Written Communication Jan 2020 OA PDF

Examining African American Girls’ Literate Intersectional Identities Through Journal Entries and Discussions About STEM

Tisha Lewis Ellison University of Georgia ; Bradley Robinson University of Georgia ; Tairan Qiu University of Georgia

Abstract

This article examines how three African American girls, ages 10 to 18, used journaling and interviews to better understand science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as part of their literate identities. Drawing on prior work about literate identities, the authors introduce the concept of literate intersectional identities, which describes how participants’ diverse histories, literacies, and identities traverse categories, communities, genres, and modes of meaning within the context of a STEAM workshop. The authors employed open and thematic coding to analyze the girls’ journal entries in an effort to answer a question: In what ways do African American girls’ journal writings and interviews about STEM reflect and influence their literate identities in a digital app coding workshop? Findings reveal how their writings about race, access, and the underrepresentation of women of color in STEM helped them make sense of their self-assurance, self-awareness, and agency as girls of color interested in STEM careers.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2020-01-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088319880511
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
OA PDF Bronze
Topics
genre theory literacy studies race and writing
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Jacobson (2024)
    Social Positioning and Learning Opportunities in One Student’s Textual Transiti…
    Written Communication

References (80) · 8 in this index

  1. Alvermann D. E. (2011)
    Rethinking identity and literacy education in the 21st century. National Society for the …
  2. 10.1111/aeq.12197
     ↗
  3. Bambara T. C. (1980)
    The writer on her work: Contemporary women writers reflect their art and situation
  4. 10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.1
     ↗
  5. Blake B. E. (1994). Multiple voices on the edge of adolescence: Critical struggles through writing among low-…
Show all 80 →
  1. Blake B. E. (1995)
    Journal of Educational Thought
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor (2010)
    Employment projections—2010–20
  3. Burgess et al. (2010)
    Writing and Being Written: Issues of Identity Across Timescales
    Written Communication
  4. 10.1007/s10464-012-9497-7
     ↗
  5. Center for Online Education. (n.d.). STEM opportunities for women and minorities. Retrieved from www.onlineco…
  6. Charleston L. J. (2014)
    Journal of Progressive Policy & Practice
  7. 10.1037/0012-1649.44.3.637
     ↗
  8. Compton-Lilly (2014)
    The Development of Writing Habitus: A Ten-Year Case Study of a Young Writer
    Written Communication
  9. Crenshaw K. (1989)
    University of Chicago Legal Forum
  10. Daniel J. (2018)
    Intersectionality of race, ethnicity, class, and gender in teaching and teacher education…
  11. 10.1177/2372732214549471
     ↗
  12. Du Bois W. E. B (1903)
    The souls of Black folk
  13. 10.1037/11546-004
     ↗
  14. Dyson A. H. (1995)
    10.58680/la199524450
    Language Arts  ↗
  15. 10.1037/11546-016
     ↗
  16. 10.1177/053901894033002006
     ↗
  17. 10.2307/356095
     ↗
  18. Evans-Winters V. E. (2010)
    Journal of Educational Foundations
  19. Falconer (2019)
    “I Think When I Speak, I Don’t Sound Like That”: The Influence of Social Positi…
    Written Communication
  20. Farinde A. (2012)
    US-China Education Review
  21. Gee J. P. (2012)
    Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses
  22. Gilbert P. (1991)
    Fashioning the feminine: Girls, popular culture and schooling
  23. Guynn J. (2016, October 18). Google: Race, gender gaps persist in computer science education. USA Today. Retr…
  24. 10.1598/RRQ.39.4.4
     ↗
  25. Haddix M. M. (2016)
    Youth voices, public spaces, and civic engagement
  26. Hall T. (2011)
    English Teaching: Practice and Critique
  27. 10.1080/10862969809547997
     ↗
  28. Hill C. (2010)
    Why so few? Women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
  29. Holland D. (1998)
    Identity and agency in cultural worlds
  30. hooks b. (1989)
    Talking back: Thinking feminist, thinking Black
  31. 10.1075/swll.5
     ↗
  32. Jewitt C. (2003)
    Multimodal literacy
  33. King N. S. (2017)
    Journal of Multicultural Affairs
  34. 10.1002/tea.21513
     ↗
  35. 10.4324/9780203164754
     ↗
  36. Lesley M. (2012)
    Invisible girls: At-risk adolescent girls writing within and beyond school
  37. Lewis Ellison T (2018)
    Handbook of digital writing and literacies research
  38. Lewis Ellison T. (2019)
    Humanizing relationships, practices, and research: Using photo-elicitation narratives to humanize Black males and fathers
  39. Ellison et al. (2019)
    Counter-Storytelling vs. Deficit Thinking around African American Children and …
    Research in the Teaching of English
  40. Lewis Ellison T. (2019)
    Exploring the relationships among Black fathers and their daughters’ interest, motivation, and self-efficacy in STEM
  41. 10.1177/1086296X17751172
     ↗
  42. Lyon G. (2010)
    Afterschool Matters
  43. Miles M. B. (2014)
    Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook
  44. Modi K. (2012)
    Generation STEM: What girls say about science, technology, engineering, and math
  45. 10.1002/sce.21477
     ↗
  46. 10.1177/1086296X17713291
     ↗
  47. 10.1002/JAAL.00129
     ↗
  48. Muhammad (2015)
    Searching for Full Vision: Writing Representations of African American Adolesce…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  49. Muhammad (2015)
    Iqra: African American Muslim Girls Reading and Writing for Social Change
    Written Communication
  50. Muhammad G. E. (2016)
    10.58680/ee201628670
    English Education  ↗
  51. Muhammad G. E. (2016)
    Ubiquity
  52. National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (2017)
    Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering: 2017
  53. National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (2015)
    Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering: 2015
  54. 10.1037/a0037944
     ↗
  55. 10.1093/elt/cct012
     ↗
  56. 10.1080/10508406.2017.1307199
     ↗
  57. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Science Education. (2012). Realizing the full potential of the…
  58. 10.1111/j.1949-8594.2012.00137.x
     ↗
  59. Richardson L. (2000)
    Handbook of qualitative research
  60. 10.4324/9780203166550
     ↗
  61. Roberts T., Gibbs Grey T., Gutiérrez L., Stanbrough R. (2017). “Words with friends”: Creating collaborative w…
  62. Robinson B. (2018)
    English Journal
  63. 10.2307/j.ctt6wrb9s
     ↗
  64. Saldaña J. (2013)
    The coding manual for qualitative researchers
  65. 10.1080/17439884.2014.924966
     ↗
  66. 10.1177/0042085913491219
     ↗
  67. Sharpe R. V. (2011)
    Paper presented at the American Economic Association meeting
  68. Smith-Evans L. (2014)
    Unlocking opportunity for African American girls: A call to action for educational equity
  69. Vasudevan et al. (2010)
    Rethinking Composing in a Digital Age: Authoring Literate Identities Through Mu…
    Written Communication
  70. Vining-Brown S. (1994)
    Minority women in science and engineering education
  71. Wing A. K. (1997)
    Critical race feminism: A reader
  72. 10.1080/13613321003751601
     ↗
  73. 10.1080/1554480X.2012.715737
     ↗
  74. Wissman (2011)
    “Rise Up!”: Literacies, Lived Experiences, and Identities within an In-School “…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  75. Womack E. (2013)
    Engaging culture, race and spirituality: New visions
CrossRef global citation count: 19 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Pedagogy Oct 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy advanced composition creative writing writing across the curriculum graduate education two-year college service learning teacher development technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions archival research multimodality artificial intelligence literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies literary studies editorial matter
  2. Rhetoric & Public Affairs Mar 2024
    Literacy in a Long Blues Note: Black Women's Literature and Music in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries ↗
    Cecilia Cerja
    rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis argument literacy studies race and writing gender and writing public rhetoric literary studies
  3. Pedagogy Jan 2024
    The Radical Role of Student Writing in Composition ↗
    Jessica Masterson
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy graduate education teacher development argument collaborative writing professional writing grammar and mechanics literacy studies race and writing gender and writing
  4. Research in the Teaching of English May 2022
    Storytelling and Proleptic Gaps: Reimagining Inequities in the Mount ↗
    Patricia Enciso; Beth Krone
    genre theory writing pedagogy literacy studies race and writing
  5. Pedagogy Jan 2022
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis african american rhetorics decolonial rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy basic writing writing across the curriculum graduate education teacher development argument collaborative writing transfer assessment portfolios writing program administration writing centers peer tutoring technical communication professional writing archival research digital rhetoric social media grammar and mechanics literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies public rhetoric community literacy literary studies editorial matter