Ujima GIRL Project Impact Report: 2022-2024

The Ujima Girls in Robotics Leadership (Ujima GIRL) Project aims to broaden participation in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) among African American/Black middle and high school girls and college women. As an “Innovations in Development” research project funded by the National Science Foundation’s Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program (NSF Award #2116118), a primary goal was to use research and evaluation to iteratively develop Ujima’s culturally-relevant curriculum and informal STEM learning environment. Prior research demonstrates the value of culturally-relevant and gender-specific learning environments for buffering Black girls and women against deficit ideas (e.g., race-gender stereotypes) and unjust treatment (e.g., discrimination), thereby expanding their opportunities for thriving in STEM (Ashford et al.,2017; King et al., 2023).