Afterschool programs are a significant vehicle for increasing STEM interest, confidence, and capacity in underrepresented students. According to the Coalition for Science After School, effective afterschool programs provide relevant, hands-on opportunities for underrepresented youth to interact with relatable scientific role models, content knowledge, and resources.
This article describes the development and pilot implementation of a culturally responsive maker afterschool program for Black girls. The pilot of Black Girls Create used social history, culturally responsive pedagogy, and mentoring to engage Black girls in maker-based activities as they learned about Black women who made significant impacts in STEM. By the end of the program, girls had used their new maker skills to design and create cultural artifacts and to conduct digital fabrication demonstrations. This article highlights the program design, pilot program outcomes, and successes and challenges associated with the pilot implementation.
