girls of color. The impact of such efforts is not clearly understood. This book illustrates how one of the first technology programs for girls of color, COMPUGIRLS, shaped and is shaped by its adolescent participants. As a series of narratives exemplifying how intersectionality is more than a theory of multiple identities and resilience, the African American, Latina, and Native American stars of this book challenge many of the taken-for-granted ideas of girlhoods in this digital age. Navigating a program that emphasizes both technical and “power skills,” the stories reveal how culturally responsive computing practices succeed and, in some instances, fail to prepare the next generation to become the techno-social agents our society requires. To this end, the book challenges broad audiences to recognize and embrace the uniqueness of girlhoods of color theoretically and programmatically.